Reading this week

I found Robert Reich this week, and was impressed by this article and this video arguing that the divide is no longer between left and right, it is between oligarchy and democracy.

I've been dubious about the traditional left-right divide, albeit more in the old and, in my view, outmoded idea of "who controls the means of production", as I consider the good aspects of the tech revolution and bad developments like the gig economy have blurred, smashed and made irrelevant the old neat and clean divide between owners and workers. I've also been concerned about the growth of the actively used power of society's elites, but this is the first time I've come across the oligarchy vs. democracy divide posed as the replacement for left-right.

Concern over the applicability of left-right has also come up in my nation, with an ALP MP, generally considered to be on the right, has urged her colleagues to move beyond thinking in terms of the left-right classification. I share her concerns about the need to "recalibrate how it campaigns to change minds rather than confirm pre-existing biases", which ties in with something said by Barack Obama that I'll come to shortly, and also share her admiration for Jacinda Ardern, but I have concerns about her comments on bigotry.

A fact that everyone who is not on the receiving end of discrimination needs to understand is that being discriminated against hurts - as an example, I've often compared being misgendered to being stabbed.

That's not an exaggeration, and misgendering does contribute to suicide.

Those (cisgendered) activists who claim there is evidence to support that things like the N word are bad but not misgendering need to pull their heads out of their backsides and start listening to the clamour around them saying that there is.

So-called political correctness is not about a minor level of comfort: it is about ensuring people can stay alive.

There were many same sex/same gender attracted people (including me) during the Equal Marriage so-called "debate" who could not engage because it was just an excuse for the bigots to start trashing people again. I wonder if those who could engage have lived with decades of abuse that had driven many of us to the point of suicide.

Nevertheless, the point about engaging in a way that enables bigots - and they are that, no matter what their reason for being thus is - to change is valid.

If those people do stop being bigots, I hope they understand that they cannot glibly say "sorry" and expect friendship and forgiveness. They have done far too much damage for that to ever happen. Expecting forgiveness is really expecting not have to make genuine recompense.

Now, going back to the ALP MP's article, there was an excellent critique of the article and the ALP which, to borrow a phrase, called out both for misrepresenting the ALP as progressive. Although I can also say that there are certainly elements of the ALP that are truly progressive, I also consider the article made some truly excellent points about the importance of so-called political correctness, and the need for an inspiring leaders.

"Rather than suggest Ardern is a way forward, maybe ALP types should ponder why Ardern exists in the NZLP and not the ALP. Ponder where, for example, is an Australian Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – because it sure as heck is not in the ALP."

Now, the critique also mentioned Obama's speech this week. I actually agree with Obama's sentiment that no-one is perfect, and that people should not be judgemental. Nevertheless, people who are discriminating, and that is an act of bigotry, MUST change - for their sake, as well as for the sakes of their victims and society more broadly.

Obama's quote can be found here, from about 56m:28s, and is:

“And this idea of purity, and you’re never compromised, and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff, you should get over that quickly. The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids and share certain things with you . . . ”

It's all interesting, and worth some contemplation, in my opinion.

One final article that I consider worth reading is "Five ways to work out if a company is serious about tackling modern slavery" - it is excellent list.