[John K.]

As one of the white men who answered the question you are refering to, I wonder why you feel such a need to mischaracterize the responses. None of them attempt to justify the actions of the past. There is a difference between giving an explanation and a justification. Outlining the progression of European history as a means of explaining the Western European domination is not a form of advocacy. You state that all of the white male responders seem to be "versed and immersed in the belief that the only existence is depletion of everything different." None of the prior responses indicate this, so I do not understand why you would draw the conclusions that you have. If anything, your response implies a bias against white males, in that you seem to say that all white males feel a need to destroy that which is different. Is this really what you are trying to say?

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Actually, if you take that statement completely literally, black Americans are not the only ones excluded from the party. It would seem that anyone not of Jewish descent would be out of luck, which would include a huge number of whites and nonwhites of every color and creed. Christianity would be nothing more than a farce, for all purposes. Then again, the Bible is known for having a great many contradictions, many of which relate to the teachings, life, and interpretations of Jesus. Remember that the authors of the books had their own ideas about how things should be interpreted. If the writers of the gospels were Jewish, and saw Jesus as the Messiah, then they would believe that he was there to liberate the Jewish people, first and foremost. The matter of Gentile salvation would have come later. (Of course, that is ignoring the fact that the gospels were all written decades after Jesus died.)

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Floyd, I think you need to check your history regarding the Chinese. As I recall, the Chinese have always assumed a genetic superiority over other cultures. The Great Wall was nothing more than a large-scale equivalent of a medieval moat. In other words, it was for defensive purposes that did not in any way preclude invasion of other lands. Modern Chinese philosophy certainly includes justifications for domination and hegemony ... ask Taiwan, Japan or South Korea if you doubt that fact. Also, there are a number of examples of African empires that sought to expand back in the period before European colonialism took control of everything under the sun.

As a side note, I will admit that I agree with your conclusions about religion playing a part in the assumptions of manifest destiny. However, I wonder if you tred a little too closely toward racism when you generalize about the behavior and motivations of all "white" people. There are a number of "white" ethnic groups that were treated just as badly, if not worse, as non-whites throughout history. To ascribe the actions of culturally dominant European powers to all "whites" simply cannot be justified.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Actually, there is some truth in what you say, but you are leaving out some very important details. The reason that some nonwhites can claim that 'the white man' is to blame for nonwhite problems is historically very simple. In general, whites have dominated nonwhites in this country, through slavery, politics, economics, etc. This resulted in less opportunity and a distinct lack of equality. This has slowly been changing since the dawn of civil rights. However, the changes do not come quickly. Laws can help to shape society, but the attitudes and prejudices must change as well. That takes more time. Recent statistics have shown that nonwhites believe they have more opportunity than in the past, and other statistics show that the per capita household income for nonwhites continues to increase. Now to your point. There are a number of nonwhites who make very poor decisions and then wish to attribute those decisions and the resulting consequences on whites. Oddly enough, there are also many whites who make similar poor decisions who then attempt to blame their problems on nonwhites. Both positions are based in a lack of personal responsibility. No matter how many years of slavery preceded civil rights, it is not the white man's fault if a nonwhite refuses to go to school and get an education, thus resulting in a low-income job or unemployment. On the same token, white people with little or no education have no logical basis for blaming immigration for their lack of work.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

I believe the media influences dress and body image to a certain extent, but it would be a mistake to assume this is true only for young women. Young men are held to a standard as well, even if it is not as obvious. When was the last time your typical male teen with spotty complexion and average muscle tone was portrayed as popular and desirable by young women? The blade cuts both ways.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

I find it interesting that you offer political conservatism as a cause for the racism in the West. That seems to be the politically correct thing to do these days. In actuality, there is something very different happening in that area. I had a friend from Montana whom I discussed this with at some length a few years ago. He mentioned that most of the white people he knew saw Indians as a constant threat and hardly ever thought about black people. However, the opposite seems to happen here in the Northeast. Why? Out of sight, out of mind. Hate groups go into these areas where whites know little or nothing about non-whites and play on the "fear of the unknown." They push certain stereotypes until their new recruits believe what they hear. It is not unlike a religious cult, and there are undercurrents of that phenomenon. Ever notice how lots of hate groups twist the religious beliefs of people to their own ends? The KKK considers themselves to be Christians, just as the Nation of Islam considers itself to be Muslim.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

To G.E. Long: Let me make sure I understand this line of thinking. Most cops are white. White people are all racist and hate black people. So white cops make sure that blacks are sent to prison, because white cops are all racist. At least, this is what you seem to be saying.

However, it seems to me that a majority of the blacks being sent to prison actually commit a crime for which the sentence is imprisonment. So regardless of the attitude of the cops, those blacks would still have committed a crime, and therefore be sent to prison.

By the same token, if your accusation is true, you assume that white racist cops would arrest more white people for similar crimes if they were not racist.

Makes sense. But notice that this would not decrease the number of blacks in prison. Why? Because the crimes are still being "committed." The only logical difference is one of enforcement. White racist cops can only decide who to arrest, not whether they go to prison.

So if what you say is true, then ultimately, the easiest way to decrease the number of blacks in prison is for blacks to not commit crimes - same as everybody else.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

An atheist does not believe there is a God or supreme being. An agnostic believes it is not possible to prove either way that there is or is not a God or supreme being, and even if you assume there is a God, God cannot be fully understood or defined. Some people might think that it qualifies as an "undecided" position, but it is stronger than that. Agnostics allow for the existence of a God, for instance, while atheists do not. It's essentially a "we don't know, so let's not assume anything" stance. Of course, different people who refer to themselves as agnostics will have different opinions.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Despite the claims of religious freedom in this country, there is a definite bias toward Christianity. My tendency to avoid organized religion has caused me some problems now and then. My wife and I were almost denied the right to be married in a church because I was not 'Catholic enough.' Some Christians will even say Catholics are not Christian, but when push comes to shove, Christians will accept Catholics long before they will accept members of other faiths. I tend toward the agnostic view while studying religion to seek my own answers, but I constantly find myself having to 'play Christian' in order to avoid difficulty. So while I would have no problem voting for a Jewish presidential candidate (assuming he or she had similar political views), I doubt such a candidate would win without great struggle.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

I would think that most parents feel some degree of guilt over having to place their children in child care. Sure, there are examples of parents who ship their kids off to someone else so they don't have to deal with them, but that is the exception, not the rule. My wife and I are facing that decision right now. Neither one of us earns enough money to pay all of the bills on our own, so both of us have to work to get by. Also, it is not practical for either one of us to work part-time, so that option is out. The only real option that we have is daycare, which we would prefer not to do. Thankfully, we have a few good options for day care, so the comfort level is somewhat alleviated. But it's a very tough choice, and I worry over it constantly. Maybe some other options will present themselves when the time comes, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

You wanted to know whether your figures were correct. They are not. The following comes from an article dated 7/14/99, using figures from 1995, which is the last year from which figures are available. The top 1 percent of earners (above $210,000) earned only 14.6 percent of U.S. income. They paid over 30 percent of U.S. federal income taxes. The top 5 percent of earners (above $96,000) earned over 28% of US income. They paid 48.8% of U.S. federal income taxes. The top 25% of earners (above $44,000) earned over 73% of U.S. income. They paid over 80% of U.S. federal income taxes. The top 50% of earners (above $22,000) earned 85.5% of U.S. income. They paid 95.4% of US federal income taxes. The bottom 50% of earners (under $22,000) earned 14.5% of US income. They paid 4.6% of U.S. federal income taxes. So your numbers are way off, especially when you consider that many of the working class make more than $22,000. Now, you can debate whether there is a difference between earning a certain amount of income andcontrolling income, but I suspect that such definitions would be highly subjective. If you look at the figures, the middle class stretches pretty far up the percentages, certainly into the top 25%. Even the top 5% are merely well off, not too far removed from upper middle class. And depending on how you define "rich," even some of the top 1% do not quite make it. So based on this information, I would say that people who honestly made enough money to be in the top 40% (which would be people earning roughly $80,000) should not feel guilty at all. Most of those people simply worked hard to get a good college education and succeed at what they did. Why feel guilty about that?

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Kurt: If blacks act 'rude' towards whites, then this will somehow make white racists think twice...that seems wrong to me. Just from common sense, it would seem that 'rude' behavior by blacks would simply fuel the racist fire, by providing the racists with more examples to justify their point of view. That trend certainly applies in this part of the country. The racists use the 'bad attitude' of some nonwhites to justify their beliefs. So I do not understand how your methods could work.

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Actually, Meadow, you are incorrect. Incidents of improper action by child protection services abound. These incidents are constantly being exposed in the media. Child protection services are notorious for acting on information that can only be characterized as suspect, based on their interpretation of their mandate. Most of the incidents I have heard and read do not come from the movies, but rather from the news. There are plenty of parents who have their kids taken away in the middle of the night based on someone's anonymous phone call, who then spend years trying to get their kids back. Sure, I agree that there are actual cases of abuse that must be dealt with, but child protection services seem to be overzealous in the manner in which they operate.

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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

I just thought that I would add to Zawadi's very clear and justified stance on legalizing marijuana. A number of people seem to say that MJ is non-addictive. This is clearly not the case. Whether it is physically/chemically addictive or not, it is obviously psychologically addictive. The fact that it is less damaging than more hardcore drugs is a moot point. It is still damaging. In my point of view, it comes down to a matter of supply and demand. If the demand continues to be high, our 'war' against the suppliers will never be successful. The only way to end drug use is to eliminate the demand. And as with alcohol and tobacco, that is going to be very difficult. After all, society today believes that if you demand a product, it is the supplier's fault if they give it to you. I say, eliminate the demand, and the supplier will no longer have a reason to sell!

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

Actually, I found more people who were offended by the race with the extremely stereotypical Asian accents. I suppose a few Christians might find aliens worshipping idols a problem, but I would imagine those same Christians would also be offended by the Force. I suppose it depends on how seriously you want to take Star Wars in general. I mean, take the original trilogy. Ever notice how all of the evil Empire characters speak with British accents?

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Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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