Burger King is introducing a new version of their iconic "Whopper" called the Taylor Swift. It comes with no buns, very little meat and a pimento.
And, in other news...
In one of those headlines that makes me go "Huh?", the Daily Mail reports that "black" students (and what is with the lower-case "b"?) and Somalian students had a race riot in Minnesota. I thought Somali people were "(b)Black".
For those who are unclear on where Somalia is:
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| Africa. Yellow shaded region is the Sahara Desert. Country circled in red is Somalis. Immediately below Somalia is Kenya, home of Barack Obama's father. Barack Obama, you will remember, was the United States' first Black President. |
Of course, it makes sense if you remove the now ubiquitous (and therefore meaningless) word "race" and insert "Tribal".
Groups at the bottom of the economic ladder have always displayed the most vigorous tribalism. The new immigrant Irish in the 1870s felt pressured by freed Blacks from the south. Immigrants from eastern-Europe (called Hunkies back in the day) were pressured by Italians and Blacks and Hispanics and so-on and so-forth.
The root-cause of the competition at the bottom of the economic ladder is that unskilled-labor is a commodity. The color of the guy at the end of the shovel doesn't matter and a wave of people coming into the country who are willing to work just a little-bit-cheaper is a HUGE threat to your upward mobility. That was the old model.
The cynics will say that the new "industry" for the people at the bottom of the economic ladder is to vote every two years and to riot when they are told to.
You can make a case that tribalism still exists higher up the economic food-chain but that it is not as overt. Economic advantage is gained or denied in less kinetic ways at those levels, a whispered innuendo, an unsubstantiated allegation or the insertion of corrupted data in a file.
Tribalism - the behaviour of siding with, acting with and for the benefit of 'people like us' is found at every level, and in every demographic ... except white, Christian, hetero males.
ReplyDeleteEvery other demographic group (be it women, gays, blacks, "hispanics", "asians" or muslims, not to mention leftists) acts 'en bloc' for their, and only their, benefit. In fact the 'only' group which doesn't act in such a 'tribal' manner is, the aforementioned white, Christian, hetero males (this is not as obvious as you'd expect since it is 'deliberately' obfuscated by the "class" tribe and FRINO tribes - that's faux religious in name only, otherwise known as leftists - both of which 'do' vote/act tribally, included in them to excuse such behaviour as universal).
Whilst not as "overt", in it is displayed in a different manner (i.e. without all the machetes and bloodshed) it is still ... overt enough (anyone who hasn't seen the overt display of the womens lobby/tribe, the elitist tribe, or the LGBTQWERTY tribe is either blind or ... lying).
I'd argue that tribalism is a natural part of the human condition. Civilisation, amongst its many and sundry benefits, has the effect of 'expanding' the definition of 'people like us', the tribe (for example the disparate peoples who have almost nothing else in common with each other other than a shared love of country and Constitution).
So these, ever growing, examples of 'regressive/barbaric' tribalism are both a cause, and a symptom of the destruction of a united country, culture and even the very existence of civilisation.
Until, I suspect, those self-same white, Christian hetero males decide to ... tribalise themselves (and regain control) this will continue (and get much, much worse. And the longer it takes until they do, the worse the 'cost' will be).
I beg to disagree - 'tribalism' experienced first-hand whilst growing up in Newark/Vailsburg section between Italians and Irish and German and other eastern European 'white folk'.
DeleteSorry ANON 0703 but I respectfully disagree. Minority set asides were created so purchasing agents had to give some contracts to "those people". Tribalism is a natural phenomenon. The economic pressure and just plain politics seems to bring it out in full force
DeleteI have to agree with Gerry and Anon 7:29.
DeleteYou only have to look at Northern Ireland and both sides of "the troubles" call themselves Christian. You can quibble that they aren't REAL Christians based on how they act but that is after-the-fact quarterbacking.
Sidney Harris claimed that many things that appear murky and unexplainable become much simpler when viewed through the lens of access-to-resources. Environments where resources are a zero-sum-game experience brutal competition. Environments where most of the people buy into the concept that more resources can be created if more people work have competition but not like the zero-sum-game environments.
OK, granted to each and every one of you, and your accurate examples, but (you just knew there'd be a but, didn't you) ...
DeleteI was 'subjected' daily, as student nurse, to a "struggle session" where examples of exclusion, bias, second-class citizenship, etc. occurred, vilifying white males for 'victimizing' women, blacks, gays, etc. Except, every, single example occurred in the past (and mostly far in the past) or (usually) somewhere else (and we'll gloss over the fact that they cherry-picked examples, and painted with a broad brush - my reply that rather than control, berate and abuse the women/black/gays ancestors, they would have been whipped, hanged or deported for not bowing low enough 'to' them, or just sent to war to die 'for' those 'poor' rich others ancestors. Let's just say, that didn't go down well. Apparently I was supposed to feel guilty and abase myself despite being the very second-class citizen, truthfully twenty-seventh class, last in line for, and blamed for everything, ... right here, right now).
So, like I said, you are all entirely correct (that it happened in the past), but can you find examples ... here and now? It's like the slavery argument, that it was endemic, everybody did it, but ... failing to mention that only white, Christian people said it was wrong, and stopped it. Or that all those who complain most about it 'now', still practice it 'now'.
So my (opinion only) statement stands. Did white men do so in the past (and in certain limited areas)? Yes, undoubtedly. Do they do it now? No. But everyone who complains about them (and their power and privilege) ... does.
The blacks born and raised in Minneapolis have long hated the Somalis because so many of them were given "refugee" status. When an immigrant is granted "refugee" status they have won a small economic lottery. Free everything, plus a sizable monthly check.
ReplyDeleteThe blacks watched them move into their apartment buildings, never go to a job, and then suddenly have nice vehicles to drive. This enraged them. They also watched as the Somalis used their EBT food stamps (which they didn't need) to buy soda pop and other such items and sell them for cash at the local halal store. The halal store would mark the items up but still sell for less than anywhere else. The Coke and Pepsi distributors didn't say a word because it was a hot potato politically.
That has been going on in MPLS for at least 20 years. Way back when I lived in the area ( never again). My favorite that I heard back then ( American Black Teen-ABT " Hey go back to where you came from !! " Samlian teen " Emmm where do you think you guys came from first?" Lots of culture differences in addition to the " refugee" status difference. Religion was often different. Many ABT families are Christian. Many Somalian familes are Muslim-Islam. Language difference. American Black slang vs Somali dialect - or English often spoken midwest-Anglo style. The list goes on and on.
DeleteAnd yet again we see the wisdom of staying away from crowds and cities...
ReplyDeleteJonathan
The situation is analogous to inflation. There is too many people chasing too few jobs. The solution is obviously to create more jobs or get rid of more people. I let you figure out which is going to happen.
ReplyDeleteOle Grump on the dry side.
My father's grandparents emigrated from Sweden (father) and Norway (mother). My mother' ancestors are Welsh, English/Irish with one branch here long enough she could join DAR. When they were courting in the 50's her father was heard to say 'he didn't want his daughter marrying some stubborn Swede'... So Anon@ 7:03, tell me again how white people aren't tribal??
ReplyDeleteHmm, I'm assuming your mother and father married (and she was given away by that grumpy Grandad, despite the usual "not good enough for our daughter" grumblings. Probably paid for the wedding/honeymoon too, then got drunk with the 'hated' Swedish dad)?
DeleteTribal would have been her locked away (or just 'honour killed'), him beaten or hacked to death (with as many of his family as were needed/available to send the message).
I'll just bet Grandad also worked, socialised, went to church, did business and probably fought beside those American (Swedes)? Right?
My mothers family claimed to hate my fathers because ... they came from a different village (about ten miles distant) 'back home'. But that was just, the usual, 'family' squabbling (and God forbid a real 'outsider' attack 'any' of them, when they'd all unite).
Hint: that ain't tribal, that's just 'people being people'. They like/trust people like them, until they get used to/know the 'other'. Tribal is when they know the other, but still attack them, not just anyway, but because.
Humans are inherently tribal. Whether or no you accept that fact does nothing to change it. And some of those tribes are inherently violent. Another fact you ignore at your own peril.
ReplyDeleteNodder problem, tribal warlord type with six wives all collecting gov. subsidies, sits and sharpens his knives when social services come around.
ReplyDelete