From: phil osborn (philosborn@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Sep 15 1999 - 08:30:40 MDT
>From: "Elizabeth Childs" <echilds@linex.com>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.com
>To: <extropians@extropy.com>
>Subject: Re: META: Neanderthal Attitudes
>Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 21:49:06 -0700
>
>From: Kathryn Aegis <k_aegis@mindspring.com>
THE MOST BASIC PROBLEM that women face is the same that blacks face. In
both women's culture - taken en masse, because there are always the
individual exceptions - and black culture - with the same caveate (and of
course, I'm speaking only about the U.S. in both cases) there is a virtually
absolute refusal to look at their own problems and deal with them. Instead,
whites or men or white men are blamed for everything, and any attempt to
point out the drastic problems that are generated within their own culture
is taken as an attack. Or, another perspective, neither culture has very
much respect for the truth an sich. After all, concepts of truth and logic
are all part of the Eurocentric male weltanshauung, and therefore inherently
subject to doubt.
I have spent a lot of time and money doing volunteer work in the black
community - providing computers and computer training mostly - and the
people I helped out are very happy to have gotten that leg up, as their own
community was utterly failing them. In the process, my life was in clear
danger on numerous occasions simply because I was white. I don't know of
any comparable situation in the general white community - where a black
volunteer would be in danger of losing their life just because they were
black.
When women or blacks en masse decide to make the simple truth the number one
priority, then there is hope for them. Meanwhile, the smarter, rational
ones will leave their respective ghettos as soon as they can.
The associated problem is that for both women and blacks there is an
expectation of certain behaviors on the part of everyone. Blacks have about
the same expectation of other blacks as whites do. I don't know about
women, although I note that anyone elected was elected with the support of
the 60% women voter majority - and most of the those elected are white
males. Thus, I suspect that women also have low expectations for other
women in general.
It only takes 10% of an identifiable group to screw it up for everyone. If
10% of black males can be expected to steal the store at the first
opportunity, then store owners had better watch all 100% very carefully,
because they can't afford to let that 10% through. Similar rational
calculations apply to all identifiable groups - until you have enough
information to deal with the individual.
The solution is probably some kind of smart card or simple identifier that
puts the individual in a new group that avoids the stigma. Such an
identifier - indicating reputation, bonding, whatever would make them
trustworthy - could make race, sex, age, etc., pretty much irrelevant.
Which is why Ester Dyson's ICAAN effort is so important. The Web is the
place to start. A universal social contract may well evolve from that
effort. Then we can forget about all the fights about group labelling, as
the really important factors will be accessible to our interactions.
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