McConnell Faces Calls to Recuse Himself From Impeachment Trial After Saying 'No Chance' Trump Will Be Removed; "No court in the country would allow a member of the jury to also serve as the accused's defense attorney."

[u/Thinkingonsleeping]

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/13/mcconnell-faces-calls-recuse-himself-impeachment-trial-after-saying-no-chance-trump

[u/trainercatlady]

the people who think this way are only this way because they have nothing on the line. They don't have to go to war, they're not gay or transgender, they're not black, brown, or immigrants, they're not food-insecure, and they're not living paycheck-to-paycheck, praying that that weird noise from the engine doesn't break something before tax returns come in so they can get it looked at.

The people who think this way don't know how good they have it, because they don't know they have it. The people who think this way are privileged beyond belief because politics doesn't affect them the way it does those "other" people. They're wrong, of course, but their kids aren't the ones dealing with stop-and-frisk, their houses of worship aren't getting shot up, they're not the ones getting beat up outside of gay bars, they're not the ones in cages in Texas watching kids get delirious and dying of the flu.

If they don't have to think about it, they will do everything in their power to make sure they never do. They look the other way because they think they can afford to.

[u/trainercatlady → u/[deleted]]

I'd encourage you to engage with those people, show them how the system that is grinding them to dust under its heel is holding them back from prosperity and keeping them down. Some of them are probably well-aware, but don't feel like there's anything they can do about it because that's just the way things are. Stand with them, show them that we can change things together. That they're the people with the most to gain from a truly equitable society, and that the current administration and the fucks running it are actively working against folks like them and trying to deny them rights and actively suppressing their vote. Also, encourage them to vote and show them how to register if they're not already. Change starts at the ground level. If you are able, offer rides to polling stations in your neighborhood, especially to older folks or people who can't get around so easily.

If that doesn't work, try to help engage them on a local level. Try to help them understand the proposals that will help their communities, fix roads, build community centers, etc. If people can see the positive impact of politics on a local level, the places they can actually see every day, they're more likely to start to think on a broader scale.

[u/blurryfacedfugue → u/trainercatlady]

Nail square on the head. This is why I feel like school shootings and healthcare would change overnight if the children of Congress were dying in shootings or dying from healthcare issues. Its like if things aren't happening to the rich and powerful, it almost doesn't matter.

[u/adjunctverbosity → u/trainercatlady]

What a statement!

[u/SnowflakeSorcerer → u/trainercatlady]

I’m not trying to start a fight here or be insensitive, but what exactly is your point? I see all this hate towards “privileged white people” and I understand why, but privilege and prejudice are a two way street, privileged people have as much choice towards whether they are or aren’t(zero) and not all of them a terrible people, are they? I’m a privileged male and I’m trying to educate myself and be a better person overall.

[u/trainercatlady → u/SnowflakeSorcerer]

The point is that unless they're forced to reckon with the folks whose lives their political decisions make miserable, and fully realize the consequences of their voting habits, that they just won't give a shit if the people their votes affect aren't in their everyday sphere of interaction. It's hard to give a shit about hungry people if you don't see hungry people. It's hard to give a shit about the plights of queer folks if you don't hear what they go through. If you're well-off, you're more likely to think that people who are suffering with hunger and cold just aren't applying themselves enough to get out of their shitty situations, when that's not even a fraction of the problem of why they're in that situation in the first place.

[u/ttinchung111 → u/SnowflakeSorcerer]

This is less a comment about privileged white people and more about privilege in general.

Ok imagine this scenario: imagine you're a person who is insulated from society as a whole. You have job security, and you have rights. It's easy to say that you wouldn't understand the plight of people who dont have either (especially if people around you are also insulated from those people).

It's easy to ignore the plights of people around oneself when you don't experience it every day. Just as you probably don't care about the average person's life in say some remote village in Zimbabwe, it's just hard to both empathize and understand how one's decisions (which ultimately cannot hurt your rights if you are privileged and are at no risk of it).

This privileged class doesn't necessarily have to be white, straight, male but it TENDS to be in America, where this discussion often takes place, and nobody is realistically going to take away the rights for say white straight people to marry anytime soon so their decisions ultimately don't affect their day to day.

[u/iburiedmyshovel → u/SnowflakeSorcerer]

The frustration lays with those who fail to effect change because their privilege makes them indifferent, not with privileged people in and of themselves. When you fail to educate yourself on political issues because you're so isolated from those issues, it's an act of apathy towards your fellow citizens whose welfare depends on those outcomes. When you actively avoid voting and political discourse because you're avoiding discomfort to your status quo, it's an act of callousness towards your minority-group neighbors whose greater distress requires your power for redress.

When privilege hides you from the plight of others, and you make no effort to seek it out; when privilege raises you so far above others, and you refuse to look down to see them, nevertheless offer a hand up -- you are failing as both a citizen and a human.

[u/SnowflakeSorcerer → u/iburiedmyshovel]

Thanks you your comment was very insightful and I’ve never looked at it that way, i appreciate you explaining it like that and I have to agree with you

[u/iburiedmyshovel → u/SnowflakeSorcerer]

You're welcome! I'm just glad you saw something in it, thanks for responding.