My new Freethinker column is posted. It’s stuff I’ve been saying here, but it’s chafing my mind rather, so I wanted to say it there too. It’s about police fascism in the US, and the way our mephitic heritage of genocide and slavery (notice how both are rooted in racism? funny coincidence, isn’t it?) has produced a stratified society which means police work can be a tough job. It’s a vicious circle, and to break out of that vicious circle we’d need to do things that are not part of the Church of the Free Market, so we don’t do them. We’d rather spend billions on locking people up than on ways out of the trap.
The one comment is from a UKanian talking about a one and only visit to the US.
Racism, in the affluent area I was living in, was blatant in the comments made. And I had the distressing experience of watching a Mexican, picked up in some queue, working furiously in hot sun in the garden while we enjoyed drinks. I caused surprise and resentment at deciding to take him a drink. My hosts wife said, “They are not like us. They don’t expect to have to be given a drink.” The worker seemed scared of me. I discovered he was an illegal immigrant. At the end of the day money was handed to the man who had brought him; not to the worker.
Alas, I recognize the picture.
“They are not like us.”
Fuck.
to break out of that vicious circle we’d need to do things that are not part of the Church of the Free Market, so we don’t do them
I suspect the church of the free market was created, as all churches are, to vindicate power – and not because anyone ever actually believed in it.
One r summer, back ca. 2002, a neighbor woman used me for daycare. A prominent Evanglical Christian member of the nearby megachurch, she’d just gotten laid off from her job at the now-shuttered nuclear power plant, and couldn’t afford daycare. And, being accustomed to daycare, she didn’t know what to do with her 5-yr-old daughter. So she sent her to my house – I had a 5-yr-old son and a 3-yr-old daughter at that time.
Disclosure: I tend to pick the hottest day of the year to do the most grueling yardwork. On the day in question, I was clearing brush from my hillside with my electric saw. She came over; I was dripping sweat. She said, “Why don’t you hire someone to do that?” “I don’t want to spend the money,” says I, “and besides, I don’t mind the work.” “Money?” she laughed. “What MONEY?? Just get some illegals and give ’em a sandwich and a glass of water – they’ll be happy to work hard for that.”
Goooooood Christian. The love of Jesus. Oh yeah. WWJD my ass.
@2 Marcus Ranum: In the early centuries of the Dark Ages, the Pope sent his missionaries directly for foreign courts, because it was a give that, if the ruler were converted, all his people would be required to convert or die. It was all and always about power.
Some years ago when my nephews were visiting the US, they actually said “good morning” to some of the Hispanic staff at the hotel where they were staying. From their reaction, my nephews assumed that the existence of hotel employees was usually ignored by guests.
The American practice of tipping is baffling to some foreign visitors, particularly if they come from societies where employees are, hopefully, paid enough not to need tips, perhaps tipping is a direct or indirect legacy of slavery. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to convince Americans that the practice might be indicative of some social malaise, the usual reply is that ‘service in the US is much better than many other nations’, the welfare of the service provider usually isn’t considered.
As an Australian, what we find most aggravating, apart from the tipping, is the overt rudeness to service staff of all kinds. The total absence of pleases and thank yous and good mornings and how are yous when dealing with bus drivers, waiters and other staff is really disconcerting. That absence reinforces the dismissiveness of paying customers along with the quite distasteful servile attitudes that are forced onto the people doing those jobs. They’re sometimes quite surprised when Australian-type people actually talk to them or offer to help in some way. (It’s best to ask. Some things that people do to “help” people clearing tables, for instance, are distinctly unhelpful.)
I suspect it is a legacy of slavery to some extent. And I also disagree strongly with the “service in the US is much better than many other nations” notion. That’s only true if you think that service staff are supposed to grovel for your favour/ tip/ approval, mainly by ignoring/ suffering silently through your rudeness and/or never ever engaging in any standard equal-to-equal conversation.
A friend of mine 20+ years ago talked about the sense of relief she got when boarding a Qantas plane to come home from the US. I remember one story she told as though she saw it in my memory, but it might have been an urban legend. The flight across the Pacific is a pretty long one and there was an extremely irritating kid. Once they had restarted from Hawaii and were getting closer to NZ, the steward’s patience finally snapped. The kid pressed his button to summon the steward and when he asked what the child wanted the kid said, “Seven-up!”
The steward responded with “You are on your way to Australia. That should be ‘May I have a glass of lemonade. Please.’ ” The surrounding passengers applauded.
(I do think the Australian view of the time that all American kids were obnoxious brats was unjustified, many of them were much ~more~ polite than the average Australian equivalent, but the lack of pleases and thank yous always grated.)
@6 mildlymagnificent
Agreed, however when we’re not in Oz it’s basically a case of do as the Romans. I’ve never been to the US, however when I visited Latin America which is heavily influenced by American tourism, I followed the custom and tipped service staff. I know Australian restaurant customers in the US have a very negative reputation for stinginess, because many don’t tip, they should. It’s pointless invoking Australian egalitarianism with someone who relies on tips to survive.
I’m not optimistic in regard to the survival of the principle of a ‘living wage’, here in Australia either.
Tipping occurs in Canada as well, so I’m skeptical of the idea the practice has anything to do with slavery. However Canadians also have a rep as not tipping enough in the US.
@8 timueguen
Interesting. I presume Canadian service staff don’t need to rely on tips, the practice could have spread through the influence of US tourism, so I’m not convinced it necessarily undermines the slavery explanation. Who knows how many people people actually refuse a tip on principle. Thirty years ago when my wife and I were in Tahiti we were advised not to tip staff because Tahitians considered the practice offensive, I have no idea what the attitude is these days.
#5 RJW: “The American practice of tipping is baffling to some foreign visitors, particularly if they come from societies where employees are, hopefully, paid enough not to need tips,”
Up until 15 or 20 years ago, you didn’t pay income tax on tips, so they could actually add up to a decent income. But of course there was no way the government was going to let that stand.
@10 weatherwax,
“there was no way the government was going to let that stand.”
It couldn’t really, as tips must provide a substantial portion of the income of service employees in the US, tips, gratuities etc are also taxable in Australia.
I was astonished to learn that the US government taxes lottery winnings, that’s just evil.
#11 RJW: “I was astonished to learn that the US government taxes lottery winnings, that’s just evil.”
Please, please, please curse me with such a tax. I’d happily pay it.
@12 Michael Duchek,
Would you really? Rich people always say they pay too much tax.
Given the stated reasons for conservative opposition to taxes, there’s no good reason not to tax lottery winnings at 90% or so. The actual rate, closer to half that, is a bargain.
I think tipping is considered necessary in a nominally classless society because otherwise They might not remember their place.
@14 Hershele Ostropoler.
Lottery winnings aren’t really earnings, however if they are subject to tax in some jurisdictions, in the interests of equity, any money spent on lottery tickets should be legitimate tax deductions.