'Racism' verses 'Race War'.

Literally just sat down to revise for my final exam of my final year of bloody university and I come across something that may be worth looking at. Something that differentiates discrimination in such a way that may allow me to come to terms with it in understanding.

I have always had the problem that to me discrimination was difficult to accept on some level. Yes indeed it happens, and yes there is such a thing as racial/sexist/ageist discrimination and it is bad. What I always had a problem with was that much of the things which have been seen as discrimination simply did not seem to be that; they lacked something, or indeed had something more to them that gave them a different category.

Racism for example, happens when someone irrationally 'hates' someone of another 'race' and also discriminates against them, using what abilities they have (within their own personality) to disadvantage another. I don't see racism as such, or at least another sort of racism, in the disadvantagement of a group as a result of societies mechanisms.

Now reading Foucault, or at least an understanding of Foucault from my lectures I think I may have come to the understanding of that differentiation. This proposition is entitled 'Racism' and 'Race War, as it is an idea of a subtle 'Race War' within societal biopolitics which allows for a differentiation.

Biopolitics is the politics of people. It shows how power is a matter for networks and is not physically held by an individual or body but is facilitated by a myriad of other bodies or nodes (in fact all bodies or nodes) that souround it in flows. For example a king has, in a classical understanding of power, all the strength and sovereign right to enact the most power in a nation. But if it happened that all the people died and only he was left then he would loose all power. No matter how insignificant it may seem that an individual is they still are important in the networks of power to some extent.

Thus you can see how it is important inside a biopoltical understanding of power for life to be promoted. And for that life to be statistically understood so as to see, for example, where the best and worst places to live are so as to move populations to the best places and improve the worst. And it is by increasing life that power is increased. Why could it then be seen that some states have the death penalty? Doesn't this go against the very basic premise of a biopolitical structure?

Indeed it would, but as you can control the best places to live, you can also control the best people. It is of control and knowledge of the individual that biopolitics shows it's ugly underbelly. And here Racism is shown. Not the racism of hate, but the mechanisms of race without the discourse of racism. How would this work? And how is this any different from a singular understanding of Racism?

Race War is a matter for societal control. The best populations for the society to promote are thusly encouraged, where as those that are designated by society and not individuals within society are disencouraged to some way. This is still racism, but it isn't a racism, as I have said of hate, this is a racism of the sort that allows society to advance as a body-politic. It is vital for society that it is able to discriminate.

Often this is based on statistics, on evidence but in many instances this is a matter of a cover. Look for example the way in which London gains a certain preferential treatment over other areas of the country. This is State discrimination. This is racism without the discourses of race. This is needed within society. And this can extend to the extremes of the Holocaust, to the most minor of a budget restructuring between county councils.

Ultimately though it is the extremes which highlight the issue and make it most clear. As Foucault said, Biopolitics claims life "in order to reclaim death". He continues, "...to be able to inflict death on it's subjects, its living beings, biopower must make use of racism; more precisely, racism intervenes here to grant access to death to the boipolitical state."

And yes this is the sort of state we live in.

Madeleine parents to see the Pope

Fucking arrest them already!!!!!

This is beyond a joke.

Might rant about this later, but really, these are the worst parents ever!!!!

Contempary Knowledge...

I'm not sure why exactly but for some reason I find the interchange I had a while back between me and a random at a house party interesting. I will explain below, but for some reason I think I need to clarify that the reference towards terrorism is meant as an ironic joke.

Me: Hey! Who are you?
Him: My names [err.. random?]. I'm a terrorist. I'm from Bahrain. I bet you dont know where that is.
Me: Yeah I do! It's in the Middle East. I do Politics.

Now this got me thinking. Not only why was he introduceing himself as a terrorist but also my (drunken) understanding of the location of his country of origin being based upon my Political degree.

There seems to be a lack of knowlege at the moment that isn't hot. That isn't based upon some sort of innate reasoning. Whats happened to knowledge for knowledge's sake? I forget what Foucault calls this, but even in the early 20th century it was a matter for him. This sudden lack of belief in unaccountable but real knowledge was important in some way.

It also seems comical that it is not a geographer who could be seen to make the comment "I know where that is.." But a politicaly minded individual. I mean, at what point did Geography become democraphics and specifics and not the world? Bah. But thats a side point.

What education needs right now is real knowledge. The knowledge of individual interest. Of a wider approach to what is valuable to an individual. Not what we have at the moment. Knowledge and understandings of the world that are sensationalist, single issued and short lived.

/rant over.

Self respect....

Just a comment that Mat - Landlord of the Bobbin - said in relation to a comical session where I was (acceptably) the butt of some joke or othere...

"Do you have any self respect?"

I was thinking about it, and possibly I do not.

My point is that maybe this is the issue that I have with work and personal progress. I just think maybe I need to hold myself in a more important light in my own head. To concentrate on my own progress, and respect myself both now and what I can work for in the future...

World of warcraft - to - Revision - to - Exams

Bah, ive been had!

Those clever people at Blizzard have turned a quick 10-day free trial into a purchase into hours and hours spent playing that most hated of MMOs WORLD OF WARCRAFT!

Save me! End the internet! ....PLEASE!

Bah.

Its fun though... I suppose.

Revision is naff. I hate it. It has no linier mostion; no progression that makes any sense to me. So the result is i find it incredibly hard to get into it. I guess its nothing abnormal. Its just a fact... And its going to have a detrimental effect on my exam results I bet!

Talking of exams. Only a week to go untill my first one. Ohh I'm gonna start shitting myself soon. W00t for sleepless, stressfulled nights.

UPDATE
----------------
Just realised that I have 2 weeks till my first exam... You have no idea how much of a relief that was.... Really you don't!