grievance culture

A grievance is a complaint, often at a perceived unfairness or injustice. Sometimes they are justified. But crying for justice is not always appreciated. Some grievances are false. Some people are not interested at hearing any grievance (outside of their own). In slightly coarser language, complaining is called bitching, which is so applied to downgrade the process of any complaint. Truly there are people have suffered great harm and distress, and truly there are people who claim such for every instance of their displeasure over even the slightest matter. 

In a non-genteel occupation i labored in, which is rife with gossip, one fellow complained so often he was nicknamed “Bitch” ; later his son joined the same labor force, and was christened “Son of Bitch” . Years later, when they were no longer working, and not seen, they were still recalled; and their tale was spread to new workers. 

This year was a very angry year in this country. The chief subject was race. Lyndon Johnson did say,“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”  He was right then, and is still right. Bernie Sanders, who is class conscious, ran in 2016 and this year always gives economic arguments. It is true, that the wealthy, obscenely wealthy bank on race to camouflage their mercenary greed. To divide and thus conquer the population over racial antagonisms has been a sure winner. Trump was the champion of white grievance.

The chief beneficiary of race hatred to gain political office in this country has been Donald Trump. He began his public 2016 campaign with hatred of Mexican migrants, and he never relented. He began the private campaign in response to Barack Obama, a man of color. Now and always, Donald is a wretched soul. Opposition to Obama was immediate. Soon tea-baggers formed, financed by rich Republican interests, and Fox News [sic]. This ersatz 'populism' appealed sotte voce to racists, and also screaming racial hatred directed at Obama, his wife, and others. With Trump the white racists found their standard bearer, and the grifter Trump would sell standards for them to bear.

Trump was born a rich man, and failed at everything, but being the son of a rich man failure became a success. If we were to put Donnie on the couch, he might remember his first grievance was he was not breast fed enough, if at all. That baby crankiness enveloped him to a mental sickness [krankheit]. Look at him in film, and fotos. He looks the opposite of happy. His smiles are always posed frozenly, and never come to him naturally. His humour exists only in mean-spiritness. He has a near permanent, fish pout.

Trump projects continuously. In April, in Concord N. Hamp., he again told the Scalise (the congressman, not the mobster) story. Scalise was shot, and his wife cried; Trump says a lot of wives wouldn't (his three). Also, for years he has told the snake story, “Foolish woman, you knew i was a snake when you took me in.”. Trump always talks about himself.

White people, and black people have grievances. Some of both think there are only two people: me, and the other person of the other race. Because you have a grievance, it was not caused by society favoring the other guy against you in every situation. America has angry white people, and angry black people who resent each other. Sometimes it is a turf war (and it should be acknowledged, when a formerly white neighbourhood becomes a black neighbourhood, the white people left behind are often targets of hooliganism, and crime; and this is never described as racially motivated). Other times it are the economic interests manipulating, and playing with people's lives. First look at the numbers. There are many more whites than blacks. Every white man is not set back by advantage to a black man, there are not that many black men. Also, because there are so many white men in spots, not all of them are there because a black man was cheated; there are not that many black men to be cheated.

“...Who renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation.” — Exodus 34. vii.

“...who visitest the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” — Numbers 14. xviii.

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.” ― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

Systemic racism exists. Some white people object to the term, and the idea. The effects of history last far longer than those who propelled them. A hundred years is not much time in history, history lingers. The chief event in American history is the war fought between 1861 and 1865. All those alive then, are dead now. Many in America to-day are not descendants from those in America at the time. That war was fought over black chattel slavery, and yet some people lie about it. The losing side, as Faulkner pointed out, was defeated but unvanquished. The social antagonisms, and classism did not stop. It still exists. Why are people publicly lamenting the confederate war banner? and confederate statues? The Germans do not fly nazi flags, and there are no nazi statues in Germany. Now, some white people resent this, and some black people are permanently angry. There is no collective guilt for future generations. There are lingering effects.

Black Lives Matter is a response to police brutality. Police in America are often given extreme latitude, often to the point of carte blanche. The black population, especially, feels like a captive population. Police have freely killed black people often enough, and without penalty. It is perfectly expected for black people to be upset. The examples of their lives being treated as something without any value is too frequent. One of the cliches, that are so often recited, is that nothing is worth more than a human life. It is not true in America. To this openly, obvious reality the police and their supporters go ballistic. Of course the use of ballistics is part of the problem. Police accept no reproach, and fiercely bristle with anger over criticism. Blue Lives Matter is a nonsense slogan. Black people did not say other lives do not matter, but many people do not value black life. Further, police have created a fiction, in which they are warriors preserving society. And when anger spills into rioting, many people damn the rioters while ignoring the reasons for anger. Police aggression is then positively viewed. Also the slogan “defund the police” was self defeating. Police are a political power in cities, and politicians (especially Republicans) love to use their support, and this year they were part of their campaign language. In Cleveland the police union president, Steve Loomis, in 2016, and later when he was out of office was himself an organiser of Trump events. Loomis is one of 2020's Trump electors.

White privilege is a stupid, and self defeating term. It is not a privilege to be white. Being white is not an extra gift: it even suggests that not being white is existentially inferior, and that truly black lives do not matter. It is often an advantage in America to be white. All white people are not privileged, many suffer the problems other people have. There is a privileged and favored class, and that status is primarily based on wealth. Using the term, white privilege, is meant to be provocative, and is counter productive. When making a plea for justice, to attack people with accusation, and condemnation when they are not those who are your enemies is asinine. 

And there are people who use the complaint of political correctness, as a term for censorship. They are upset of being socially not accepted for saying often rude things. There is also times when the powers in charge do not want to hear views, and they have the situational power to keep people silent. Some of those views silenced are considered politically liberal. Other terms in this realm are call out culture, and cancel culture. And then it also goes for noting lewd behaviour, e.g. slut shaming. Not all grievances carry the same weight, or importance.