Carrol writes:
> >The horrors of U.S. capitalism are clear and overwhelming enough even on
> >the stats as they come to us, no matter how twisted. So why this endless
> >argument about the margins of the substance we know without haggling?
> >
> >Carrol
>
Because the stats "as they come to us" seem to indicate significant gains-not the "horrors" which you indicate, particularly for women and minorities. To accept the liberals' framework for discussion on this point, particularly when the reality may very well be otherwise, is a misguided rhetorical and organizational strategy.
Yoshie writes:
> In my case (I don't speak for John Halle), I have a modest political
> proposal: to challenge the black & feminist Talented Tenth
> (represented, for instance, by NAACP, NARAL, etc.). I've been
> annoyed by the Nader/Green campaign's lukewarm & lackluster responses
> to the challenges from liberal blacks & feminists. I think that the
> Nader/Green campaign should have properly studied economic stats;
> demonstrated that _black & feminist Talented Tenths have indeed
> economically benefited from the Clinton years whilst the poorest
> blacks & women suffered from them_;
Absolutely. But given that no one, even on this list, can point me to any published account of these phenomena, we were not on strong grounds to do this. Of course, we can all refer to numerous instances of women and blacks operating successfully within the highest levels of the power structure (that Bush may very well appoint two Blacks to two high level cabinet positions may help us out) but for a white male to point out anecdotal instances of this sort moves one very quickly over to Buchanan territory. (Incidentally, that we don't have non-whites to make this point for us is consistent with your larger point.) In any case, it should come as no surprise that this is rhetorical ground which we stayed off of during the campaign.
Speaking of which, what ever happened to the charge of "tokenism?" I haven't heard it in years, but isn't that really the easiest description of the reality we're discussing? Part of the problem may be that the entity exists, but we have eliminated from our lexicon the term which identifies it.
Best,
John