Tag: Social Issues

Name Calling is Hate and it will Never Go Away!

We can all agree that name calling is nasty and is meant to hurt the person on the receiving end of those words.  So we don’t say “N—-r” instead we say “Blacks” write “N-word” and everyone know what that means.  “Jew” is not acceptable so we say or write “Jewish person.” For Mexicans “Tonto” is a word often used if you want to say that someone is not very intelligent or has done something remarkably silly. Estúpido/a can be used interchangeably, but it is somewhat less common than tonto/a.

NAME CALLING or STEREOTYPING: Giving a person or an idea a bad label by using an easy to remember pejorative name. This is used to make us reject and condemn a person or idea without examining what the label really means. Examples: “Republican”, “Tree-Hugger”, “Nazi”, “Environmentalist”, “Special-Interest Group”.

Propagandists use this technique to create fear and arouse prejudice by using negative words (bad names) to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs, ideas or institutions they would have us denounce. This method calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence. Name Calling is used as a substitute for arguing the merits of an idea, belief, or proposal. It is often employed using sarcasm and ridicule in political cartoons and writing.

How to end this post? James Cagney never actually said “You dirty rat,” but a line in his 1932 film “Taxi!” probably came closest. At least that wasn’t against any group.    

To Hell with the Proletariat

In Les Misérables, author Victor Hugo criticizes the injustices of the nineteenth century. Issues such as women’s rights, intergenerational conflict, cruelty of the justice system, and the failure of society’s institutions are all discussed in the novel, which is still resonate.

I have a four year degree from CSUN (California State University Northridge) in the San Fernando Valley.  The first two years of my college experience was at a community college.  The cost was $6.50 per semester.  The two years at CSUN coast $42 per semester.  The cost of a college degree was affordable for everyone.

I know, it was a long time ago but what happened?  Why did the cost at the community college grow to $1238 per semester? CSUN now costs $7,064. I am not reporting on the cost of books or the cost or the cost of room and board.

It is no surprise that college attendance has resulted in high student debt. Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. Federal support has not kept up: Pell Grants once covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third. That has left many students from low- and middle-income families with no choice but to borrow if they want to get a degree. According to a Department of Education analysis, the typical undergraduate student with loans now graduates with nearly $25,000 in debt. 

This country refuses to help its youth obtain a college education. Sean Hannity: “We have a lot of young people that work on my TV show, they’re not making a $125,000. They’re now eligible to get in some cases up to $20,000 and in other cases $10,000. This is New Green Deal radical socialism.”

The Rich don’t care about the rest of us.  The philosophy is to hell with the Proletariat.  After all they are just the working class.

The debt reduction by President Biden is a nice gesture but it does not address the issue of the excessive fees to obtain a degree.

Where was Donald Trump during those four years he was president?     

 

Social Issues Will Now Be Consequential in the Presidential Race!

My theory!

Social Issues are not the really consequential topics in the presidential race!  However, President Obama and his re-election team see this as an opportunity to distract attention from the dismal condition of the economy  and his health care program.

A May 12 Associated Press article is titled “Gay marriage, abortion back in campaign spotlight“.  The first paragraph reads, “Abortion and gay marriage. For years, they’ve been lumped together as the paramount wedge issues of U.S. politics — hot-button topics in the vortex of sexuality, personal freedom and public policy.”

Vice President Joe Biden appearing on Meet the Press this past Sunday said he had no problem with two people of the same sex marrying.  That brought a substantial response from the news media but no remarks from the Republican Party.  The White House appeared to try to evade the issue even as the commentators quoted the president’s earlier statement that his views on gay and lesbian marriage were evolving.

Everyone thinks VP Biden is just a fool who can’t keep his mouth shut.  That is his reputation.  The president’s re-election committee is counting on you believing that.  So he appears on MTP this past Sunday and has the media mouths going.

What you do not realize is that the Obama team has accomplished a diversion.  Defending the president’s economic program is impossible.  They realized they needed to change the topic.  They have succeeded.  Obama’s ability to argue the social issues is his strong suite.

Romney’s strength is business and the economy.  The Republican Party wants to talk about social issues.  Obama wants to change the subject and the Republicans are giving him a gift.  The AP reports “Republicans controlling the House are pressing for cuts to food stamps, health care and pensions for federal workers as an alternative to an automatic 10 percent cut to the military next year.”  It’s a perfect diversion.