Post by Kiwi Frontline on Mar 14, 2021 4:41:22 GMT 12
MAKING PROGRESS, ALBEIT SLOWLY - by Ron Taylor
Re: Issues of interpretation, beliefs — March 11 column.
It seems a common theme now to treat human beings as some sort of logical machine. In my experience we are mammals and subject to all the emotional baggage that comes with that. I certainly don’t want to become some sort of logical Dr Spock.
Is there racism? Yes there is. I have an unpopular theory, in that I think racism is completely natural. This does not mean I support the evil outcomes of racism with which history is abundantly dotted. It also means that we can do better. I feel everyone is a prisoner of their own generation, in that we cling to the systems we were raised in.
The evil 5 percent of ratepayers forcing a poll against Maori wards: get it right, 5 percent of ratepayers could demand a poll of ratepayers. The whole body of ratepayers would then have a choice.
If sections of the ratepayer base, of any ethnicity, choose not to vote for whatever reason, that is their choice. Inaction is a choice and I feel the opportunity to vote could not be made easier.
Strongly ingrained institutional racism: this is probably true — we are not perfect and I think we are making progress, albeit slowly.
Strapped for speaking te reo: I was strapped for being left-handed — go figure — it doesn’t happen now.
Names changed because too hard to pronounce: does it happen now? It’s called progress. I sometimes get called Talyer — c’est la vie.
Land confiscated and desecrated: true — the history of the world shows this — human behaviour. This doesn’t make it right. You can’t make an omelette back into eggs.
I have been reading about the American Civil War and the shocking treatment of slaves. Abraham Lincoln is on record as saying that slaves should be free, but that they should not get the vote as they were not up to it as a racial group, from an intellectual point of view. How sad is that through a 2021 lens.
You suggest that Pakeha as a group are clinging on to power. I personally do not have a sense of this. I certainly don’t have a sense of superiority to Maori. Let’s look at other human groupings. Jewish people, Muslim people, people from other cultures. I think any reasonable person would bend over backwards to not offend other people’s religious beliefs or cultural constructs. Live and let live.
I reiterate, we are not perfect. Eric Berne wrote that we are composed of three people — adult, parent and child. This resonates with me — what we learnt as a child from our parents, what we learnt as an adult and those parts which we still think about, from a child’s perspective.
If you feel reminded you are a second-rate citizen, I am sorry. However, how you see the world is up to the individual. You can be positive, or carry baggage. We all do to some extent. Being perfect is not achievable in real terms.
Many tauiwi grew up in a world where material things were in short supply. My parents lived through two world wars and the depression.
What we did get, is a belief in the success of hard work and application.
Take a hundred people of mixed religions and races and some will do well, some will sit in the middle and some will not be so successful.
Human beings, not machines. Life is, after all, a massive lottery in terms of attitudes, abilities and opportunities. Get used to it.
www.gisborneherald.co.nz/column/opinion/20210313/making-progress-albeit-slowly/
Re: Issues of interpretation, beliefs — March 11 column.
It seems a common theme now to treat human beings as some sort of logical machine. In my experience we are mammals and subject to all the emotional baggage that comes with that. I certainly don’t want to become some sort of logical Dr Spock.
Is there racism? Yes there is. I have an unpopular theory, in that I think racism is completely natural. This does not mean I support the evil outcomes of racism with which history is abundantly dotted. It also means that we can do better. I feel everyone is a prisoner of their own generation, in that we cling to the systems we were raised in.
The evil 5 percent of ratepayers forcing a poll against Maori wards: get it right, 5 percent of ratepayers could demand a poll of ratepayers. The whole body of ratepayers would then have a choice.
If sections of the ratepayer base, of any ethnicity, choose not to vote for whatever reason, that is their choice. Inaction is a choice and I feel the opportunity to vote could not be made easier.
Strongly ingrained institutional racism: this is probably true — we are not perfect and I think we are making progress, albeit slowly.
Strapped for speaking te reo: I was strapped for being left-handed — go figure — it doesn’t happen now.
Names changed because too hard to pronounce: does it happen now? It’s called progress. I sometimes get called Talyer — c’est la vie.
Land confiscated and desecrated: true — the history of the world shows this — human behaviour. This doesn’t make it right. You can’t make an omelette back into eggs.
I have been reading about the American Civil War and the shocking treatment of slaves. Abraham Lincoln is on record as saying that slaves should be free, but that they should not get the vote as they were not up to it as a racial group, from an intellectual point of view. How sad is that through a 2021 lens.
You suggest that Pakeha as a group are clinging on to power. I personally do not have a sense of this. I certainly don’t have a sense of superiority to Maori. Let’s look at other human groupings. Jewish people, Muslim people, people from other cultures. I think any reasonable person would bend over backwards to not offend other people’s religious beliefs or cultural constructs. Live and let live.
I reiterate, we are not perfect. Eric Berne wrote that we are composed of three people — adult, parent and child. This resonates with me — what we learnt as a child from our parents, what we learnt as an adult and those parts which we still think about, from a child’s perspective.
If you feel reminded you are a second-rate citizen, I am sorry. However, how you see the world is up to the individual. You can be positive, or carry baggage. We all do to some extent. Being perfect is not achievable in real terms.
Many tauiwi grew up in a world where material things were in short supply. My parents lived through two world wars and the depression.
What we did get, is a belief in the success of hard work and application.
Take a hundred people of mixed religions and races and some will do well, some will sit in the middle and some will not be so successful.
Human beings, not machines. Life is, after all, a massive lottery in terms of attitudes, abilities and opportunities. Get used to it.
www.gisborneherald.co.nz/column/opinion/20210313/making-progress-albeit-slowly/