goldenfinger
Nov 27, 2009, 5:28 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/02/gay-rights-india-court
MaybeSayMaybe
Nov 27, 2009, 5:52 PM
A lot of things are changing in the middle east, and the big driving force is the globalization of pop culture. The treatment of sexual minorities is a sensitive indicator of what is going where, but the real changes are of a much bigger magnitude, and affect these countries at the deepest level.
There are two things to think about. One is the cyclical nature of minorities in society. The rise and fall of various minorities has a lot to do with Kondratiev cycles. Sexual minorities are important, but they are mixed in with a slurry of other things. For example, the slash-and-burn capitalism that has been around for about 25 years implies the existence a certain minority of people who basically couldn't care less about the side effects of their reckless behavior. That is exactly what has blown up our financial markets. These people will get what is coming to them, because the damage they have done is accumulating upon the average person.
And what does cycle behavior say about the near future prospects of sexual minorities? Chaos, bait-and-switch tactics, and possible scapegoating. When things get tough, the people in power always want scapegoats, to divert attention away from those who are doing the real damage. And as always it is very important to disguise the real scapegoating as something of a "positive" nature. Have you ever noticed that no one does more damage than the person who goes around blathering about they are such a "positive" person? It works 95% of the time on 95% of the people. Ask Goldman Sachs. They are doing God's work. They even said so.
The other big consideration is the enlightenment factor. Repressive and unenlightened societies tend to pick on anybody who is a little bit different, and that sends the talent running for the door. For decades this country sucked a large fraction of the global talent base into America, because we had a better system that allowed them to succeed.
When Hitler was torturing and executing gay people, Germany had the best scientific and engineering talent in the world, because Germany had pulled the rug out from under the English and had gotten the dye industry away from them right before technology made a bunch of important leaps in the early 20'th century. And Hitler starting picking on his best people. They voted with their feet, and came over here. We all know what that lead to.
So maybe it does pay if people are nice to each other.