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Goonpilled wrote (edited )

Perhaps I have miscommunicated, or we are talking past each other, because I haven't listened to the episode yet.

Separating my "insulting your ability to know what year it is" from people trying to pin the podcast as having some kind of deleterious effect on the left by a paragraph and a half makes me think it's not just me.

If history is any guide, they won't apologise for this podcast, they won't throw their guest to the wolves, if he's bad overall they'll silently distance themselves. These are the tactics they use because in American political culture, and American comedy culture, if you apologise that cripples you, if you ignore it you can keep going. It seems like an effective tactic, though obviously amoral.

Are desires for them to self critique (publicly) all that different from demands for apology in terms of outcome? Two ways to reach the same conclusion. Having some kind of public meltdown about subtle internal racism people claim to see in you isn't something anyone respects, it makes you Macklemore. You can't have some kind of come to jesus discursive revelation where you declare yourself cured of racism and it sticks with anyone. If you somehow overcome subconscious white supremacy, to whatever extent, it will show in your actions. Declaring a revelation and instant transformation won't satisfy the people who want to find fault, and no one else will respect it either. Which is why time is a necessary factor.

Success in changing the superstructure though difficult (to understate things) when achieved has outcomes that can be seen instantly, in the form of changing of laws or funding. Expecting individuals to come through some alchemical process of moral purification, though it seems easier on the surface, results are impossible to ascertain, so it all becomes magical declarations that satisfy no one.

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