Pondering stuff white people like

[alias_sqbr]

Reading the article I mentioned in my last post I was reminded of stuff white people like, specifically this video of the creator talking about his experiences was interesting, the way he went from making a blog for fun to book deal in like a month is intense.

Something he said, which took me a while to realise when I first saw the blog, is that it's not about "white people", it's about upper middle class left wing types and the way they we see ourselves as free-thinking unique snowflakes¹. Really most of the digs are about class not race but since "White people" care more about being seen as non-racist than non-classist² and are very self conscious about white guilt etc that name is more effective. Kind of annoying for white people who aren't White People and don't get the joke, I imagine.

See for example #62 Knowing what’s best for poor people. I am often amazed at how openly "left wing" people despise the poor. They watch Today Tonight! And have badly dyed hair! And use bad grammar! (Unlike poor people from other countries who are adorably authentic and charming. Unless they chop down trees or eat McDonalds or something)

Also there was a link to this black guy who set up a stall so people could have their photo taken with him, I salute his bravery :)

I've often pondered talking more about class but am worried about (a)Coming up against the fairly unselfconscious classism a lot of people have³ and (b) Collapsing in self consciousness as I ponder my own class.

1)And I think a large part of the appeal of the blog for White People is feeling smug at how much more self aware they are compared to all those other White People.
2)Which is very different from being less racist
3)Cue my friends from the country saying "Bah! You have it easy!" :)

Comments

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I read a whole bunch of Stuff White People Like at once, so I caught on that it was a very specific type of white person they were talking about quickly. Not just upper middle class and left wing, but some entries quite specific to the US as well, though many of those references could be translated to Australia, barring the differences in race relations. It certainly has enough winces of recognition from me to keep it sharp ('White people like 80s nights!' Yes, we do).

Inside the ALP the whole issue about poor people liking the wrong things is pretty much the core of most of the factional divisions, and most of the policy debates. It turns out that poor people and working class people who join unions often tend to not be that 'progressive', and aren't interested in gay rights, would rather have jobs than environmental protection, don't like immigrants much, and quite like Today Tonight and Ralph magazine, all of which pretty much means much of the hard left spends their whole life trying to work through the cognitive dissonance, and the right spend a lot of time wondering how it is that they seem to have more in common with people on the 'other side'.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh yes, it's very american too.

much of the hard left spends their whole life trying to work through the cognitive dissonance, and the right spend a lot of time wondering how it is that they seem to have more in common with people on the 'other side'

disclaimer: Possibly very ill-considered rant inspired by certain far left family members who shall remain nameless.

I must admit it's something I find I have to think about. I think it requires more flexibility and compassion than a lot of ideologically driven far-left people can manage: if you believe that anyone who is at all capitalist/homophobic/sexist/racist etc is Pure Unadulterated Evil then you end up only having any real sympathy or respect for other people with exactly the same ideals as yourself. But if you acknowledge that these attitudes, while wrong, can come from understandable motivations and experiences, and these underlying issues need to be addressed(*), then that means maybe having sympathy for Liberal voters which is an impossible proposition.

ie if people are worried about their jobs being lost because of environmentalism/immigration etc then you have to actually address these fears(*) and not just dismiss them out of hand because the environment is important/racism is bad etc.

(*)By showing they're unfounded, or coming up with a policy which avoids these outcomes, or just saying "Yes, actually, there will be some job cuts, and I realise why that's upsetting, but it's necessary"