I have to ask on this one. since it sounds a little off in logic.
You said: "But it’s all connected, really. Oppression of a minority by a government is much the same thing on a bigger scale. The mechanisms in prevailing ideologies and institutions which make it easier for someone to get away with battering their partner also enable and justify official racist violence. These webs of abuse interweave, for example when a woman is brought into the United States as a domestic worker and then turned into a sex slave; the people holding her threaten to reveal her undocumented status to the INS as a way to keep her compliant.
Personal, first-hand experience can be unreliable; but it’s also the only thing we have that cannot be taken away from us. The messiness of our lives under oppression, the various survival strategies which “coincidentally” do not fit on religious moralistic laundry lists, make it more difficult for anyone to sympathize with us. That we live in a society that teaches us to compare other peoples’ lives to ideological checklists makes it easier for us to stay divided as well."
My question: Is it the government's fault for the actions of its populace? Do you blame the government of a body because someone shot someone? Or because it lets the shooting happen without consequences?
I look at the above statement and think that a statement as such can be construed to say that it is a governing body's fault for everything. Much like requesting a commanding officer to step down since someone in their company did a wrong. As if the governing body should be at fault for all crimes, whether it creates laws against the crimes or not. This is an unusual case granted. But i would hate to think there are people who actually believe that any one group of people can not only "know" everything but can also "control" everyone. Besides thinking that a government should "control" or "know" everything/everyone kinda scares my perception of privacy.
no subject
You said:
"But it’s all connected, really. Oppression of a minority by a government is much the same thing on a bigger scale. The mechanisms in prevailing ideologies and institutions which make it easier for someone to get away with battering their partner also enable and justify official racist violence. These webs of abuse interweave, for example when a woman is brought into the United States as a domestic worker and then turned into a sex slave; the people holding her threaten to reveal her undocumented status to the INS as a way to keep her compliant.
Personal, first-hand experience can be unreliable; but it’s also the only thing we have that cannot be taken away from us. The messiness of our lives under oppression, the various survival strategies which “coincidentally” do not fit on religious moralistic laundry lists, make it more difficult for anyone to sympathize with us. That we live in a society that teaches us to compare other peoples’ lives to ideological checklists makes it easier for us to stay divided as well."
My question:
Is it the government's fault for the actions of its populace? Do you blame the government of a body because someone shot someone? Or because it lets the shooting happen without consequences?
I look at the above statement and think that a statement as such can be construed to say that it is a governing body's fault for everything. Much like requesting a commanding officer to step down since someone in their company did a wrong. As if the governing body should be at fault for all crimes, whether it creates laws against the crimes or not. This is an unusual case granted. But i would hate to think there are people who actually believe that any one group of people can not only "know" everything but can also "control" everyone. Besides thinking that a government should "control" or "know" everything/everyone kinda scares my perception of privacy.
Just my 2 cents :)