Living Life and Learning

One of the biggest lies in the world is for some to compare the evils that Stalin did to every socialist and every Communist on Earth. I am not a Communist, but I do know many Communists like Paul Robeson and Claudia Jones who stood up for black liberation and for basic human freedoms. That is why I know that Communism is not monolithic and it has different variations. The far right ignores the millions who died as the product of the Maafa. Those, who were involved in those millions of deaths of the victims of the Maafa, weren't Communists. They were mercantilists and capitalists who violated many moral principles for the sake of desiring economic profit (and they believed in the evil doctrine of racism). Not to mention that Stalin murdered many Trotskyites (i.e. a group of communists and socialists) and he allowed the destruction of many churches. Real freedom lovers believe in allowing people to believe in what they want without religious buildings to be destroyed. World War Two caused the deaths of almost 100 million people. It was the bloodiest war in human history. The people who started that war weren't Communists, but they were Nazis and other fascists (who followed many capitalist principles. Hitler and the Nazis explicitly hated and exterminated socialists and communists). Ironically, the USSR during WWII worked hard to defeat the terrorism of the Nazis.

This year alone has seen 33 million people die of hunger, 10 million children die of lack of health care, and 2.7 million die because of occupational hazards. Many of the same ones who want us to expose Stalin's crimes and Mao's errors (which we should do) are silent on the atrocities of Columbus and other imperialists who made it their duty to oppress people (especially people of color). Far right extremists omit the anti-Semitism, brutality, and murder done by the many Czars too. The works of Marx don't even condone mass murder and neither does any rational person condones murder. Therefore, the crimes of others shouldn't be blamed on everyone who follows a specific belief system. It should be blamed solely on the person or the persons who has done the crimes. So, Stalin's brutality is to be blamed on Stalin not on every Communist who ever lived. When people condone socialism, they obviously want single payer health care, immigrant rights, civil liberties, an end to police brutality, etc. not gulags or unjust prisons. I don't believe in Communism, but even I know that people from diverse ideologies contributed to the cause of human liberation. Dr. King condoned democratic socialism. Malcolm X criticized capitalism. Ella Baker opposed the Vietnam War. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were social activists for decades (long before the 1960's). Therefore, we know the truth.

There is still hope that the GOP Tax bill will fail. That is why many protesters today have protested it. Some have been arrested for utilizing civil disobedience which people have been using for a long time in American history. The bill is the epitome of cruelty because of many reasons. The bill has massive tax giveaways to the super rich and big corporations. As other scholars have pointed out, many parts of the bill punish the poor and working class Americans. It has a $1.4 trillion price tag. The bulk of the tax cuts goes to the rich while the poor and much of the working class will have their taxes increase. It's a total historical fact that trickled down economics doesn't work to cause massive economic benefit for the poor or the working class. We have huge economic inequality in America. The richest 1 percent of Americans own 38.6 percent of the wealth in the USA. The vast majority of Americans rightfully oppose the bill too. This is like a policy of Robin Hood in reverse. The bill has 479 pages and it wasn't read completely by many Congresspeople. It is no secret that many of these GOP extremists want to cut Social Security and Medicare too. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the tax cuts would add less than 0.1 percent annually to U.S. economic growth over 10 years. Both the Senate and House versions of the bill cut the corporate tax rate nearly in half, from 35 percent to 20 percent. This bill is a bill for the oligarchy.


It is certainly important to recognize the continued need to fight for social justice. Beyonce presenting Kaepernick the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy award is certainly a historical moment. Colin Kaepernick reminds people that compassion is not a weak force. It's a powerful force in dealing with standing by legitimate convictions and going forward to help others out of altruistic motives. For a long time, black people have always came about to use activism. We were involved in the silent march of the 1910's and the Selma to Montgomery march back in 1965. Far too often, some people forget that. That is why it is important to recognize Kaepernick's great contributions in this struggle for justice and to honor the unsung heroes doing great work worldwide as well. Kaepernick has sacrificed. He doesn't have a NFL job, because hating NFL owners don't like the fact of a person of color protesting peacefully in a football stadium. Kaepernick isn't just a heroic man speaking out. He invested money to help people to fight police brutality, he has visited Ghana, and he has came out to support many legitimate causes. These owners know fully that the anthem was based upon the words from a slave owning white supremacist and whose original lyrics glamorized slavery. 2018 is a year of many anniversaries and it's also a year where more opportunities will come for the youth, young adults, the middle aged people, and the elderly to continue to work, to fight injustice, and to work relentlessly for the Dream that we all so cherish dearly.

It is legal for the President to be charged with obstruction of justice. The President is not above the law regardless. For the RNC leadership and Trump supporting Roy Moore outlines how regressive the Republican Party is. Trump has cursed out peaceful NFL protesters. He called a Congresswoman a racial epithet. He has come out to role back civil liberties and environmental regulations. He has promoted authoritarian policies. Trump wants to make Jerusalem the location of Israel's Embassy, which threatens to cause more tensions in the Middle East. The victims (who talk about their experiences with Moore) have come forward to say that they were sexually abused by Moore. Moore is a hypocrite and a person that shouldn't be voted for at all. Some reports have said that Mueller is researching Deutsche Bank since it has ties to Trump. Deutsche Bank said that it will commit to release information as it relates to authorized investigations. Also, we have information about Manafort and other issues. Researching bank records can go into many patterns of actions. Deutsche was fined during this year for inappropriate financial dealings. Russian oligarchs are found to have links to this bank too.

By Timothy