Why have political parties become so polarized that they fail to address the concerns of most Americans?
Hi Sam...hope you are coming back next season! I have been blogging about this issue for many months and could not agree more that we need a true independent party system that allows all parties access to the electorate, first, in the Primaries then in the General Election. I also favor term limits for all elective office holders. Currently our system is tightly controlled by the major parties and lobbyists, making it nearly impossible for truly representative government. We need to send a message - Politicians who do not listen and do not do what is best for us will be replaced. What amazes me is the fact that polling showed that Congress was rated lower than President Bush prior to the 2006 Election. There was a shift in power because of it, yet, they still haven't gotten the message. We want performance of our wishes! Groups such as Unity08 are a step in that direction. ______________________ Jim DeSantis publishes political commentary at http://on-line-tribune-front-page.blogspot.com . Guests commentary is invited.
Why blacks have the highest rate of hiv cases?
Why are so many people saying that it's because of the AIDs epidemic in Africa, when the report you've put a link to clearly states that the research was carried out in the USA? I rather suspect that they didn't read the report. It is more likely to be due to the cultural differences, and the economic circumstances, of the ethic groups. I understand that the black population are more likely to have more sexual partners, and are probably less likely to use condoms, which are the most effective method of preventing the transmission of HIV. I don't think that the rates of HIV in the USA have very much to do with something happening in a country 4,000 miles away.
Is the degradation of black women an issue for white feminists?
Rebel The right of black (men) to vote was recognized under the Constitution before the right of women to vote was. However, various laws, intimidation, and murder were used to prevent blacks (men and women) from voting as recently as the mid-1960s. And obstruction and intimidation targeted at black voters has been documented as recently as 2000 in Florida and 2004 in Ohio. I don't know of similar efforts to specifically prevent white women from voting since the 1920s. the wage gap between black men and white men is greater than the wage gap between white women and white women. The wage gap between black women and white men is even greater. And the wage gap between the races actually INCREASES with education, unlike the wage gap for white women and men. And please do not try to equate African chattel slavery with the oppression of white women. It is deeply offensive to draw such comparisons and it undermines cooperation between disenfranchised groups with many shared concerns.
Is Racism Really the Major Obstacle Facing Blacks Or Something Else?
"The Bell Curve", and another book "IQ And Nation's Wealth", point toward the primary problem. American blacks have an average 85 IQ. People are always talking about leveling the playing field, and they just keep blaming teachers. It is not the playing field, and it is not the teachers or the schools. A cold hard fact is that blacks as a group simply are not as intelligent as whites as a group. Nothing is going to work until we begin working from reality rather than liberal wishes and baseless beliefs.
Why is this country so divided by Race and Religion?
I agree with you on everything, as we have the same problems in the UK. You are not allowed to open your mouth, about any of the thousands of Immigrants that have poured in to our Country, and as we have no work...all our Industries have gone abroad... they arrive and go straight onto our generous benefits, get houses free of Rent...etc. We are a very small Island, and have always been called "the green green grass of England " but we are going to lose that very shortly because Housing is covering our green spaces, and even spreading onto our famous Yorkshire Moors. We will become a Land of buildings, without a blade of grass to be seen, !! I pity any future generations because they will not know what beauty we had to look at, because it will be no more at the rate of that this devastation which is taking place. The powers that be will have a lot to answer for when they have completed their destruction of this once beautiful Country.
Do black South Africans want white South Africans to leave the country?
Yes. Many do. There is a growing and disconcerting number of Black South Africans who believe that a nationalist point of view means their country belongs to "them". They believe in paying injustice with justice. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Mercy for no one. However, I have noticed that there is a new age of "conservatism" that is sweeping many countries across the world. Disillusioned people are very easy to manipulate and work into frenzies. Not to make excuses for the German, but the psyche of the common German after the first world war is what made it very easy for Hitler's regime to become widespread and indoctrinated in Germany at the time. They were very disillusioned. I've seen it today with Greek friends, French friends, and now with my South African friends as well. There is a rise of conservatism in Europe that has outrightly racist, islamophobic, anti-Roma, anti-immigration views etc. It brands itself "nationalism", and it feeds off of fears, disappointments and disillusionment. In South Africa now, there is a compounding of disillusionment with the economic progress of the country, the leadership of the country, the distribution of power in the country. A lot of the hope that was There in the struggle has turned into disappointment. There is also fear spread widely about immigration into the country. The country is ripe for racist propaganda being fronted as "nationalist agenda". So unfortunately, yes. Many South Africans want whites to leave. And these ideas are propagated even further by leaders who constantly ingrained them in the people. Leaders who are preying on the psyche of disillusioned South Africans. South African history is very complicated. I don't think I will ever be able to understand the nuances of it all. I live in South Africa right now, and I understand a little better due to immersion. However, even when I make observations, I am unable to visualise what a viable solution would be. Similar to how it's incomprehensible to try and solve the Israel-Palestine conflict. I sadly don't know what the possible solution would be.