The California state legislature elected the Republican Miller as one of the state's two Senators in 1881. He was an outspoken proponent of several bills to limit the influx and influence of Chinese immigrants. He expressed his sentiments during passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act:

"One complete man, the product of free institutions and high civilization, is worth more to the world than hundreds of barbarians. Upon what other theory can we justify the almost complete extermination of the Indians, the original possessor of all these States? I believe that one such man as Newton, or Franklin, or Lincoln, glorifies the creator of the world and benefits mankind more than all the Chinese who have lived, struggled and died on the banks of the Hoang Ho."
— 13 Cong. Rec. 1,487 (1882).

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 25 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's great to see how his views survived except you can't actually say that anymore and it all has to be couched in other terms

[–] miz@hexbear.net 37 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

A central idea in Domenico Losurdo’s masterpiece Liberalism: A Counter-History is that liberalism was, from its very beginnings, an ideology that sought to justify slavery. Hagiographers of the Founding Fathers and American independence love to portray it as a triumph of “freedom-loving peoples.” According to this story, slavery was merely a lingering imperfection, a backwards holdover righteously stamped out by the Civil War early in the nation’s history, and whatever regrettable byproducts of slavery that remain don’t fundamentally challenge the identification of liberalism and Western democracy with “freedom” as such. Losurdo argues, however, that liberalism is better understood as an ideology produced to satisfy the need felt by capitalists (business owners, entrepreneurs, etc.) to justify their rebellion against the monarchy while simultaneously justifying colonialism, Manifest Destiny, the genocide of indigenous people, chattel slavery, and the active suppression of workers’ rights.

from Really Existing Fascism

[–] Hexamerous@hexbear.net 17 points 2 weeks ago

they hoped for a meritocracy that would recognize genius as its ruling principle

my-hero

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