> For someone to want to restore a men only institution could well be a > desire to return to misogyny, but it might not. I'm not sure that we > should immediately assume they're > > just a bunch of scumbag racists. And sexists. And almost > certainly anti-Semites. >
I can't expect someone in Australia to understand the dynamic of the American South, just as I can't be expected to understand Australian social dynamics. Let me assure you, the men proposing to start this new "Southern Military Institute" are definitely racist and sexist, and based on what I know of similar people, I have no doubt they harbor anti-Jewish feelings too. As far as people saying, "Well, I didn't cause the previous discrimination, so why should I be discriminated against?" - funny, innit, how these people never PROTESTED the previous discrimination either? How they never said a word AGAINST discrimination until they became (in their own self-pitying minds) victims? You get (up here, at least) racist scum like Trent Lott and Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms and Bob Barr who not once in their lives ever said a single word against Jim Crow, and have even benefitted politically from pandering to the racist resentment of the good ol' boys, but who get all hot and bothered by what they call "reverse discrimination." In my eyes, they would at least have a tiny semblance of moral authority if they had ever, even once, sincerely condemned the racism and discrimination they themselves once publicly exhibited, and basically still do, even if they try to dissemble when they think no one from the New York Times is listening. People who say, "Well, racism is bad, but I didn't do it, and reverse discrimination is worse," to me know nothing about real discrimination (and have a responsibility to learn), don't really object to racism, and are basically selfish, self-pitying, mean-spirited immature little creeps who need a scapegoat to blame for their own problems. And politicians who pander to them are even worse; it's a lot easier just to tell these jerks that they're 100% right and all their problems are someone else's fault than it is to take responsibility for not doing anything to help anybody, for not owning up to and truly repenting for their own racist pasts (and, in most cases, racist presents), and for attempting to lead the way toward true reconciliation for everyone. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org www.mercerjewishsingles.org "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the last." - Dr Jerry Pournelle _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
