2016-03-10, 02:19 AM
Representation in the Academy Awards is BS. That Danny DeVito guy is full of it for calling America a nation of bigots for having no black nominees because it's not the American people who choose who gets the Oscars, it's Hollywood itself. Nobody but the Hollywood elites have representation in that entity, so Danny should have been calling himself and his overpaid actor buddies bigots, not us. We simply don't make the decision he's talking about. We're not represented in it.
Representation translates to proportionate say in tangible and intangible politics. This is especially important with money. If you are a taxpayer, you are sending money to the federal, state and local governments. As a taxpayer, you therefore are entitled to have a say in how those taxes are allocated, and it's important because your money is being spent. It is ironic, but you have the greatest say at the local level -- and local is the most important, because it decides stuff like school boards, parking, and libraries -- and the least in federal. But federal is what concerns people the most. We have the least say in the Presidency, but that's the top-watched event.
If you're dealing with intangible political issues, the premise is the same. Blacks were in the past either totally without say (slavery) or a sham of a say (segregation.) Civil rights lobbied to change that, but it seems to have ended up as "too much say." The first open heart surgery was by a black doctor, as I recall, and jazz was invented and perfected mostly by blacks. These things are part of substantive culture, but there seems to be a thing that if it's black it's got to be as good as anything non black. Jazz is an achievement on the level of respectability with classical. I don't think rap about killing cops is on par with classical, but many blacks do. That is the doing of aggressive representation.
In the end, representation, whether over intangibles or tangibles means a voice, power. We are in a country based on rights and freedoms. If you don't have representation, you cannot protect your rights or keep your freedoms. But since politics by definition is a competition for scarce resources, one group having rights and freedoms will always be stepping on the toes of other groups. Representation is ALWAYS central to this because most of the competition on any political level is done through representatives. Most people with full-time jobs do not have time for full-time involvement in politics.
Representation translates to proportionate say in tangible and intangible politics. This is especially important with money. If you are a taxpayer, you are sending money to the federal, state and local governments. As a taxpayer, you therefore are entitled to have a say in how those taxes are allocated, and it's important because your money is being spent. It is ironic, but you have the greatest say at the local level -- and local is the most important, because it decides stuff like school boards, parking, and libraries -- and the least in federal. But federal is what concerns people the most. We have the least say in the Presidency, but that's the top-watched event.
If you're dealing with intangible political issues, the premise is the same. Blacks were in the past either totally without say (slavery) or a sham of a say (segregation.) Civil rights lobbied to change that, but it seems to have ended up as "too much say." The first open heart surgery was by a black doctor, as I recall, and jazz was invented and perfected mostly by blacks. These things are part of substantive culture, but there seems to be a thing that if it's black it's got to be as good as anything non black. Jazz is an achievement on the level of respectability with classical. I don't think rap about killing cops is on par with classical, but many blacks do. That is the doing of aggressive representation.
In the end, representation, whether over intangibles or tangibles means a voice, power. We are in a country based on rights and freedoms. If you don't have representation, you cannot protect your rights or keep your freedoms. But since politics by definition is a competition for scarce resources, one group having rights and freedoms will always be stepping on the toes of other groups. Representation is ALWAYS central to this because most of the competition on any political level is done through representatives. Most people with full-time jobs do not have time for full-time involvement in politics.