From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle
Liberty, Liberally Volume II - Issue VII
July 2022
Liberty, Liberally
By Definition, Systemic Racism Exists
Written June 18, 2020 If we look at the definition of ‘systemic’, we find that systemic racism is, in fact, a thing.
“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.” - H.L. Mencken
Why do politicians think that if we disagree with them that we’ve ‘sided’ against them? Why are they petty? Why is this normal now?
pointless, back and forth bickering that the politicos so commonly engage in. I don’t choose sides. But as a constituent, I have definitely voiced my opinion on things. And occasionally that selfexpression has been in opposition to certain actions by certain elected leaders.
In my writing, I’ve rarely written about politicians in the way that the Republicans and Democrats would have me write about their opponents. I’ve rarely written about politicians at all, but when I do, I don’t engage in the
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‘Systemic’ hasn’t been used nearly as much, or for as long, as ‘systematic’.
“... the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.” - JRR Tolkein
How can someone who is elected to serve their constituents believe that roughly half of those constituents are against them?
Politicians are elected, and swear an oath, to put aside their own stronglyheld beliefs. That’s the point of the oath, a public declaration that they will, in fact, not serve their own interests, or worse, the interests of others. They promise to uphold the constitution, and to serve their constituents, and that is the only dichotomy that should matter to elected politicians. Partisan politics are simply special interests, squared.
It is understandable that people would confuse these two similar words with the same root, as we can see by the ‘use over time’ charts included in my screen shots.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like them as people. They are my neighbors, after all. As an Alaskan, I understand the value of community.
Why would public servants, who literally swear an oath to uphold the constitution, seem to think that those constituents who question their decisions are their enemies?
The two-party system is a false dichotomy, and our elected leaders are steeped in it. They are completely overwhelmed by that contrary culture of partisan politics, to the point that they’ve become largely ineffective. They are too busy with partisan narratives to ever act on the true will of the People.
I get where the confusion started, I think. There was a time when I thought that the word ‘systemic’ was a mispronunciation of the word ‘systematic’, until someone corrected me. And, if you were referring
to ‘systematic’ racism, instead of ‘systemic’ racism, you would have a decent debate position.
Here’s the thing: politicians are people, not saviors. They deserve to held accountable, but when they fall short of their oaths, their responsibilities, this should come as no shock to anyone. After all, self-governance, Liberty of the individual, are a philosophy that arose in response to the realization that no one is fit to rule over anyone else. Literally no one is capable of ruling others. That’s the whole point, really. So it shouldn’t surprise us when politicians suck at their jobs. It’s a difficult task, damn near impossible. That’s why we have the Constitution, to attempt to limit how badly they can screw it up. ARTICLE CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE
‘Systemic’ means that it relates to and is transmitted by a system, whereas ‘systematic’ means that it is a design of the system. In physiology, we see the word ‘systemic’ used to describe how oxygen and CO2 are carried through the circulatory system.
Here’s a sentence that serves as an example of what I mean:
In botany, we see that the word references how the roots of a plant will carry an agent throughout the plant tissue, permeating it, systemically.
You can see in this sentence that the use of the word systemic does not imply that corruption is part of the design of the system, but instead, it is the system being used to perpetuate something other than it’s design.
It seems that many people think of the word ‘systemic’ and assume it means ‘systematic’. I think people on both sides of this modern debate have this misconception, but that’s an even more complex conversation. A drug can be introduced systemically to the body intravenously, a plant nutrient can be introduced systemically to a plant through the roots. Therefore, the phrase ‘Systemic racism’ doesn’t imply that the system was designed to be racist. In fact, this is a common rebuttal to the idea of systemic racism, that there are no laws on the books that are racially specific. Systemic racism means that the racism is being applied to the system, and because of the nature of the system, it spreads... systemically.
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Systemic corruption in a government threads through every aspect of the country, not just government initiatives.
This is what systemic racism is, too. Now, I would point out that the system also suffers from a mountain of corruption: victimless crime laws, and unconstitutional doctrines, and other insults to individual liberty, all of these compounding under the weight of the hardened hearts of those who hate. The system will always be a system. It will always be susceptible to whatever character flaw resides in the minds of those who occupy those positions of power. The only way to lessen this is to repeal all these toxic victimless crime laws that open the door for discrimination, and undo bad legal doctrines that close the door on justice for all individuals, regardless of race.
From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle