Viewable on Storify here.
Dialogue on Cliven Bundy’s alleged racism
Edit
Dialogue on Cliven Bundy’s alleged racism
prefatory to a more systematic discussion of a possibly inadmissible argument
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bpsycho1’s prior discussion of the Cliven Bundy matter is at http://www.psychopolitik.com/2014/04/19/tools-for-the-job/ …
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@CK_MacLeod I don’t think him being a bigot makes the case of the gov’t any more effective. -
@CK_MacLeod @jbarro there’s a long and unfortunate history of ppl saying “freedom” when they mean cultural dominance.
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@CK_MacLeod if someone with a straight face asserts they think blacks were better off as slaves, that is bigotry.
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@CK_MacLeod only ppl I’ve heard such crap from have been right wingers.
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@CK_MacLeod if there’s a strain of “radical left” thought that slavery isn’t the worst, then they’re idiots IMO.
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@CK_MacLeod BTW: pointing out extent to which slavery type conditions apply due to prison industrial state is not the same thing.
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@CK_MacLeod yes. That isn’t equivalent to “slavery would be better than blah blah blah policy”.
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@CK_MacLeod it’s “this reminds of slavery — and should stop”
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@CK_MacLeod if he were referring to a sub class of blacks, why address “the negro”?
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@CK_MacLeod and by what criteria does he distinguish?
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@CK_MacLeod blacks described by his stereotype from blacks that don’t fit it.
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@CK_MacLeod more than slavery did?
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@CK_MacLeod rather than the welfare his prime target should be the police state & the legacy of systemic white supremacy.
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@CK_MacLeod but he would never go there, because addressing that is beyond his capacity to care.
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@CK_MacLeod most who talk about dependency never ask how so many became dependent to start with. They don’t care.
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@CK_MacLeod it’s just “my money is going to lazy ppl”. Actually it’s mostly going to war & corporate favors.
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@CK_MacLeod not saying he specifically said that.
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@CK_MacLeod it’s a ridiculous thing to “wonder” about.
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@CK_MacLeod to me it sounds like if someone were to “wonder” if the Holocaust helped Jewish people in the long run.
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@CK_MacLeod Ok I didn’t see @jbarro article about Bundy. Thought u meant some twitter shit.
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@CK_MacLeod I still think idea of ANY blacks being better off as slaves is ridiculous, but maybe Bundy isn’t deliberately anti-black.
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Note: I consider this a significant concession that, taken to be a fair judgment, either 1) puts the now common claim that Bundy is a “racist” or “made racist remarks” in doubt or 2) indicates a very highly problematic attenuation of the charge of “racism.”
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@CK_MacLeod >> “They’re agin it? I should be for it then, cuz they want to dominate me” They come 2c gov’t as “anti-cracker” >>
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@CK_MacLeod minority reaction isn’t exactly a shock. Binary political frame. >>
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@CK_MacLeod as for anti-gov’t & whites, I’ve explained that. It comes from defining of “freedom” as superiority.
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@CK_MacLeod >> Practice says otherwise, but such observation is seen as Lefty/Commie (discouraged harshly).
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The following replies directly to the above-noted concessionary statement.
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(first part: thought anyone “better off” under slavery is ridiculous; second part: not “deliberately anti-black.”
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Back to the first part:
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The twitter dialogue ends on an argument that may be taken as controversial if not absolutely inadmissible, but that I believe also must be taken as common sense, since the alternative logically implies that someone nominally or legally a “slave,” but on the verge of emancipation, manumission, self-emancipation via escape or by other material or spiritual means, etc., would still be “worse off” than a nominally or legally free individual in a state of desperation, that in other words the legal status of an individual is always more important than any other possible aspect of his or her life – so an over-valuation of legality, a pure legalism adopted without regard for actual effect, that @bpsycho1, who identifies himself as an anarchist may be better able to appreciate as unsustainable if not absurd.When an argument is taken to be repugnant or ridiculous, but is also arguably common-sensical, then we are at a contradictory moment that I believe is worthy of closer examination: A uniformity of thought has apparently been imposed at the expense of exception obvious to thought. The generally unasked and therefore unanswered question, here as in many, most, or all instances of thoughts held to be “good enough for political work,” would be how significant the exception is on its own terms, and whether and if so how it might point to understandings or potentials we cannot wish to do without. Unfortunately, extending the discussion further in regard to Cliven Bundy – whom I believe has been counter-stereotyped – would require an argument against seemingly nearly universal opinion across the political spectrum, with the only prominent holdouts among those who reflexively oppose any position or judgment originating from the left-liberal side. Fully justifying such an exercise would require more care than I presently am able to devote to it, so I will leave the matter here for now.
). Go to our 
http://libertyunyielding.com/2014/04/25/bundy-crisis-conservatives-throw-republic-bus/