Book club selection (via POC; session held (via Zoom) November 22, 2020).
specific discussion about a common situation - boundaries are determined by conquest, power
within the boundaries are groups that may or may not get along well. active favoritism of group in power over another. throughout history - restrictions on Jews in Christian countries; restrictions on Christians in Islamic countries. many examples. Blacks in U.S.
not feasible to unmix the populations, though tried very hard to do this following WWI and WWII. but property ownership, tradition, where to go anyway.
then how does disadvantaged group react? at some point negotiation seems insufficient, and violence starts. and hunger strikes. it's a power relationship.
and it leads to progress, right? (despite the awfulness) this only applies in democracies with a free press - good luck trying this elsewhere
~20-year cycle - a generation forgets the horrors, then a subsequent generation repeats it
endless and unhelpful tendency to glamorize those coming from the left. Che, Castro - bigots, totalitarians in their own right - still on T-shirts and posters, somehow!
IRA in the same light. the sisters.
outright criminal acts in service of the cause - somehow considered excusable by way too many
at outset I worried about author's tendency to use language like today - anyone from the right is a reactionary, those on the left are sympathetic if not cool. but ended up very well balanced
really helpful look at the toll from a macro level, and on the individual level
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