Don’t forget Fascism based on religion.
Israel’s got us beat by a lot, man. In the US we have grasps for religious power (some successful) but it doesn’t describe everyone in government
Go to Utah. The Mormon church has a lot more influence on politics, than people want to admit?
There sadly are even more countries that are completely under control of religious leaders. Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, … Vatican City (they even have something like their own military).
It’s insane how far the Vatican has fallen. It’s just so religious nowadays.
I think I missed the “mysticism and spirituality” period. Twenty years ago I knew India for cows, castes, and crap in the rivers.
Idk how the general public viewed India 40 years ago, but from my vague understanding of their modern history they’ve always been known for a cruel caste system resulting in poverty and disease, which was massaged by the English introducing more widespread transportation and education but castes and disparity still persists after several revolutions. Don’t get me wrong, the English were cruel and apathetic, but clearly the locals learned a lot from them in good and bad ways both.
I recently learned about CPI parties of India but they also ingrain religion into their politics? That sounds like one step forward two steps back. I’d love to see more Indian politics and international news in the news and politics communities on Lemmy, sounds like a lot is going on over there and I’m getting real sick of hearing about Taylor Swift’s jet and Biden’s Cookies.
Oh and also, skin whitening cream is pretty fucked imo. I saw a story awhile back where a famous light skinned actress played an ethnic minority role where they blackfaced and lived in filth, clearly something is wrong there.
Skin whitening is not unlike tanning in the west, an indication of status/wealth. In India lighter skin shows you don’t need to work outside. In the west tan skin shows you can take vacations.
And in both cases people fake it with creams and tanning salons. And it becomes so entrenched people don’t realize why they are actually doing it. Just like makeup and clothing choices.
Yes, there are problematic racial undertones…and in general is definitely fucked up…but I think it’s more complicated than just a race thing. I mean, people in the West are literally exposing themselves to cancer causing UV to fake the look of having recently taken a trip to Hawaii or whatever, which is also kinda fucked up.
Pretty sure lighter complexion in non-white countries is status symbol in the same way tanning is among white Westerners. You don’t need to work outside means you are affluent enough not to do so. Getting tanned means you are also affluent enough to go on holidays abroad to somewhere exotic.
Before the European colonisation in non-white majority countries, light skin has always been seen as status symbol. The racial aspect came later upon Western colonialism.
In the west tan skin shows you can take vacations.
What? I see a dude with a tan in the middle of winter and I automatically think “he spends way to much time in tanning booths” and “that’s a lot of skin damage”. I never once thought “that guy can afford vacations”. If that’s the effect they’re going for they need better PR.
Spray on tans are also frowned upon, where I’m from. But the natural production of pigment in response to sunlight isn’t nearly comparable to chemically changing tones or caking on makeup to hide your ethnicity.
I still don’t see them on the same level as attempting to change ones race as a show of wealth. People should see the beauty of their natural skin.
UV Radiation is required to produce Vitamin D, the World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 5 minutes of direct sunlight exposure a week to avoid deficiency.
Your take away from what I wrote was that I think people should never expose themselves to the sun/UV? The benefits of moderate UV exposure are completely irrelevant to the point I was making.
I just explained how they are comparable and really don’t know what else to tell you. Maybe someone else can give it a go.
I think you’re missing the point.
Some cultures find tanned skin to be beautiful, others find light skin to be beautiful.
In either case, wealthier people can achieve either darker or lighter skin by spending more or less time in the sun.
Poorer people who’s length of exposure to the sun is a function of their work, can emulate lighter or darker skin with various lotions and potions.
But the natural production of pigment in response to sunlight isn’t nearly comparable to chemically changing tones or caking on makeup to hide your ethnicity.
My asian “whitening creams” are called “brightening creams” in the West. They remove redness. They don’t chemically alter your ethnicity.
On the bright side, you need a tech tutorial, they’ve got your back.
Yeah, but it’s often in the form of a YouTube video with narration that’s not always so easy to understand. I miss written tutorials, but most of the good ones I find these days tend to come from Central/Eastern European forum posts.
Germany f*d up so bad we’re still using them as a meme after most of a century. Never go full Germany.
