Thursday News

They only suspended the Muslim surveillance program after it fulfilled its purpose. There was huge pressure from legitimate activists who disagreed profoundly with the unwarranted monitoring of a vast spectrum of Muslim American citizens (not just those suspected of terrorism). The actions of the NYPD (involved in this program) have not caused massive arrests of “terrorists” at all too. It is immoral to treat innocent people as criminals. Islamophobia is a serious issue in this country. Too many people falsely view any Muslim as a terrorist and we have to fight back against that perverted, lying stereotype. That program is very similar to the COINTELPRO program from the FBI where the FBI illegally monitored even peaceful, law abiding activists fighting for legitimate social change in the world. Obviously, the NYPD think that they are slick by this measure. I have no issue with the elimination of this surveillance program, but they have other similar programs in existence. Numerous NYPD members have done overt police brutality and there should be a federal investigation in their activities involving this issue too. Regardless of how many evil tactics that bigots throw at us, we will survive and overcome them. We overcame the Maafa, slavery, Jim Crow, and other injustices. Many of our greatest warriors (both Brothers and Sisters) existed in the midst of oppression. Therefore, we should all dream big, keep on fighting, and never lose hope. Once you have hope and do real action, then solutions can come. Economic inequality has been related to the drive of war. Last week, Equilar, the executive compensation research firm, reported that the 100 top-earning corporate CEOs in the US saw their median pay increase by 9 percent in 2013, to $13.9 million. We see that the U.S. media and political establishment have shown a new torrent of war propaganda against Russia. They did with conflicts involving Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. The media is showing lies about the crisis in Ukraine. The United States is the most unequal of the major industrialized power. In this economic slump, the majority of the population has seen a retrogression in their conditions of life. The rich and the super-rich have accumulated ever greater wealth. The increase in CEO pay revealed in the Equilar report is an expression of this process. Larry Ellison, the CEO of software giant Oracle and the fifth-richest man in the world, once again topped the list, taking home $78.4 million in salary and bonuses in 2013. Ellison’s accumulated wealth stands at an estimated $48.8 billion, more than the gross domestic product of 100 separate countries. In 2012, Ellison bought 98 percent of the land on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai, to add to his hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate holdings. Figures published by professors Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman this month show that the share of wealth of every part of the population has declined significantly since the 1980s with the exception of the top 1 percent of income earners, whose wealth has grown dramatically. This concentration of wealth has caused many young people to experience poverty and joblessness. Almost 16 percent of young people aged 25 to 34 have incomes below the federal poverty rate. By way of comparison, 10 percent of people in the same age group were in poverty in 2000. The median income of young households is $8,000 less than it was in 2000, in real terms. We saw a recent reactionary coup in Ukraine, spearheaded by fascists. They have been organized in Ukraine and they are utilized to militarize the entire region and threaten war with Russia (a nuclear armed power). We see our democratic rights being violated and the buildup of the police powers of the state. We are struggling against war.

The whole of society must be changed, bad institutions must be abolished, and real solutions ought to be instituted. Why should I as a black person stop blaming police brutality for many issues in my community when that is real? Innocent Brothers and Sisters have been killed as a result of police brutality. Their lives mean something and their lives ought to be respected. Their deaths have nothing to do with personal responsibility, but with the vile actions of perverted criminals. Many of the same ones lecturing black people on personal responsibility refuse to tell crooked police officers, corporate polluters, imperialists, and other elitists criminals to have personal responsibility for their own actions. Folks should have jobs, but many folks struggle to get jobs because of economic problems not because of inherit laziness. There must be more progressive policies to engineer more job growth. No, I will not stop criticizing police brutality, racism, discrimination, bad parents, and any evil person in the world. See, the denial of the total truth is not the total truth at all. Many innocent people are caught up in the War on Drugs as documented by the literature from the Sister Michelle Alexander. Folks are demanding change. Real Folks are not making excuses for errors. I have not made a single excuse. I have blamed a diverse array of factors for the complications in the black community though. Manning up is about condemning racism. Manning up is about standing up for justice. Manning up is about not being ashamed of your heritage and never backing down from reactionary propaganda that seeks to minimize oppression instead of confronting oppression. That is the point that some people have to realize. There is nothing wrong with self-determination. There should be both legitimate individual action and collective action executed by black people. Black people for long decades from Malcolm X to Dr. King have always exposed social ills in the black community. I have done so too in my condemnation of degrading lyrics to my condemnation of bad parents. Before many of these haters were born, black people have always taken responsibility for their own actions. I will never back down from GOP extremists, reactionaries like Limbaugh, and anybody that seeks to harm the black community at all. So, we should both improve our morality (including standing up for ethics in our community) and confront oppression. 

Social justice encompasses the ideal that the 1 percent does not receive unfair, record tax breaks and record bailouts. It means that equality is meant for all people. Also, yes it does entail a redistribution of economic and political power. For example, the serfs experienced a redistribution of power and wealth during the 19th century in Russia (in response to the abuses made by the czars against them) was not immoral. Newly freed black slaves (who were stripped of their human rights and treated in a barbaric fashion by evil people) experienced a redistribution of power during Reconstruction and that was not immoral. Even new nations developing after colonialism ended in many Third World nations experienced a redistribution of power and wealth. Their wealth was stolen by European imperialism. That was not evil either, so a redistribution of power can be used for legitimate purposes. Injustice must be solved by the use of Power to benefit the people not oppressive systems. Now, I don’t subscribe to hating those that disagree with me, but disagreeing profoundly certain ideologies cogently is honorable. True rule of law has nothing to do with massive austerity, base stereotypes, or denial of basic human services to suffering human beings. We are our Brothers and our Sisters’ keepers. Many public schools have been harmed by rich foundations, bad policies, lax infrastructure, poverty, and privatized interests. Public schools in Finland are doing great since they have a universal, progressive system. All forms of legitimate education should be improved upon not totally abolished. I agree with progressive policies to create jobs as this has worked from 1945 to 1975 (which included increased taxes and investments in our infrastructure. In that time period with those policies, we saw poverty cut in half, the growth of educational opportunities, the increase of GDP, and the growth of manufacturing jobs). The government funded GI Bill contributed to the economic growth in that time period too. The Great Recession was influenced by bad trade deals, Wall Street corruption including speculation, the subprime mortgage bubble, and many other reasons. The free market is not God and even American society then and now is based on mixed economic principles. It is hypocritical for some to want humans to have morality, but they want the market to have lax moral boundaries. We live in a mixed economy not a totally free market system at all. Also, even the market has regulations. Not to mention that many progressives believe in the free market. I will never tone down my criticism about racism, discrimination, etc. I will both promote personal responsibility and oppose injustice (also folks should be active to create solutions too).

The civil rights leaders back in the day used protests, civil disobedience, and other calls for changes. They were not crying. They were demanding solutions. Black people have every right to demand social change that is legitimate. See, when black people demand real solutions, they are exercising their free speech rights point blank period exclamation point. Tons of black people are interested in upstanding character. There are many organizations dedicated to morality in the black people. So, the skeptics are in error again. Some ignorant people want to embrace false stereotypes. Many have omitted that many black people don’t have a job since they can’t find a job. I have a job, but others don’t because of a multiplicity of reasons. Also, most black people are not on government welfare, etc. Some omit that corporate welfare are things that most white Americans experience, some have omitted about record profits of Wall Street, and the record income equality that threatens our economy. This issue of moral corruption in some in the black community has been talked about by black people before you were born, so these reactionaries are saying words that are not unique. Therefore, morality must be improved in the black community and we have to address the social conditions as a means to witness solutions working in the black community. You have to do both regardless of who likes it or not. The War on Drugs can be dealt with by changing laws, creating treatment programs, changing harsh minimum sentence laws, and other approaches. Individuals should stay off dangerous drugs, but we have to do more than advocating that. The reason is because some people have addictions. Human beings should be encouraged to not use drugs in an inappropriate fashion. I believe we have to deal with addition also as a means to address this issue too. Some folks can stay out of drugs by their volition and that is honorable. Others need more assistance. These addictions can be handled with treatment including other methods. The War on Drugs has affected innocent people too. So, that refutes the argument among some that if you are following the law, then you have nothing to worry about. Bad institutions that should be abolished include terrorist organizations, groups that are proven to be involved in racism, etc. Police brutality should be called out and it should not be minimized by any reactionary. Innocent black people being killed by the police should not be omitted. Most black people are not murderers and the crime rate in the black community has declined since the 1970’s. Only about 1 percent of African Americans — and no more than 2 percent of black males — will commit a violent crime in a given year. So, no one can blame black people collectively at all. Only individual blacks who commit crime and murder should be held accountable for their own actions. Most enemies of black society are not black people, but a system oppressing blacks. Black people never invented the ghetto or the modern system of white supremacy at all. People with great qualities still have trouble getting a job, because of poverty, and other factors. Some ignore that. I will never write that people should give you a job without effort. I did write that job creation should be sent to people who deserve it. Also, we have to address income inequality. Many people have high qualities and still are not given jobs. There are college graduates who can only find temp jobs, because of the reality of our economy today. Some ignore the complexities on why folks have lax job opportunities.

Michelle Alexander is an expert on racism. The Sister is a strong person. She is a liberal, but she is not a socialist. Just because someone is a liberal, doesn't mean that someone is a socialist. Efforts to discredit her or her views have failed. She is a Sister that works in real life to assist the poor and black people of America. Her fundamental arguments are accurate. I don't agree with Soros on every issue, but her arguments on the prison industrial complex, civil rights, & the War on Drugs ring true. She has always written why people are in prison. Some folks in prison are guilty and as she has written, others are innocent in prison. The prison industrial complex has grown, because of poverty and bad policies sent to communities like the War on Drugs, denial of basic rights for those who paid their debt to society, etc. Her literature is fully documented and others can’t offer a refutation of her arguments comprehensively at all. Also, the Koch Brothers promote reactionary propaganda all of the time. It is a known fact that racial, discriminatory policies exist in the criminal justice system. That is even admitted by Rand Paul. She doesn’t ignore how voting rights are denied to criminals who paid their debt to society. She doesn’t ignore how racial profiling has violated human dignity. The abuses found in the prison industrial complex ought to be condemned. She has not ignored about how the Southern Strategy invoked race baiting rhetoric as a means for the GOP to bring out the worse in some GOP agents. Non-violent drug offenders have been given more time in prison than some rapists and murders, so that is problem that must be addressed. We are certainly clear on manning up. Manning up is about never blaming yourself for the actions of others too. You have to remember that not all humans go through the same experiences; therefore there must be flexibility in learning about the diverse actions of people. I will not blame myself for the actions of corporate raiders, racists, polluters, imperialists, and other criminals too. These extremists are not made up of the GOP totally, but the GOP establishment typically has not criticized them to the maximum degree. That is the point. Rush Limbaugh, Nugent, etc. are in the GOP establishment in my view. I am a political independent, so that Democratic card doesn’t work on me. Back then, the Democrats were more reactionary (so they agreed with the Fugitive Slave Act, etc.). Today, it is the opposite, so the Republicans are more reactionary. Folks know this. So, I condemn any evil by any party.

By Timothy