I know I promised to write about homosexuality next, but this issue is distracting me and I need to comment on it.
Maquiladoras are something that seems to have left the political discourse in our current discussions of issues of immigration and our relationship with latino/a people both in and out of the US.
Basically, us companies contract with offshore firms that run these factories. so at orion apparel, a company owned by south korean's, apparel is made for eddie bauer, gap, or osh kosh. These companies are subcontracting and so they are technically not employing these people, usually women, and thus not liable basically for their slavery system.
How is it slavery? aren't they paid?
At orion apparel, in 1999 the hourly wage was 33 cents an hour. that means that a days wage could buy a can of soup and a can of spam. A DAYS WAGE. that is at not us costs, this was at the costs the workers were paying. These people work as indentured servants in places like juarez. Girls as young as thirteen leave school so that their families can make enough money to leave. The shirts they make sell for about 20 dollars, at the speed they make them, that means that they recieve twelve cents on each shirt.
How can any rational human being write this off as just the cost of business, or what there people need to move forward or be successful in the world economy? racism. there is no other explanation. perhaps greed, or nihilism. kids can work as long as 18 hours just to make ends meet. and meanwhile, international conglomerates make millions off this practice. they are abused, yelled at, manipulated, and are fired if they organize in any kind of labor solidarity.
so what does this have to do with immigration?
IF YOU THINK YOU WOULDN'T BREAK ANY LAW KNOWN TO MAN TO ESCAPE THIS OPPRESSIVE HELL OF A SITUATION YOU ARE LYING.
Perhaps, and this is just a theory I have, perhaps if we stopped sucking the labor and resources of latin america, asia, and other places into our own country, maybe they would be less interested in coming here? until we own up to our century or more of oppression of the global south we have no right to blame people for wnating to get here illegally. the racism fueling current discussions of the immigration issue should shame us all
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
he is risen
he is risen indeed
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.
happy easter. sorry for the lack in posts. had a hectic week. will have updates soon and very soon. blessings and peace, may hope break into your life, and may empty hands be filled
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory.
happy easter. sorry for the lack in posts. had a hectic week. will have updates soon and very soon. blessings and peace, may hope break into your life, and may empty hands be filled
Thursday, March 6, 2008
plus she smells
so, this is a description of a facebook group dedicated to hating ayn rand. it made me laugh
ok good to get that out there. will post real blog soon, working on a piece about homosexuality inspired by recent visit to campus by total asshat robert gagnon. also piece about combative epistemology. word
Not talented enough to be an artist, not rigorous enough to be a philosopher, Ayn Rand -- cult figure of liberatarians, fascists, and rationally self-interested white middle-class middleschoolers and insecure college students everywhere -- is the most overrated pulp novelist in the history of intellectual sophistry and the biggest fucker since Cato to have an Institute named after her.
It's not enough that, in addition to being hideously ugly, she is wrong, but that she wants everyone else to be wrong with her, just as she wants everyone to have experienced her horrible childhood in Stalinist Russia.
Ayn Rand represents the worst excesses of the modern age and the figurehead of contemporary American cryptofascism.
ok good to get that out there. will post real blog soon, working on a piece about homosexuality inspired by recent visit to campus by total asshat robert gagnon. also piece about combative epistemology. word
Friday, February 29, 2008
Real Politik
Lets be honest for a second, the current election is starting to turn into a cluster for the democrats. I guess I should have seen this coming, seen the inevitable embarrassment entailed and the trying to trump each other on who is more or less oppressed or suffering. I guess I should have known.
But honestly I didn’t want to believe it. When people talked about the conflict between women and blacks as to which group represented a more oppressed population, and then using this imaginary criteria to determine whether Obama or Hillary was a better candidate…I didn’t want to believe it. I figured it was hype, just some bull made up by conservatives to make dems look bad. It wouldn’t be the first time that conservatives had managed to make the entire nation believe something was true that wasn’t, remember the “I invented the internet” debacle? What an asinine comment right? Too bad he never said it. I assumed this conflict was the same sort of deal.
Apparently I was wrong. I have now actually encountered people who did not just innocently choose (I think it should be…just cause) but people who virulently felt there was a battle here, between women and black men, or white women and blacks as a whole, or whatever make up they want to use. Regardless, apparently for a surprising amount of people, it actually matters more what these two candidates racial or gender make up is then what they believe or what their records are or what their plans for the nation may be.
This is utterly amazing to me. Just earth shatteringly unbelievable for me. It makes no difference what their make up is, all that matters is what kind of candidate they are. Now I have a preference. A strong one in fact. Yet I would still support the other candidate if it came down to it. I certainly would not allow another war mongering candidate to take office if I could help it. Yet for some, if their particular black or female candidate does not get it, they would rather let Mccain waltz right in and make Iraq even worse then support the other team. Why? Because racism and sexism run that deep, that once you have chosen a side you stick to it. Both candidates are seen as somehow contaminate, due each to the very thing which is then being trumped as not oppressed enough. Thus white male power steps in and sets those it oppresses at each others throats, creating enemies where it should create allies. These identities get played out against each other, and the candidates themselves play into this. Barack prominently features civil rights, and Hillary candidly answers what she will do for women. The very idea that electing one of these two based upon their identity will somehow liberate those who share that identity is ridiculous. There is no possible way.
The unfortunate reality, as much as I like one of these two over the other, is that their policies really aren’t that different. If you were pulling for Kucinich or Ron Paul and you refused to vote cause your dude didn’t get the nod, no surprise their. Talk about two candidates out of the mainstream. But these two are not that different, and in the end that might be actually why these ridiculous side issues take such prominence. It is all we have to distinguish them by really. This is probably the saddest part to all of it, or at least the part I am finding particularly depressing at the moment.
Well whoever you choose to vote for non-existent reader, please do not make your decision on racist or sexist terms, whatever direction that means. The reality is that women and non-whites are oppressed by a system that elevates white manhood to superiority. Let alone class and sexual orientation in their too. This system is not nefarious or explicit, it is ingrained a routinized by social practice that we don’t even see. It can be intentional, but it often is not, and at that point is it the most insidious.
The best person for the job, well I mean Kucinich already dropped out, but the best person left for the job. That’s what matters. As long as those who struggle under the foot of white patriarchy fight each other, we will never achieve freedom.
But honestly I didn’t want to believe it. When people talked about the conflict between women and blacks as to which group represented a more oppressed population, and then using this imaginary criteria to determine whether Obama or Hillary was a better candidate…I didn’t want to believe it. I figured it was hype, just some bull made up by conservatives to make dems look bad. It wouldn’t be the first time that conservatives had managed to make the entire nation believe something was true that wasn’t, remember the “I invented the internet” debacle? What an asinine comment right? Too bad he never said it. I assumed this conflict was the same sort of deal.
Apparently I was wrong. I have now actually encountered people who did not just innocently choose (I think it should be…just cause) but people who virulently felt there was a battle here, between women and black men, or white women and blacks as a whole, or whatever make up they want to use. Regardless, apparently for a surprising amount of people, it actually matters more what these two candidates racial or gender make up is then what they believe or what their records are or what their plans for the nation may be.
This is utterly amazing to me. Just earth shatteringly unbelievable for me. It makes no difference what their make up is, all that matters is what kind of candidate they are. Now I have a preference. A strong one in fact. Yet I would still support the other candidate if it came down to it. I certainly would not allow another war mongering candidate to take office if I could help it. Yet for some, if their particular black or female candidate does not get it, they would rather let Mccain waltz right in and make Iraq even worse then support the other team. Why? Because racism and sexism run that deep, that once you have chosen a side you stick to it. Both candidates are seen as somehow contaminate, due each to the very thing which is then being trumped as not oppressed enough. Thus white male power steps in and sets those it oppresses at each others throats, creating enemies where it should create allies. These identities get played out against each other, and the candidates themselves play into this. Barack prominently features civil rights, and Hillary candidly answers what she will do for women. The very idea that electing one of these two based upon their identity will somehow liberate those who share that identity is ridiculous. There is no possible way.
The unfortunate reality, as much as I like one of these two over the other, is that their policies really aren’t that different. If you were pulling for Kucinich or Ron Paul and you refused to vote cause your dude didn’t get the nod, no surprise their. Talk about two candidates out of the mainstream. But these two are not that different, and in the end that might be actually why these ridiculous side issues take such prominence. It is all we have to distinguish them by really. This is probably the saddest part to all of it, or at least the part I am finding particularly depressing at the moment.
Well whoever you choose to vote for non-existent reader, please do not make your decision on racist or sexist terms, whatever direction that means. The reality is that women and non-whites are oppressed by a system that elevates white manhood to superiority. Let alone class and sexual orientation in their too. This system is not nefarious or explicit, it is ingrained a routinized by social practice that we don’t even see. It can be intentional, but it often is not, and at that point is it the most insidious.
The best person for the job, well I mean Kucinich already dropped out, but the best person left for the job. That’s what matters. As long as those who struggle under the foot of white patriarchy fight each other, we will never achieve freedom.
Yeah, I know
so the question you have to ask is not why i have returned to blogging. I was always gonna come back eventually. I mean seriously, how long could I stay away? Well apparently longer then i thought I could, because I have been away from this blogging game for a few months now. Thus why the question you should actually be asking yourself is what took me so long? Honestly, I stopped reading other people's blogs. just stopped. no offense to all of your blogs, but I just got tired of them. nothing really drawing me in, and seriously I have had so much reading and such difficult reading I am just not surprised I haven't had the time to blog.
but what drew back to this blog is actually a blog I have been reading. it is not the best blog ever, but it is one that i find very meaningful for me. Joe hardcore has his own blog now . Seriously, who saw that coming? not me thats for sure. but he does, and I read it often, or at least as often as he updates it which is not often enough. Joe is not what i would call eloquent, but he has a way of expressing things that really appeals to me. mostly because i identify with so much of what he writes, while still finding other aspects so alien and other to my experience they are fascinating. I have known Joe for like, well over a decade now. since he was in LTD at least. maybe 13 years or so. not super well of course, but have known him in some way. maybe we are neighbors in a sense, though we do not live near each other, but we see each other about as regularly as people who don;t live next door but maybe a few blocks away.
anyway i find his blog interesting and it has encouraged me to feel comfortable writing again.
Another catalyst has been that my academic career has been going rather well and I want to work on my writing. Of course, this is not the best venue because I often type poorly and use terrible grammar. However, I am going to attempt to write these posts out ahead of time and actually edit them. i simply have too much in my head and too much needed practice writing. I have tried keeping a journal, but I think this is more for me write about less personal things from now on. different thoughts and concepts that come to me during my studies. granted, I may just find myself too busy to write and abandon this in a week. but I also have not actually told anyone, officially speaking, that this blog is up and running again. so no one may notice, and if so i will find that mostly a blessing. so if you have found this keep it under your hat. if people do start to read again, good for them. however, I am simply going to focus on what i want to write about, and audience be damned.
well the hour is late and I am in need of rest and relaxation so i am off to lay down my weary head. hopefully this is the first of many more posts to come.
oh and, i mean, it is leap year. so that's something right?
but what drew back to this blog is actually a blog I have been reading. it is not the best blog ever, but it is one that i find very meaningful for me. Joe hardcore has his own blog now . Seriously, who saw that coming? not me thats for sure. but he does, and I read it often, or at least as often as he updates it which is not often enough. Joe is not what i would call eloquent, but he has a way of expressing things that really appeals to me. mostly because i identify with so much of what he writes, while still finding other aspects so alien and other to my experience they are fascinating. I have known Joe for like, well over a decade now. since he was in LTD at least. maybe 13 years or so. not super well of course, but have known him in some way. maybe we are neighbors in a sense, though we do not live near each other, but we see each other about as regularly as people who don;t live next door but maybe a few blocks away.
anyway i find his blog interesting and it has encouraged me to feel comfortable writing again.
Another catalyst has been that my academic career has been going rather well and I want to work on my writing. Of course, this is not the best venue because I often type poorly and use terrible grammar. However, I am going to attempt to write these posts out ahead of time and actually edit them. i simply have too much in my head and too much needed practice writing. I have tried keeping a journal, but I think this is more for me write about less personal things from now on. different thoughts and concepts that come to me during my studies. granted, I may just find myself too busy to write and abandon this in a week. but I also have not actually told anyone, officially speaking, that this blog is up and running again. so no one may notice, and if so i will find that mostly a blessing. so if you have found this keep it under your hat. if people do start to read again, good for them. however, I am simply going to focus on what i want to write about, and audience be damned.
well the hour is late and I am in need of rest and relaxation so i am off to lay down my weary head. hopefully this is the first of many more posts to come.
oh and, i mean, it is leap year. so that's something right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
