Comments on: Obamacare is the New N Word http://www.JLCauvin.com/wordpress/?p=1149 Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:02:27 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Edward Ayres http://www.JLCauvin.com/wordpress/?p=1149&cpage=1#comment-71 Edward Ayres Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:20:25 +0000 http://www.JLCauvin.com/wordpress/?p=1149#comment-71 The most difficult racial prejudices to conquer are those you are not aware you have. Most people do not consider themselves racist, feeling they have progressed beyond it because they may share a neighborhood or a workplace with people different than themselves. Getting in touch with remaining, culturally transmitted prejudice is difficult. They easily manifest under great stress and we are living in one of those moments. Many people have had their faith in the entire system shattered by the economic meltdown, loss of jobs to other countries, and the feeling they have completely lost control of their destinies and security. They should be criticizing the system that sold them down the river but are terrified of being angry at an economic system that has been skillfully conflated with our political system. To criticize it is to criticize democracy and freedom, threatening basic beliefs about about what it is be an American. Their solution, of course, is to increase one's sense of victimhood, displace the anger to it's most convenient target – Obama. He has become the vessel for all the frustrations and fears of economic insecurity so many formerly secure middle-class, white people took for granted. In these circumstances, they are too easily influenced by hysteria ginned up by right-wing ideologues, cynical, and furious over their loss of power in Washington, and willing to say or do anything to reclaim it. Obama, is by nature, a collaborator, and policy formulated from the the bottom up is a very different experience for people. The speech to Congress last week was a great reminder of the Obama we voted for, a man in command of himself, and sure in the knowledge of what he wants. I hope we see much of that Obama from this point forward. That's the guy I voted for. The most difficult racial prejudices to conquer are those you are not aware you have. Most people do not consider themselves racist, feeling they have progressed beyond it because they may share a neighborhood or a workplace with people different than themselves. Getting in touch with remaining, culturally transmitted prejudice is difficult. They easily manifest under great stress and we are living in one of those moments. Many people have had their faith in the entire system shattered by the economic meltdown, loss of jobs to other countries, and the feeling they have completely lost control of their destinies and security. They should be criticizing the system that sold them down the river but are terrified of being angry at an economic system that has been skillfully conflated with our political system. To criticize it is to criticize democracy and freedom, threatening basic beliefs about about what it is be an American. Their solution, of course, is to increase one’s sense of victimhood, displace the anger to it’s most convenient target – Obama. He has become the vessel for all the frustrations and fears of economic insecurity so many formerly secure middle-class, white people took for granted. In these circumstances, they are too easily influenced by hysteria ginned up by right-wing ideologues, cynical, and furious over their loss of power in Washington, and willing to say or do anything to reclaim it.

Obama, is by nature, a collaborator, and policy formulated from the the bottom up is a very different experience for people. The speech to Congress last week was a great reminder of the Obama we voted for, a man in command of himself, and sure in the knowledge of what he wants. I hope we see much of that Obama from this point forward. That’s the guy I voted for.

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