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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWomen's Suffrage Proponents Didn't "Negotiate" a "Reasonable Settlement" with Anti-Suffragists
They created a multi-generational movement to transform the culture and simply impose their position - the better position - on their recalcitrant opponents. There was not a "middle ground." It was not a "national conversation" that would end with everybody's "interests" being "represented." It was a pure and simple contest of electoral will in which one position was defeated and consigned to the dustbin of history.
Despite all our talk these days of "conversation," some movements and some progress comes simply by way of defeating the opponent position electorally, and making it so unreasonable that nobody in the future could possibly agree with it. I am usually a proponent of discussion over controversy, as the philosopher Richard McKeon termed the two styles, where discussion indicates a robust, inquiry-driven pluralism rather than a right-wrong orientation (or at least an immediate right-wrong orientation - McKeon wasn't a relativist). But on some issues -and Women's Suffrage would be the key example - there is no space for anything but wiping the slate clean of the opponent's position.
On some points, I no longer want to "ask you questions" or "learn from you." We've learned enough. We know all the rote and inadequate answers by heart, by sickening, broken heart. The conversation is over. It's time for the fight.
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alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Cheers all.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)To those that spout the NRA talking point: "Never let a good tragedy go to waste"
... as a way to attempt to dismiss action in the face of tragedy ... here are some tragedies that were not allowed to go to waste (there are many, many more). The change cam from the "people" not the politicians
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 100 Years Later
"Friday, March 25 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, New York’s landmark industrial disaster that killed 146 of the factory's 500 employees, most of them young immigrant women and girls of Italian and European Jewish descent. The tragedy sparked a nationwide debate about workers rights, representation and safety."
...
"Three months after the fire, Governor John A. Dix signed a law creating the Factory Investigating Commission. Following the findings of the commission, the New York State Legislature enacted 36 statutes to regulate workplace fire safety and ventilation, and to set minimum standards for working women and children."
http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/mar/21/100-years-later-remembering-triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire/
The Austin Flood
"Just outside the quaint town of Austin sits a vivid reminder of one of Pennsylvania’s worst disasters – the Austin Flood. In 1909, the dam was constructed on Freeman Run to power the Bayless Papermill downstream. Many wondered if the dam was safe. On September 30, 1911, Austin found out. Poor construction, coupled with torrential rain, resulted in the dam’s collapse. Nearly 400 million gallons of water were released, destroying everything for 8 miles. At least 78 people perished in the tragedy. It was the second worst flood disaster in Pennsylvania’s history and sixth worst dam failure in U.S. history. The tragedy sparked new legislation to improve dam safety, and the Austin Dam was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. "
http://www.pottercountypa.org/listings/index.cfm?action=displayListing&listingID=484&catID=1&startrange=All&endrange=All&substart=M&subend=S¬ify=1
