I hate Equality

 

 

Equality is a myth, and the quest for it is unattainable. This is true because there is no standard ruler to measure equality. Equality is in the eye of the beholder, and just like beauty is very subjective.

 “All men are created equal” is prose...it's poetry...it's a fiction. Each person is born into a unique set of circumstances and that by definition is unequal. Equality is a mission statement not a bottom line.

We often confuse ourselves unnecessarily with equality, when we should really concentrate on the pursuit of happiness. Equality is a “them” thing, while happiness is a “me” thing. We can't control them but we can always control me.

Think about it.  As adults when we have a serious decision to make, and we're talking to a friend or associate about it.  We often use the qualifier "all things being equal..." We do this because no two opportunities or consequences can be the same/EQUAL.  If they were the same then there would only be ONE and consequently no decision to be made.

 

Inequality is standard...so why do we bristle at it so much? It's because we wrestle with the word “fairness” way too often. For some reason we're taught as children that fairness is good, and that treating people fairly is proper. Then we're thrust into a world that is replete with unfairness, and it's a total shock to the system. We believe children are innocents so we speak to them in very innocent vanilla terms. We give them utopian ideas that are useless in a dystopian world. We set them up for failure.

 

Nowhere is this failure more obviously than in American race relations. Equal is a math term so no wonder numbers are constantly being used to prove inequality. The most prevelent data point is wages where blacks make less than whites on average, but no one tells you that asians make more that whites because that will skew the narrative. The 2 major functions of wage is education, and entreprenuership, but those aren't sexy topics. So we argue about equality of wages without discussing the root cause of it. Think about it..It's never going to be the SAME for everyone. If everyone made the same wage would there still be inequality? Why yes...of course...because there is no such thing as EQUALITY.

People can't be equal because we all are one of one. We fight for something that is impossible to obtain, and in many cases we make the good the enemy of the (unachievable) perfect. Think about it. Do you think all white people are treated equally? Think about it. In your home you have siblings that are better and worse than you, and more importantly your parents treat you all differently on an individual basis...so why would you expect more from a country, than your very own family?

Think about it. Most of the inequality/injustice that creates true outrage is within law enforcement. Over the last 10 years, save the Trayvon Martin shooting (quasi-law enforcement), and the Church Massacre in Charleston, all the inequality that America has had a visceral reaction to has been due to law enforcement. Truths are muddied during law enforcement encounters because law enforcement usually doesn't show up in places without invitation from citizens. Interpersonal disagreements that require law enforcements intervention never end well.  

Not sure about you, but as a person that has assimilated... my run-ins with law enforcement are few and far between. I don't put myself in situations that law enforcement has to decide my fate. I understand that law enforcement is primative so I strive to avoid sub-optimal encounters.

Listen. I live in America. I know that in America people have differing perspectives about everything including race. I know it's often a harder life for people of color.  As a black man I'm keenly aware of that but I also understand that in 2018 I'm free in America. I can wake up in the morning, and leave the home I've bought, get in the car I've bought, drive to the bank and withdraw money from my account, and drive anywhere I want to in this country with NO obstacle. Could I encounter neanderthal jerks on my journey?...of course. But I live in a country where it's not illegal to be that. And I'm okay with that. Just don't interrupt my ability to do commerce and pursue legal happiness and you can be whatever you choose to be.

 I'm okay with being treated unfairly... it's unavoidable.  I draw the line at being treated illegally.  .

 

I hate protesting the protester

 

 It's the age old question...if 300 white supremacists buy tiki torches and decide to march on Charlottesville do they make a sound...if the media doesn't show up?

Back in August the media serving as promoter made sure all wolf tickets were sold for the “Thrill in Charlottesville.”  They made sure this event would be standing room only...making it must see TV.

Why would the media do this? Hummmm. They did it because race sells. And quasi-news organizations like FOX, MSNBC, and CNN are slaves to ratings and advertisers. Is 300 powerless people meeting in a land of 300 million news...especially when 538 powerful people meet regularly and CSPAN's ratings stay in the toilet?

The media announced the fight, sold all the tickets, and then for weeks hyped it. Don King couldn't have done it any better.

Let's strip away all the hyperbole to examine what was really at play here. Charlottesville was doing the right thing by removing a public statue of Robert E. Lee the general of a treasonous group of confederates that fought in opposition to America for the sole purpose of extending the rule of slavery. 300 people disagreed with the statues removal and legally obtained a permit to protest. The 300 people just so happen to think that white people are the "superior race" and are being treated unfairly in 2017 America.

How is this a big deal? How does this rise to national news relevance? What if the 300 people were vegans (because many vegans think they are better than us carnivores), and treated unfairly because they have to live in a declining world where the food industry is putting our climate in peril. If the protesting group were vegan is this a blip on the news radar, and more importantly do hundreds of people show up to protest the protesters?

Think about it. When has protesting the protesters ever worked? In America we have the right to protest and assemble peacefully? The people showing up to protest the protest are the bully. I know you don't want to hear it but it's true. When you work to suppress freedom of expression, and freedom of speech you chip away at the constitution.

Think about it. In the 60's when blacks were peacefully protesting and angry whites showed up to suppress freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Who was the bully?

The constitution has to work for everyone or it works for no one.

Freedom unfortunately means that some will choose to be idiots because they have a right to do so. Those that find it distasteful have the right to ignore them.  Protesting the protester only muddies the water.  When you seek to suppress their freedom you give them what they want. 

Imagine a world where 300 stupid, ignorant, worthless people meet, and no cameras show up, and no one shows up in opposition, and no one dies a senseless death...A world where people go about their business on a lazy Saturday, and do things constructive and meaningful. A world where the media doesn't show pictures of people we don't care about... A world where we refuse to be puppets... A world where we ignore ignorance...A world where we concentrate on us instead of what we think others feel about us. A world where all the time protested could be used to teach, build, and mentor. OH WHAT A WORLD THIS COULD BE!!!

 

I Hate RACE

I just turned 45 and this has been on my mind for some time.  One day I'll post the details of the most interesting conversation I had about race.  I'm still chewing on it.  What you'll read below are my real thoughts as a black man.  No hyperbole. My personal ethos is to always look for solutions, best practices, and solid strategy. So read with an open mind.

A couple summers ago I read “Between the world and me” a book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Great book that I wish with all my being was fiction. Unfortunately it was a crystallized snapshot of race relations in America. While reading I was introduced to this quote “Race is the child of racism not the father.” When I read this something moved me. Something I knew spiritually was unveiled through words.

 Racism created race. Think about it. Race is an unnecessary bundle. Race is basically color and color is only important aesthetically. If you're buying a car the color is important but not as important as the cost, make, model, reliability, durability. The color is a function of what one likes, not what one needs.

In our world the color of a person has been conflated to mean the make of a person. For example whites are the Mercedes Benz of the world while blacks are the Ford, when in all actually a Benz comes in white and black. The quality of the product is not in its color. ANYONE being proud of their color has fallen for the proverbial banana in the tailpipe.

There is no scientific research that links the color of any animal to divergent behavior patterns. So to form an opinion about a person... a human being...the top shelf of ALL animals... doesn't even rise to the level of conjecture. It is indefatigable heresy. It's a binary myth...people like me are good, people not like me are bad. Race is nothing more than a social construct, and the only reason it survives is because people on both sides buy-in to it, then pass it down through words, actions and most importantly inaction.

What humans in this world have done to fellow humans, in the name, of color is an atrocity. The first “hate crime” ever committed was when a person classified another person by color. Some classification/descriptions I get. Classifying people by gender, or nationality I get. There is a functional logic to it. The human race is predicated on the relationship between male and female, and if the world becomes divided into continents and then further divided into countries then citizenship and law become relative concepts.

Bundling people by color has no functional logic other than to create derision and strife. It is very useful in creating an easily formed caste system. The easiest way to code people and create barriers to their existence , ambition, dreams, and pursuit of happiness is to tell them that they were born a defect...inferior based on something they themselves can never change.

Then if you can reinforce this lie with real life restrictions on commerce, finance, and upward-mobility you've built an institution. The invisible chains graduate from nuisance to hindrance to full blown impediment. The building of a great society on the back of equals that you categorize as inferior was the greatest trick ever performed, and is only rivaled by then giving yourself a 400 year head start and blaming the runners pulling up the rear for their diminished station in life.

It's all a game. Once you agree to play it by the creators rules you lose. The creator of racism wants you to give up, wants you to feel inferior, and wants you to embrace their creation as a reason to be less, do less, contribute less. They want you to emotionally connect to their creation. They want you to eat it, breathe it, and live in it. That is how they win. Stop allowing ignorant constructs to rent space in your head. Protesting doesn't change ANYTHING. It only creates money for the media, and then makes the black person more emotional and less cerebral during the game. If you are thinking emotionally then the logic of it all gets missed. You cease to use optimum strategy.

Game theory dictates that you NOT do what your opponent wants. When you do what your opponent wants, you lose before you've lost. MLK understood this and used a non-violent approach in the 60's to achieve legal rights that should have been god-given. The 2017 version of non-violence is indifference. Do yourself a favor...stop commenting on race for a while. Stop identifying with racism for a spell. Concentrate on being your best self daily. This is how you win. Racism is another persons disease. Why would we want to stay in contact with it? Stop giving it oxygen and it will die.

Stop speaking out... Why? Because when you do...you only entertain racists. The people that aren't racist are tired of hearing about racism, but the people that are racists love when you play the victim. Victim talk is not attractive, because victims will always speak from a position of weakness. Think about it...when is the last time you changed a persons mind about something significant? Stop trying!!!

I love that a person of color was elected to America's highest office in 2008. My flesh rejoiced, and many were quick to espouse that very act as the ushering in of the post-race period in our history. Took about 100 days or so to dis-spell that theory, however I do see a different landmark in that act. That act proved that racism CAN be beat at every level. It's still a very worthy adversary but it can be usurped. Although I have said in private that a truer sign of real change would be  Chief Justice, Fed Chairman, or Speaker of the House.

Finally...

Thoughts are the last bastion of privacy, and as long as you can't be condemned for thought we're always going to have some degree of racism. Racism can't be defeated because it's not illegal. Only when a persons racist activity infringes on commerce has a law been broken, but racism in and of itself is not illegal. Racism can't be taken from an individual it must be surrendered. It will diminish only when it has lost its utility as a construct.

As soon as people of color realize that color is irrelevant and this entire trick is just an elaborate house of cards the sooner we all can concentrate on the things that really matters, Life is too important to be concentrating on slights of hand and illusion when there are pressing real issues that challenge our very existence. The make of a person...the guts...quality of parts... the craftsmanship are all that really matter. Everyone should keep their eyes on their own luggage and don't carry any baggage that doesn't belong to them.