Fuel for the Quotidian Debate(s)

["Mad" Miles]

Robert Jensen on the global crisis:

https://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/...cading-crises/

Just one quibble, I don't endorse Jensen's characterization of pornography. Aside from that, in my opinion, he's pretty right on.

"Mad" Miles

P.S. Nicofrog, I don't get zonked by aliens (at least not yet!) but thanks for the shout out.

Zeno, ya post a lot, among others, kind of uses up the oxygen "in the room" but at least you relay quality info. Don't let the Trolls deter you. That's what they want. Resist!

To the Trolls (you and everybody else knows who you are) hooray for the Ignore list! That way I don't have to automatically read your drivel, unless someone quotes you, which is a nice way to get a digest of drivel, or I choose to open a particular post. My "using up the oxygen in the room" comment applies even more to y'all. If this were a moderated meeting, you wouldn't get to speak until EVERYONE ELSE in the room spoke first (or declined the privilege).

I know we're not seeking consensus here, but if you find yourself the only one, or two, people talking, or writing in this case, you might ask yourself, "Is anyone else listening? Does anybody care? Am I wasting my time? Have I overstayed my welcome?"

Self moderation might lead to more sympathetic and cooperative readers. That's your goal, right?

"M"M

[Lenny]

As one of the trolls it is my duty to point out that his view of pornography is the same as those fundies so many love to hate. And it is quoted below just to be clear. The only disagreement I have with him (on porn) is that he characterizes what most around here call mainstream America (fundies) as "other radical philosophies on the margin" and a fringe group. I can be SO confused if I didn't really understand the issue.

"For me, an understanding of this crisis is rooted in my feminist work on the contemporary pornography industry. Shaped by patriarchy, white supremacy, and that predatory corporate-capitalism, pornography provides a disturbing mirror on our collective soul. We live in a world in which large numbers of people (mostly men) derive sexual pleasure from images of cruelty toward and the degradation of women. A smaller number of people (again, mostly men) profit from this industry. And except for a few people rooted in feminism and other radical philosophies on the margins, there is no significant progressive critique of it in contemporary society. Pornography is a place where we can see what the death of empathy looks like; it offers a picture of a world bereft of the fundamental values of compassion and solidarity; it provides a narrative of a people with no sense of shared humanity. Many aspects of the modern world — this mass-mediated, mass-marketed, mass-medicated world — can easily strip us of our humanity in ways that slowly leave us incapable of responding to these crises."