dagblog - Comments for "‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency"

Can Calcio Storico, an

artappraiser — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:29:23 +0000

In reply to ‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency

Can Calcio Storico, an Ultraviolent Ancient Italian Sport, Help Heal Our Political Divides? Artist Shaun Leonardo Thinks So

In a new performance debuting at the Guggenheim, Shaun Leonardo mines ancient Italian athletics to inform a body-language-only debate.

By Tim Schneider @ Artnet.com, June 21, 2018

[....] The reason, in Leonardo’s view, owes to the way our political discourse has devolved from an earnest (if complicated) conversation into a series of prejudicial defense mechanisms. To debate an issue in contemporary times is to forge your talking points into sledgehammers in advance, then try to beat your opponent into submission with your carefully crafted words as soon as they move to present their side of the story.

“So much of that language is formulated based on who you already perceive your opponent to be,” Leonardo says. “I feel that is precisely what has worsened in the last five to 10 years [of political life]: this need, this desire to prove oneself right, not allowing for communication to take place. And so much of that stems from fear—a fear of letting go of a worldview that has provided security.”

In this context, he suggests, it isn’t a shock “that the needle hasn’t moved on any of these issues, because there is no meeting ground.” And after encountering calcio storico in this climate, Leonardo began to notice that the players’ physical strategies paralleled political partisans’ debating strategies.

For example, brandishing the same ugly language as your opponent, sinking the debate deeper into the muck? Mirroring. Trying to win an argument by simply talking over your opponent, or shifting away from the central issue to a personal attack? Shattering. Responding to a relevant question by answering an alternate one that was never asked? Deflecting. Think of it as rhetorical trench warfare.

In that sense, Primitive Games contests the notion that solving our most virulent political problems requires more conversation [....]

Gallup has Trump approval at

rmrd0000 — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:32:59 +0000

In reply to ‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency

Gallup has Trump approval at 45%

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/trump-approval-rating-gallup-poll-obama-popularity/

This is the same as Obama’s at this point in his Presidency.

Edit to add:

Another unarmed black teen murdered by police.

https://blackamericaweb.com/2018/06/21/lawyer-no-apparent-justification-for-fatal-shooting-of-teen-antwon-rose/

The officer who shot the teen had been sworn in 90 minutes earlier

http://www.wtae.com/article/teenager-shot-and-killed-by-police-during-traffic-stop-in-east-pittsburgh/21696318

Life in the United States. The tinder box.

People who voted for Trump

rmrd0000 — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 11:56:03 +0000

In reply to ‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency

People who voted for Trump knew that he was a racist. They did not care. Societal anxiety played more of a role in the Trump vote than economic anxiety. Law enforcement has a habit of shooting unarmed blacks. Organizations pushed back against police abuse, but nothing changed. BlackLivesMatter came along and shook things up. There was great outcry that BLM’s behavior was inappropriate. As time went on Bernie Sanders started joining BLM led marches. Black protests are never accepted initially, even by so-called allies. NFL players silently take a knee during the national anthem to protest police abuse. Fake news allows the protest to be cast as unpatriotic. An NFL quarterback has been blacklisted for protesting. A black NHL player says that he will not attend a White House celebration because of Trump’s racism. We are told that we should give the hockey team some time because surely they will make a statement about police abuse as a team. So far, crickets.

Police abuse continues because that is what society wants. The only way to resist is to elect a different set of legislators. Of course, when you do outreach, that will be criticized as well.

I wrote about empathy

artappraiser — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 06:35:40 +0000

In reply to ‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency

I wrote about empathy becoming Orwellian: https://t.co/gxmGheI8sS
— Megan Garber (@megangarber) June 20, 2018

excerpt:

And yet: Ann Coulter has found a way to deny it. Her repeated accusation—“child actors weeping and crying”—is attempting to destabilize not just the facts on the ground, but also another kind of truth: the emotions most humans will feel, automatically, in response to children who cry in agony. Coulter’s warning to the world leader responsible for the tragedy—Do not fall for it, Mr. President—is a repetition of the logic deployed by some as a matter of moral reflex in response to the otherwise unimaginable, and otherwise inarguable, tragedies of Newtown, and Parkland, and so many others: They’re just actors, those people will insist. It’s all fake, they will assure. It is a moral claim as much as a factual one: You don’t have to act. You don’t even have to care. You can look away from this and still manage to look at yourself in the mirror.

Makes some interesting

artappraiser — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 02:15:26 +0000

In reply to ‘A blowtorch to the tinder’: Stoking racial tensions is a feature of Trump’s presidency

Makes some interesting related points; cavaet emptor, though, as it cites the type of psychological studies that the very same author has been busy debunking on Vox elsewhere! I guess if one likes to have a piece vetted for reliability of psychological study conclusions, he's not a bad author to pick?

Donald Trump and the disturbing power of dehumanizing language

Dehumanization is already prevalent in America. We don’t need anyone — especially Trump — stoking it further.

By Brian Resnick @ Vox.com, Updated Jun 20, 2018, 5:41pm EDT

[....] Dehumanization kick-starts a vicious cycle

And that’s only part of the problem.

In his studies, Kteily also looked at what happens when people feel like they’re being dehumanized. And here, the research predicts a vicious cycle.

“Those who dehumanize are more likely to support hostile policies, and those who are dehumanized feel less integrated into society and are more likely to support exactly the type of aggressive responses ... that may accentuate existing dehumanizing perceptions,” he wrote in the 2017 paper.

As the vicious cycle intensifies, the whole country becomes a more hostile, less safe place for everyone.

Do Trump’s dehumanizing views trickle down?

The fact that the president, who has enormous power to make life better or worse for immigrant communities, has dehumanizing views is disquieting enough.

But psychological research suggests that Trump’s rhetoric also encourages people who already have prejudicial views to act on those views.

“I don’t think Trump created new prejudices in people — not that quickly and not that broadly. What he did do is change people’s perceptions about what is okay and what is not okay,” University of Kansas psychologist Chris Crandall said in a 2017 interview [....]