This is the first time
that I have written on the Bundy incident. Cliven Bundy is not a domestic terrorist
as many establishment liberals have called him. He is not some super patriot as
the establishment Right have called him too. After much research, Cliven Bundy
is a reactionary, wealthy oligarch who exploited the concerns of many as an
excuse to advance neoliberalism. He is a vicious racist and bigot too. Bundy is a multimillionaire oligarch with 14
kids and many grandchildren. He allowed his cattle to graze on publicly owned
land without paying feeds to the federal government. He has talked and allied
with reactionary Alex Jones. Bundy claimed that his family “settled” the land
over a century ago, so he has claim to it. He claims that the federal
government has no legitimately. His argument is moot, because if the fed has no
legitimacy, no legitimate claim to that land exists for him due to his family taking it 100
plus years ago. He should pay his fees to the Native Americans since his prior
to being there using his logic. Many of the Mormons back then killed innocent people in the
Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. Bundy claims that he is fighting over regulation,
but he is really fighting any regulation that costs to multimillionaires. He is
refusing to pay the same fees that 16,000 public land ranchers do each year.
Many people are shilling for oligarchs who want to make more money. Even the
BLM disagrees with his efforts. Alex Jones claims that this cause is some blue
collar call to arms when it is not. Jones is silent with one Canadian company
was grabbing land for the XL pipeline from the Texas and other blue collar
Americans across the Midwest. There are sincere activists who are opposed nonviolently
to the KXL Pipeline. These people include ranchers, Native Americans,
environmentalists, and Mustang preservationists. So, this agenda of Bundy, Rand Paul, the Kocah Brothers, and others is all about
privatization. One businessman is angering people in blaming “government” when
the government has been infiltrated by oligarchical interests not all of the
people. Fascism is where select millionaires and billionaires are against any
regulation and work with the government to harm the people. So, it is about big,
select companies buying government agencies to do the work for them. Alex Jones
has not explicitly condemned neoliberalism as a philosophy at all. Bundy is not
a poor, suffering man. He is a rich bourgeoisie person. We see fascism in the
world that we must defeat. This Tea Party/Koch Brothers agenda is truly
obvious. You can’t be a true liberty lover and shill for the select interests
of multimillionaires and multibillionaires at all. I do believe in disagreeing
with Monsanto, and any corrupt policies from Big Business, but the general welfare
ought to be advanced. Ron Paul wants all federal land holdings to end, which
will harm the environment and cause corporate exploitation further. No
regulation in any aspect of society is immoral. That is why Tea Partiers are
hypocrites on issues on liberty. They lecture folks on liberty, but many of
them refuse to oppose Stop and frisk in Brooklyn.
I agree some folks 100 percent on the issue of black people having the right to defend themselves.
I studied this history for years. During the days of American slavery, racists enacted
laws to restrict or ban black people from owning guns (as a means to prevent
rebellions and revolutions). The Haitian Revolution was a product of armed
black people fighting back against a brutal French empire. In America, the
Civil War came about and armed black people in the Union side fought valiantly
against rebels. During Reconstruction, black people owned weapons to defend
themselves against Klan attacks. Even the Freeman Bureau outlined this right.
The Federal Freedmen’s Bureau widely distributed circulars that read in part,
“All men, without distinction of color, have the right to keep arms to defend
their homes, families, or themselves.” We see that the Black Codes prevented in
many cases law abiding black citizens from owning weapons. There were the
Deacons of Defense who had guns to protect civil rights activists throughout
the South. The Black Panthers back in the 1960's armed themselves to battle
oppression and discrimination. They executed a progressive policy of free
health clinics, educational services, monitoring police action, and they
opposed imperialism directly. Now, of course, we should oppose violent crime
with guns. Guns are not toys. Guns should be taken seriously. We are opposed to
wanton, senseless violence against anyone in any location on Earth. Yet,
innocent law abiding human beings should never be equated to criminals. That is
precisely the point. We need economic justice (there should be more job
training and job creation programs too) and other solutions to address issues
in our community. There can be no real immigration policy without addressing
the socioeconomic interests of African Americans. That is a truism. The current
President has deported millions upon millions of undocumented human beings (and
in 2010, he has ordered National Guard troops to be at the border, so he is not
a total progressive on this issue at all. IJS). Anyone saying the millions of
undocumented workers in America will have no impact on the lives of African
Americans is naive. That is why we should advocate definitely execute
punishment against illegal immigrants who have done felonious crimes. There
should be a fair, equitable, and just immigration policy, but it should not
harm the rights of African Americans though. There should be border enforcement,
the improvement of workers' rights, and an increase of the minimum wage (as a
means to decrease illegal immigration). There should be policies of preventing
unfair discrimination against black people in construction and other industry
jobs too. There should be fair trade rules (as we know that NAFTA has harmed
America and even Mexico) and any immigrant should not be mistreated or abused
of their human rights too. Immigrants should never be scapegoated for
imperialism or the crimes of Wall Street (including the rest of the Western
elite) at all. That is important, because human rights are human rights. HUMAN
RIGHTS ARE SUPERIOR TO STATES' RIGHTS. Dr. Ron Daniels wrote a great article on
this issue that I agree with him.
The solution to the violence in Chicago is not
monolithic. There should be increased vigilance against illegal gun usage (and
increased punishment for those who do crimes with guns). There should be more
collaboration between authorities and community leaders. Nothing changes unless
the community takes a significant role in the solution. Also, the Great Sister Courtney (who is a Great Friend) made an
interesting point about people protecting their areas. That is an excellent
point. :) . Malcolm X and the old school BPP advocated self-defense units to
protect our communities. Such independent organizations are needed today to
protect the streets of Chicago. I have no issue with that at all. Also, we have
to address poverty and lax infrastructure the poor communities of Chicago. When
you have massive school closures, high unemployment, and austerity, then those
problems are what we need to address too. We want have job training and job
creation programs, a moratorium on evictions including foreclosures, and
increased services sent to the people (like hospitals, recreational facilities,
etc.). We should treat this situation as a national emergency, because it is.
The situation is complicated. Without families being improved upon, nothing
massive will change. Both genders of adult age have a responsibility to assist
the youth. This situation is a blatant emergency and we should treat it as
such. Also, it is important to note that many Brothers and Sisters are working
day in and day out to battle against the violence in Chicago too. Their efforts
ought not to be ignored. Far too often, the youth are readily treated with
disrespect and neglect. I think the point about caring, monitoring,
and encouraging the youth is a very important point. This neglect of the the youth
can't be the case permanently, because if we don't care about the youth, we
don't care for ourselves (since we were once youths). Young people should be
guided into the right direction. There has to be massive task forces to address
violent, criminal gangs and drug running. Also, the social & economic
conditions have to be addressed as well. Neoliberalism has damaged Chicago and
the 2008 Great Recession exacerbated the problems. So, both family development
strategies, radical solutions to address crime, and socio-economic policies can
go a long way to help solve this issue. It is obvious that nothing can be
solved comprehensively unless poverty is greatly addressed. We know about
racism and discrimination. We know about the many economic disparities that
exist in the United States (and places globally, because the Oxfam report further
documents financial disparities between the super-rich and the rest of humanity
globally). That is why we should use self-determination and develop further our
own infrastructure (in terms of educating our people, building in our
community, and developing unique ways to grow the strength of our families).
People should not whine in an immoral fashion, but demanding change (and being
active to do something about problems) is not equivalent to whining at all. Not
to mention that black people have the right to live in America. Black people
built up a lot of America and we have the right to improve our own lives.
Without strong families, there is no strong community. Not to mention that
human beings need economic justice and raising the minimum wage (eliminating
bad trade deals including eliminating fiat currency filled privatized central
banking) is one solution out of many that can address poverty.
First, the
students from the Committee have every right to make their grievances known.
That is part of their free speech rights. I don’t know how successful their
movement will be since that university is a private institution. Yet, their
demands are not extreme at all, because it would be in the best interest of the
University to appeal to as many people as possible among many backgrounds
(especially because of the demographic changes in America. 2043 is coming). If
one student feels uncomfortable with a school glamorizing the crimes of
traitors, slave owners, and white supremacists, then the whole student body is
disrespected. So, I do wish the Committee members the best, but I do believe
that we as black people should strengthen HBCUs too. Many of our greatest
leaders came from HBCUs and we should not ignore their huge contributions in
the power of the black community. The decision is typical since we have a
heavily reactionary Supreme Court. Many who whine about affirmative action
refuse to expose legacies (or granting relatives of alumni access to go into
universities even if they are not qualified for it), the Homestead Act, and
other privileges granted to certain people. There are many misconceptions of
affirmative action. Inequalities and racism can't be solved by private power
alone or waiting for change. Folks have to use private and public power as a
means to address legitimate grievances. Inequalities must be addressed by
revolutionary policies, not post racial rhetoric. Affirmative action is a
method to address class and racial injustices. Affirmative action can be used among
equally qualified candidates too. Times certainly are changing. 2043 will be an
interesting year to say the least. Obviously, Bruce Shepard wanted to spark
debate. He mentioned no slurs or issued some massive policy change in his
statement. Debates on this issue are fine, because we need to address problems
of diversity in our educational system. Real people want qualified people of
every color or background to have fair access to universities if people want to
go into universities. A poor citizen on average (who is very intelligent) will
not have the same opportunities as a rich person of equal intelligence (and
qualifications). So, we have to address structural issues in our nation as a
means to make the nation experience true justice. We (who are authentic) all
want justice at the end of the day. There is nothing wrong with universities
seeking better diversity in a legitimate fashion. Education is diverse as well
and it is more than just universities (since real education can be found in
trade schools, apprenticeships, internships, and other areas). Black people for
eons have talked about real issues too from police brutality, TPP, our civil
liberties, anti-imperialism issues, corporate corruption, the FED, QE,
austerity, bad trade deals, AFRICOM, etc. We are opposed to fascism (since
there are certainly wrong people who want our waters and air polluted, our
rights suppressed, and our heritage to be bashed). Us calling for an increase
of the minimum wage, the elimination of voter suppression laws, an end to the
war on terror, Wall Street criminals to be fully prosecuted, the banning of
corporate personhood (as shown via the Citizens United decision), the ending of
QE, our black heritage to be respected, and other solutions are BOLD, SPECIFIC
DECLARATIONS. So, Brothers and Sisters should keep on showing the truth. Brothers and Sisters have
every right to speak truth to power. So, black people have great intellectual
curiosity and we will continue to proclaim the truth. Unfortunately, some black
people have self-hatred. Some black people will wake up and others will be left
behind. The handwriting is on the wall. Events like the death of Aiyana Jones
and the mistreatment of our people globally by barbarians show us what time it
is. White racists have shown their love of a corrupt system and their hatred of
us. We should use our energy to embrace TRUTH, LIGHT, AND DEVELOPING OUR
COMMUNITIES. I believe in treating my neighbor as myself, but I don't believe
in bowing before injustice. When we stand up, we won't bow. We just stand.
There is nothing
wrong with communities improving. Yet, we have to be careful with one thing. We
should always reject a “black capitalism” that many so-called nationalists (not
all nationalists support). They believe that businesses alone can liberate us. They
can’t. There is nothing wrong with enterprises, but we have to make sure that
workers are treated right as well. We should embrace real success and not the
right wrong success. The right success is allowing workers to have a living
wage (some want at least $15 an hour), to have affordable medical benefits,
etc. Managers should not steal hours and wages from workers. We have to deal
with the fact that black child poverty is increasing, black unemployment is in
double digit levels, and there is a wage crisis in our community. We want
justice and justice is beyond individualized pursuit of wealth and status. A
collective effort and collective actions can only create liberation for us as a
people. Collective struggle is certainly necessary for us to witness the
revolutionary change that we all desire. The scourge of neoliberalism is a
threat. The prison industrial complex is another threat too. Not to mention
that we have to improve our health. Too much junk food has contributed to
cancers, diabetes, etc. We need more organic farming and organic foods in
poorer communities (not just in the middle class or rich areas of the nation).
There should be universal health care in America or at least Medicare for all.
So, the rich of our people should understand these things. They should be
encourages to fund homeless shelters, black media or arts festivals, tech-savvy
programs, and other black sponsored events. Many Brothers and Sisters are doing
what is right, so their actions ought to be commended. We should never degrade
our people. We should be honest and speak truth to power though. So, we need
our financial, health, educational, and cultural powerbases to be strengthen.
We need justice and liberation point blank period.
By Timothy
, Voting Rights, etc- but like Clive [the Jive] Bundy says want to see us all back in chattel-slavery!!!