tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post112811707072589654..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Eyes on the PrizeDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128302433426104092005-10-02T18:20:00.000-07:002005-10-02T18:20:00.000-07:00Oh, this is what the liberals sit around pining fo...Oh, this is what the liberals sit around pining for. A gotch-ya moment.<BR/>I did listen to the clip and it seemed obvious that the man did step in some do-do, knew he did and tried to recover from it, unsuccessfully. So what? Now, do we see the man revealed for what he really is, a later day Adolph Hitler? <BR/>Have you ever said any thing stupid? We all have moments of rhetorical screw ups. But don’t expect the libs to understand. This looking for opportunities to nail the opponent with charges of thought crime is just a substitute for a truth seeking and honest dialogue in the search of solutions to real problems.<BR/>Of course aborting all black babies would reduce the crime rate. In fact killing all babies would reduce juvenile delinquency to zero. That doesn’t make it a workable idea. Anyone who says such a thing is making a silly statement. The proper response is laughter, not a lot of pompous righteous indignation.<BR/><BR/>Also, a possibly the reason that Bennettt used the example of black abortion as a crime reducer was that it was sited in Freakanomics, which has had some muted public discussion. Therefore it might have come to mind as Bennett searched for an answer to the caller’s question. Knee jerk accusations of racism are as culturally ingrained as racism itself, don’t you see. <BR/>For example the following statements you made may be either as true or false. Even if true the explanatory reason of racism may or may not be true. I don’t think your statements blaming every thing on harsher enforcement are entirely verified.<BR/><BR/>“Although young black men commit a disproportionate amount of crime, they are also arrested disproportionate to the amount crime they commit. We also punish "black" crime more harshly than white crime, both in terms of giving lengthier sentences to crimes associated with the black community (the crack/powder cocaine example serves here), and in giving harder sentences to the average black offender versus white offender convicted of the same crime.”<BR/> <BR/>A culture that fails to provide children socialization by an intact community, and family, the absence of proper male role models and disciplinarians, the presence of domestic and street violence, substance abuse and lack of parental expectations, lack of support for law enforcement authorities, poverty, recruitment by gangs, pervasive anti- intellectualism and other factors could be more potent than excessive law enforcement in the high incarceration rate of the black underclass.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128271327274245952005-10-02T09:42:00.000-07:002005-10-02T09:42:00.000-07:00Y'all are missing the point. I made two claims:1) ...Y'all are missing the point. I made two claims:<BR/>1) The example he chose to make his point wasn't morally neutral even though it was factually accurate b/c of the inequity in how we present comparable persons.<BR/><BR/>2) The teleology critique only make sense IF Bennett believes that the pure consequentialist gain of a reduced crime rate outweighs the consequentialist loss of no more black persons. Otherwise, I could defend ends-based analysis by saying "no--the ends of destroying a whole set of people is far worse than the benefit of reduced crime." Bennett operates on the assumption that teleologically, that isn't true.David Schraubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128225255120717112005-10-01T20:54:00.000-07:002005-10-01T20:54:00.000-07:00David, the moral bankruptcy of aborting black babi...David, the moral bankruptcy of aborting black babies was not simply an "addition," as you seem to think, an addition or concession on his part - it was the point! He was performing a <I>reductio ad absurdum</I> on utilitarian reasons for (or against) abortion.<BR/><BR/>You can find the quote and audio clip here:<BR/>http://mediamatters.org/items/200509280006<BR/><BR/>I think you'll agree with me that all the flak he's taking is unfair, since his very argument was to point out how morally ridiculous purely utilitarian arguments can be.Randomscrubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16907420981269677826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128193438046006732005-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:002005-10-01T12:03:00.000-07:00Naturally, The political left takes these comments...Naturally, The political left takes these comments out of context in true "Michael Moore" fashion, as they serve to promote their continued "picking at the scabs" of the racial divide.<BR/><BR/>It honestly scares me that so many people are so intellectually slow that they can't even grasp the gist of the conversation as it unfolded, and in the manner in which it was intended.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128174905745299562005-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:002005-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00If someone can't even make a philosophical, reduc...If someone can't even make a philosophical, <I>reductio ad absurdum</I> argument on a talk radio show if it involves race, then this country is not going to be having a "national dialogue on race" anytime soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-1128146246040827602005-09-30T22:57:00.000-07:002005-09-30T22:57:00.000-07:00You say that intention cannot be the only factor a...You say that intention cannot be the only factor at stake here. And that Bennett has to be mindful of the context his remarks are operating in--not just how partisans might distort them, but also how they might be damaging even in their "real" context.<BR/><BR/>Yet they are only words, and not action. They are not even words of advice much less incitement. Is that consistent with your defense of the poor schlub who used the word 'niggardly', or did you find him equally reprehensible?<BR/><BR/>Intention has to be the only factor at stake when it comes to this context. That is unless we are going to assign some measure of punishment in the universe of justice to the odd malaprop. When you've categorized a host of real injustices done to young black men as the moral backbone of the seriousness with which you address this issue, how are we to put that in perspective with the unintended consequences of an off the cuff remark by a radio blowhard? If you had a scale of racist offense it would have to be logarithmic, with false arrest and false imprisonment several orders of magnitude above racial profiling. With that in the middle at five, Bennett's offense must be way down near zero.Cobbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14540420277243106564noreply@blogger.com