The Redneckization of American Policy

This is NOT a south bashing thread.

"The boss man ls always right. He worked hard for his money. If you're so smart how come you ain't rich?" Well, since the majority of actual wealth is inherited....

A sentence such as "I want to fuck you" is obscene, "Kill all 'em ragheads" is perfectly all right

Anti-reason
Anti-science

They love American "heritage", not history

Deviant sexual practices right out of Faulkner or Erskine Caldwell. "Hey, it's my family. None of your business"

Magical thinking. "Pat and Jerry and Dr Dobson and Rev Parsley have good hearts, they wouldn't lie"

There is much more. You are welcome to add your own

I repeat: this is not a south bashing thread. These goons are now all over the country Including the highest branches of our government.

thanks for your input,
mitchum

...refers to current US foreign policy as "International Whosyourdaddyism."

so anyway - what does the term redneck really mean and refer to? Cause, I dun think I am one in some ways....not sure if I should be offended or not, will have to wait until Dr Phil comes one to tell me about all that.

violence, delusion, and denial.

I do NOT use the term for the white southern working class. I prefer Harry Crews' "grit"

Thats the origin of the term -

Could you explain about Crews?

I have his number if you want to discuss it with him

But I am regularly labled a freeper anytime I slightly dissent from the DU groupthink...

I called mitchum's personal definition of a redneck a description of a freeper. He described a "reactionary, obstructionist bigot who lives in a world of violence, delusion, and denial." I didn't call you that, either.

southerner into two categories:
Grits...honest hardworking thoughtful helpful flinty true sons and daughters of the soil
Rednecks...all the ugliness that entails

I have no idea where that came from.

A person who is narrow minded, and lacks critical thinking skills.

Do I seem narrow minded? -

For example, I think Cheney's problems, are just beginning.

thousands of NOLA citizens have had their lives uprooted and families scattered by a natural disaster aided by the govt. "They're all poor and black and should've gotten out when they were told to, so they deserved what they got. It's not my bidness!"

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Redneck is not a racia slur, since its not indicative of a race of people.

Obviously the poster is using it in a derogatory sense...

but rather criticizing a mindset. Which of those stellar qualities do you think we should appeal to?
And try a little reading comprehension, before gittin' all het up, Bo

race be a redneck? Isn't the meaning infered? Don't mean to be obtuse, I am just confused. Action Jaxen I am new to DU, too. Welcome. Your point is worth discusion durning a lunch break.

Until Gretchen Wilson came along I thought being a redneck was a BAD thing. LOL A word used to describe a racist southerner.


Guess it would all depend on where you live as to the meaning.

Michelle

DU , pmteet.

I dont know why this term is so associated with the south...

I live in PA - and the average joe refers to himself as a redneck...

They usually wore hats, but their necks were burned red.

The word was a "class" slur against those poor whites who had to sully their hands with manual labor. Unlike the True Southern Gentleman who hunted, read the classics, spoke to the overseer when necessary & plotted treason over brandy with others of his class. They got the "rednecks" to fight a war to preserve THEIR way of life.

Yes, people call themselves rednecks. Just as other people might describe themselves using words that I surely won't.

"the True Southern Gentleman who hunted, read the classics, spoke to the overseer when necessary & plotted treason over brandy with others of his class. They got the "rednecks" to fight a war to preserve THEIR way of life."

That sounds like it could be describing what's gone on in Iraq. A chilling parallel that seems so obvious but I never realized it til now.

Do their work from glass towers in Houston or Atlanta. Or from DC.

They lack the cultured veneer of their predecessors--who could, at least, shoot straight.

Banking and insurance companies brought life to places like Charlotte and Atlanta. Big southern cities were dormant ever since Reconstruction in the 1870s. The big industry in the "Rust Belt" shut down and reemerged as financial capital in southern towns. A more mild climate and lower wages also had something to do in the business migration from North to South.

nice straw man, though. You gonna string it up and light it afire?

And if you consider redneck a monstrous slur, you better mount a massive letter-writing campaign to MSNBC, because Tucker Carlson was boasting about all his "redneck friends" last night.

Still, you do get points for the nickname. Not too many Carl Weathers references these days.

It's kind of like black people calling each other "nigger" or "dog"...it all depends on who's saying it and in what context.

And my nick is in reference to my favorite local band - Hexbelt - from York, PA.

What's the Carl Weathers reference...

Why, being a rich son of privilege he can call people rednecks? Why, exactly?

"it all depends on who's saying it and in what context."

So rich Republican millionaires in bowties who never spent a day outside their mansions can say it. Got it.

Lets take a look at this working man's background, shall we?

Carlson was born in San Francisco, California. He is the son of Richard W. Carlson, who was president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 1992 to 1997. His stepmother is Patricia Carlson, heiress to the Swanson frozen-food fortune.

Carlson completed private secondary education at St. George's School, Newport, Rhode Island. He then attended Trinity College in Connecticut.

Again: SAN FRANSISCO. PBS. HEIRESS. FORTUNE. RHODE ISLAND. CONNECTICUT.

Yeah, real common man. Its just like black people calling each other nigga.

Explain to me again how its ok for him to say it and why.

"And my nick is in reference to my favorite local band - Hexbelt - from York, PA."

who gives a shit?

I was born in California, lived in Cleveland, Athens, Providence...

I went to one of the best prep schools on the east coast...

I have a college eduacation...

But - after 20 years in Central PA - I call myself a redneck...

Its HOW you use it - - - dont pretend to not understand that distinction...You can say it - tucker can say it- just dont use it in a duruagotory way. Tucker was trying to identify a cultural group.

And the comment about Hexbelt was directed to another poster - pay attention!

I care even less about your educational background than I do you nickname.

"And the comment about Hexbelt was directed to another poster - pay attention!"

no it wasn't, it was replying to me. As was the Carl Weathers question, which was my post about ActionJaxen, not you. You're the one who got confused and thought I cared about your nickname. Pay attention.

"But - after 20 years in Central PA - I call myself a redneck..."

Tucker didn't call himself a redneck. He mentioned redneck friends of his who are hunters. He does not "identify with a cultural group." It came off as an awkward slip from a man who considers himself superior.

If Tucker were a poster on this thread mentioning redneck friends, you'd be all over them.

So lets recap: anonymous Democrats using the word redneck, bad. Rich Republican silver spoon trust fund kids using it in a mocking way: perfectly good.

Good to have that settled. No need to respond with your job history, i'm sure you can call yourself whatever the hell you want.

Sorry for the mix up on the nickname...

The point of listing stuff about my life - Persons who consider themselves "rednecks" dont belong to any geographical, economic, or politcal group.

Tucker could just as easily say:

My Republican Friends...

My Christian Friends...

My Jewish Friends...

My Redneck Friends...

Are you trying to claim that "Redneck" is a slur - no matter what...?

I heard Tucker say it - and it went right through me - I was more suprised to hear him say "I hunt all the time!"

He doesnt seem like the type - but then again thats what happens when you live in world of stereotypes...

but there's that problem of the reflexive smacking of the lips on the word "boys"

Just turn on the television or the radio, and you will see what I mean.

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Keep it up guys...we have rednecks all the way up to PA - they vote.

One DU genius posted information about Bird Shot sizes...from a Dungeons and Dragons site...

Great reference...the Freepers had a huge laugh at our expense...

The most extreme of right wing extremist websites? Stormfront with a Bush/Cheney sticker over the swastika?

"Great reference...the Freepers had a huge laugh at our expense..."

you're HONESTLY concerned about this? The people who worship the ground George Bush walks on and indulge in endless racist bullshit? You care what they think?

Uh, why? Free Republic sure ain't Middle America, the Heartland, or whatever else you want to call it. These are people too crazy even for Sean Hannity.

Again, SEAN HANNITY THINKS THEY GO TOO FAR.

And these are the people you want to cater to?

Just citing an example of something posted here - getting legs - and showing up somewhere else.

Its not about FR - Its about DU - and the people who might casually visit this site and see the term Redneck used in derogatory way - and decide this site is not for them....

Fucking hilarious. Yes, lets cater to right wing extremists.

When you get a chance, respond to the post up there and explain to me why is it that rich multimillionare Tucker Carlson gets to call people rednecks without Free Republic and/or mainstream America being offended.

is gullible enough to believe any bullshit you stick out in front of his nose.

Same goes for FR.

Neither DU or FR are proper representations of the people of the Democratic or Republican parties. If anyone in their right minds believes that they are, that person is a total fucking moron, plain and simple. I don't worry about how that person votes because if they are not a zealot already, they are going to be duped into believing whatever the last person tells them before they walk into the ballot box and nothing said on either site is really going to make a difference.

Save yourself the anxiety and don't go to their site.

not just in the South, why would I think this is a South-bashing thread?

And his post is a nothing more than a proclamation of his ignorance...

reading comprehension.
Take a bow, suh.

most of time here, and my family has been in the region since Ol' Pierre came here in 1782. Yes, I don't know what I'm talking about.

What are you gonna do? Call me a race traitor now?

And you're not proving him incorrect.

I'm not big on political correctness, and not easily offended due to the intensive immunization program of growing up with brothers, who among other things rarely ate a meal without opening their mouths every third bite to show me the chewed-up contents when our parents weren't looking. And most of the people I've known who could be described as rednecks, aren't themselves offended by the term. Including my one redneck brother. In other words, I'm not offended by the term redneck, but sometimes it's hard to know just who it's being used in reference to. Often it's used to refer to the white rural laboring class, (many of whom would even identify themselves as being rednecks) and I think the Dems need to do a lot more to get these people on board with us. We need to get them to realize how our interests converge on economic issues.

Reason this is on my mind is because of a conversation I had with my bro over the weekend. He's an hourly worker for Delphi, and he and his coworkers have been following very closely that particular storyline of corporate corruption and executive malfeasance. In light of the layoffs and the fact they've been threatened with huge paycuts, you better believe they're paying attention. This brother is a conservative fundy who totally bought into the cultural issues of gods/guns/gays when casting his vote for Bush. But when he was talking about what's going on with his job, you'd have thought you were listening to the populist fire and brimstone of a Jim Hightower. He observed that the corporations and the government are the same creature, and that they don't give a crap about the rest of us. He was offended that Bush wants to cut a subsistance food program for poor seniors who can't afford to eat. His words: "They want us dead once we get to the point we're taking more out of the system than we're putting in."

The thing is, my brother and his peers are the kind who will only eat so much shit before they "take it to the streets". Rest assured they won't just bitch and moan and then play along -- when and if the corporation goes too far and gets too blatant in its abuse of its blue collar workers, there will be hell to pay. They will put their bodies on the line. They are talking among themselves about coordinating with other unions for a national strike if it becomes necessary.

Here is a large pool of potential activists and we need to figure out how to get them to realize we're on their side. Not by pandering to fear and bigotry as the GOP has done so successfully, but by conveying the idea of our common economic interests.

Nothing better than a little hate, class war and elitism with the morning coffee, I always say. I particularly like the "deviant sexual practices" because we sure know only "rednecks" are capable of that one.

Must we distill it all down to "us" against "them" as if we were two different species?

What you are talking about is trash and trash comes in all colors, all classes. Think Paris Hilton. And plenty of trash votes Dem.

This kind of exercise is useless, in my opinion, divisive, and well... beneath us.

My mother used to say intelligent people talk about ideas, average people talk about events, and stupid people talk about people. Let's be a bit smarter.

So, just where is the class war?
Reading comprehension. Try it.

And with all due respect, I certainly know your mother's pecan pie, was tastier than her choice of cliches.

Class war is not always about money. When you start ascribing awful things (i.e. incest, I am assuming) to a group of people, that is sterotyping and as wrong as assuming all black people (regardless of income) love watermelon. Same book, different page. Democrats are often accused of being elitist and we often are. We put our noses in the air at the working class folks (if they vote against us) ... unless we are championing them for being union heros. It's a strange dichotomy in our world view, in my opinion.

Cliche's are cliches because they are true.

What's the dig about reading comprehension? I comprehend your writing quite well. It is division and juvenile, to my way of thinking. It does nothing to help.

I was just extending the metaphor to the current national mindset.
Frankly, if there is indeed a segment of the working class folks who would NEVER vote for us...they can go to hell. You can love up on them,
grannie.

"...division and juvenile"
Damn, and I always thought it was divisive and snarky.

and into juvenile. Snarky is a bit more subtle. But I'm sure you could achieve snarky with a bit more understatement. Go for it!

Biographers are stupid people?
Historians are just average?
Demagogues with their ideas are intelligent people?
Okay...

you lost me and I really want to follow.

What are you linking biographers, historians and demagogues to? One of my posts? Or another?

Help an old grannie out here.

that's why the blanket wisdom of cliches is generally not very wise

Okay, I follow you now. It should have been clear. Sorry.

But think about it. There really is truth in the adage and those folks you discuss are mostly writing rather than having conversation. (splitting hairs)

But when I sit in the faculty room, and talk about people, that is generally gossip and I feel dumb for doing it. Events, better. Educational ideals: I'm a genius.

So I think this cliche' holds.

YMMV

can you give me a cliche' that is false? Not being pissy, just wondering if I am off base.

it's packed with them. And he's a hell of a lot better writer than I am. Honest.

peace,
mitchum

I'm adding this to my sig line.
intelligent people talk about ideas, average people talk about events, and stupid people talk about people.

There are too many people on DU talking about people and too few talking about ideas.

this is one that I hearken back to in order to evaluate my own behavior. It is a useful touchstone for me. Thanks for "getting it"!

My Husband and I are from opposite ends of this country. He is from RI and I am from Texas. One thing we can agree upon is that there are rednecks in every state of the union.

Pretty rude and it is a personal attack. You better go straighten him out. Post #16. I'll give another big fat star if you set him straight. LOL! Glad the star made you feel better, you know I love ya!

Oops I meant HEART! Sorry star/heart they are so much the same...LOL!

THANK YOU :)

:loveya:

"Why is the schoolhouse door locked on God? What harm is it to teach children to pray to Jesus in school?"

"The Bible says there is a time to kill."

Than you might think...

I thought it's origins were notheren or midwestern -

After all - the south used slave labor - not sure a black slave would get a red neck?

to college in SC in '72. She talked about how the rednecks hated the "freaks." Even then!

Since then I have, of course, heard it a lot. To me, it is a person who works in the sun. Obviously a white person. So it is kind of equal to blue-collar, I guess.

Here's what Dictionary.com says:

2 entries found for redneck.
red·neck Audio pronunciation of "redneck" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rdnk)
n. Offensive Slang

1. Used as a disparaging term for a member of the white rural laboring class, especially in the southern United States.
2. A white person regarded as having a provincial, conservative, often bigoted attitude.



Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

redneck

n : a poor white person in the southern United States

No shit, I have actually heard people say this.:puke:

honestly

If you have a little pension and you want to get out and see folks, it would seem like a good thing to do and make a little money. Most of the greeters at Wm around her are senior citizens.

Now, personally, I don't want to stand for that long but I guess it is good exercise.

I know we officially hate Wm here, but in many places it has become the defacto marketplace. Ours has two banks, a hairdresser, McDonalds, etc. Just like the old town square, but cheesier.

They portray themselves as being this "Mom & Pop store in little old Bentonville, AR tha dun gewd" They love the fact that you have forsaken your real town and superimposed them as an artificial market space. They want you to think that the old small town square with the soda fountain and barber shop can be found in a Wal-Mart. Let me tell you it is not. They merely herd people into their warehouse "stores" as chattel to divest them of their hard earned cash then defecate them out onto the 30 acre asphalt parking lot where they pack their new "Made in China" widgets into their inefficient gas guzzling SUV and return home to feel unfulfilled in their recent purchases, which starts the cycle all over again.

I think they are a poor substitute for the town square and I think they are a bunch of bastards.

But if they ARE the town square at the moment, they are what we have and I wouldn't have a problem with my senior relative picking up some money there, because there aren't a lot of opportunities for older folks. I do see quite a few bag boys at groceries that are older, but not many women.

Personally I grocery shop there for one reason. My groceries are about one-third cheaper than Publix. Unfortunately I'm not in a place where I can put my wallet where my mouth is. Maybe someday.

well done