.
.
.
The approximately 12 million Africans who were brought to the new world in the 18th Century, for the fields of the Carolinas and homes and mansions of various wealthy land owners in the New World – today they have expanded the Black Population of the United States to: approaching 46.3 million: or 14.3%. The History of Slavery in general of course goes back to antiquity. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Goths, the Franks and the Vikings – just to name a few. In the 16th and 17th Century, slavery was given a variety of new names. In England, Indentured Servants and those Pressed into Service for the British Navy. Fortunes of war included huge populations that became slaves to the new masters. This of course followed on the heels of the days of the Knights of Chivalry and their peasants and of course the Santa Hermandad of Spain – which were all approved by the Catholic Church – after they went into Real Estate investing. The French Revolution gave a short reprise for the Courtesans – until the days of Napoleon that brought back “the good old days”. Many Courtesans that had donned a head scarf and apron and joined in with pitchforks and torches … and stormed the Bastille – soon were welcomed back to the court of Louie Napoleon when things went back to normal.
White or those of color Sex Slavery has been around for a long time – is our point. In the mid-1800’s people were Shanghai’d in San Francisco and the on the East Coast for two year passages on various Commercial and others for Government “on the spot drafting opportunities”. Today the Hispanic population of the United States is about 55 Million or 17%. The Asian populations of the United States is now about 15 million or 5.6%. This of course means that well over 36% of the population of the United States is now what used to be called “Minorities”. The overall immigration story of the United States is staggering. The population of the founding Colonies of the United States in 1776 was about 2.5 million souls. 85% were white. The other 15% were either black slaves or native Americans.
Today as war ravages around the globe – slavery is still no stranger. Boko Haram in Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, ISIS throughout the Middle East, Central and South America and many other areas around the world are creating a class of immigrants that are being exploited by slavers of all descriptions. Prostitution and Poverty always follow on the heels of the ravages of war. So it is, that not only do Black Lives Matter – but those of every color and those of every ethnic background need to grasp firmly – That All Lives Matter! The Economic Bigotry, Economic Racial Bias and Economic Ethnic Cleansing continues to bring the inequities and fertile ground that creates the deaths of Blacks, Hispanics, Homeless and many poor whites in our country.
The simple system being employed today is that of an unjust: “Pricing people out of the market!” Globalization has created a huge cash cow that will soon become unsustainable for a safe and caring society. Today, Airbnb’s, Short Term Rentals and Self Sub-Division of one’s property are creating chaos. Property in Newport Beach for example – can take rental property and simply make it into an Airbnb and charge $300 dollars a night for an apartment that was being rented for $1800 dollars a month – just a few years ago. Supply and Demand they say. So instead of a Rental Property Owner getting $1800 a month – now they could conceivably make $9000 a month. But with what consequence? Will the RPO have those renting their property properly vetted? Will those renting these Short Term Rentals be Columbian or their equivalent Drug Dealers or Pimps for High Dollar Prostitutes or Convicted Felons or Child Abusers? Do they even care about their Societal responsibility to the Community at Large? What will be the costs to additional Public Safety, Potential Property Damage or even the Noise and Furor caused by over crowding at Holiday locations? The societal message – Just Rent where it isn’t very popular or safe for that matter! Soon, homeowners will have to rent their own homes for 10 days a month – and live with relatives; just to make their home or lease payment.
Another issue of great concern is the Self Sub-Dividing Sale of properties. The traditional “Mother-in-law Unit” above the detached rear garage area….has turned into another Cash Cow. Rear Units in Newport Beach are selling for well over a million dollars. The owners get these prices without regulation or parking restrictions, because the property is zoned as R-2. Based on that thinking, R-3 Units could soon be sold individually. Who is watching the “Our Quality of Life” Store in this society? Our society is changing rapidly. Jobs are evaporating as fast as technology grows. In five years we may not even recognize of country, our economic paradigm’s or the conditions of our Quality of Life. Economic Slavery has always replaced stability. These are facts of life that have been experienced since the beginning of time. The Heathcare Industry is holding back cures…..to keep their Marketing Based Industry afloat. How long that is sustainable – will be interesting to watch. Those jobs are going away too. In five years – we will all be self medicated with real cures, in spite of what Big Pharma or the AMA wants. Ford just announced that they will be introducing their Self Driven Driverless cars in 2021. Can the Solar Powered Driverless Turbine Car and Vehicles be far behind?
One thing is certain, the time to adjust is long past due. The time to target and re-evaluate our basic principals and values is now. Black Lives Matter – no doubt. However, All Lives Matter……even more! We need to start pulling the oars together in this society. We need to offer a sense of human kindness and caring into our lives and our society. It really isn’t all about ME or US! It really is all about YOU! The time to “do unto others – as we would have done unto us” is here!
Black Lives Matters and Global Slavery in General …. Time will tell!
“Black Lives Matters and Global Slavery in General …. Time will tell!”
I don’t see the connection between the two.
I really don’t know what to do about this one except to ask for footnotes and explain in detail why “All Lives Matter” does indeed detract from “Black Lives Matter”, and I’m not really inclined to take the time to do the latter here.
I do think that, while the extent of a connection may be questionable, Shivas isn’t trying very hard to perceive one.
*Modern day slavery is also endemic in many societies. Venezuela for example has been a hotbed of Indian Prostitutes and White Slave Prostitutes for 100 years. Connections? The Black Lives Matter issue stems from a population that has been
economically outcast since the LBJ Administration. Ever since the Watts Riots in 1965
the under girding pitted the National Guard against Black folks. That meant that the society had made its choice. You might remember the Sibionese Liberation Army and Patty Hearst? The outcome of that firefight left everyone dead that was in the small house in South LA. This was done purposefully in order to send a message. What is happening now in our society will be affecting whites, asians, hispanics and blacks. The same method of economic deprivation is at work again. This is purely a cautionary tale for anyone that gives a tinker’s damn.
“According to the television series, Black in Latin America, Mexico and Peru imported more African slaves than the United States. Between 1502 and 1866, of the 11.2 million Africans, only 450,000 arrived in the United States, while the rest arrived in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Wiki —
*So…….as we said….slavery is economic system. Obviously Central and South
America are not poster boys or girls for Liberty, Equality or Fraternity.
*We did forget some things important in this article that should of course be brought to light. Every school kid read Johnny Tremain…..about the Silversmith Apprentice to the Sons of Liberty and the Adams boys. In the early days of our country, children were brought from England to serve as both Indentured Servants and in Apprenticeship programs….sort of a step up. Both programs ran 7 to 9 years, both programs offered either very low wages or none at all. If we fast forward a mere 240 years…..welcome
the next Intern Program. Some things never change. Cheap labor is what it is all about and poverty and deprivation are the results. When they raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, it will still be about 10 years behind the rise of rents and the cost of high quality food products.
Johnny Tremain was indentured to learn a lifelong trade – a craft – not work at McDonald’s.
I get it. I think. I don’t want to put words in the mouths of the Winships, and God knows none of us have the time to read my verbosity dog-piled onto the Winship ramblings, but perhaps they would share whether I got this right. Because this subject has been heavy on my own heart lately in my morning prayers, and I believe God is trying to call His people to take action in this area of our society, to even the playing field (not the outcome, but the playing field) as He calls us to do in scripture.
The WInships reference in one post the connection between black slavery of the early Americas, and modern black poverty. The courtesans of the French Court and modern sex trafficking. Those Shanghai’ed or “pressed into service” and Boko Haram in modern society.
They all have the same thing in common. Powerful people taking advantage of those without power. Often by force, but sometimes by economic force that holds the powerless as captive as any chains or shackles.
Black lives matter. White lives matter. ALL lives matter. But for many years some lives have mattered more than others in the scale of economy that has determined that the honest day’s work of a man or a woman is often NOT WORTHY of pay to meet the basic survival needs of that human being. A slave owner provided a cabin or bunk, clothing, medical care when the “human property” became sick and unable to work, and enough food to remain strong for work. Mistreating or underfeeding your human workforce undervalued their production. NO I am not praising them I am setting the lowest baseline imaginable for one human being to offer another who is producing the work of their hands. SHAME ON US that in too many areas of our modern economy we manage to NOT HIT THAT BASELINE of slavery!! What the Hell is wrong with us, when a human being can provide their honest toil for a full time schedule and still fail to produce enough to cover the most basic housing, food, and health care? How do we tell someone their work is NOT WORTH THEIR OWN SURVIVAL much less that of offspring? I detest government mandating wages, but the reality is that taxpayers pick up the tab to bridge the gap between the basic needs of human beings and what is missing in their pay bucket to meet those needs, and I will be damned if I want my tax dollars underwriting this wicked system of indentured servitude. We should be ASHAMED to claim “job creation” when we KNOW those jobs fail to support those working at them. We allow these huge corporations to pay their workers less than is needed TO SURVIVE (and offer give them tax kickbacks for it) and then applaud them at fancy awards dinners for donating to the local food bank their workers line up at to make ends meet. HOW SICK IS THIS?
ALL LIVES MATTER. For a long time some have not mattered as much as others, and for us to ignore our ongoing participation in that economic or social justice system is a moral evil we should be ashamed of. To recognize that disparity and commit to doing our part to even the playing field, is not reverse racism, it is simply facing reality. We attack those calling our attention to the disparity of opportunity by accusing them of “class warfare” but that is a salve for our own conscience so we can live with ourselves while letting some human lives matter less than others.
When a black man is carried off in a body bag, our collective reaction should NOT be the immediate justification of a shooting with the response that more black people kill each other than white people kill black people. Our collective reaction as a society should be to stop as many of those killings as we can by addressing as many of the societal disparities that create the violence. While recognizing that free will is always going to drag individuals under, and they should be held accountable for their choices, in too many situations there is no choice for what society imposes on entire sections of our cities. The young Latino identified as “associating with known gang members” because he is shooting hoops in the alley with the kids he has known since kindergarten (and for lack of anywhere else to spend free time for lack of community services) then has that “association with gang members” compounded by living in a gang injunction area, as the only place his single mother can afford the rent (and then barely by working two jobs, leaving the young man unsupervised and hanging out in the alley with his school friends of unsavory nature.) The Gang Patrol that holds the entire neighborhood in disdain as either being gang members or sympathetic to gang members (why else would you live here by choice in a “free society”?) has already made their decision about who this young man is and what his future is about to become. And that predetermined outcome is often made reality when he is scooped up in the latest gang raid. Or when an opposing gang decides the kid is the enemy and he becomes the body carted off in a government van, while we are told he was a “known gang member” and thus somehow disposable.
The single Mom trying to do right by him didn’t ask for this life. She was a good girl who waited to get married and have her babies, she even started college, but the death of a spouse or his desertion left her in the same life as her classmates pregnant in high school, and she wonders how it all happened. No this isn’t always the case but it happens more often than we want to believe.
Tell me these people are ever going to break the cycle of institutional poverty when the young man is eyed as a criminal of the future by law enforcement, left in a school without resources to get him into college, and dwindling economic resources like grants and scholarships to pay for it if he does manage to pull off the grades and testing. We don’t like giving “free education” but we as taxpayers WILL pay the cost of that kid when he lacks opportunities. We simply choose what form that price will be paid in and through which government program. We like to pretend America is the land of opportunity, but when the poor kid in the barrio and the white kid in the hills get the same SAT score, but the white kid has extracurricular activity on his record and the barrio kid works flipping burgers after school and weekends to buy groceries, which one gets into college? I don’t believe in “equal outcome” which is a nation I don’t want to live in, and I don’t want quotas based on skin color, which is as racist as barring someone from an education because of skin color, but should we not take into account the barrio kid’s work on behalf of his family as of equal importance (AT LEAST) to the white kids’ water polo team captain status when deciding who is getting into Stanford?
Don’t tell me this is not the norm anymore. Those born in those neighborhoods too often die (young) in those neighborhoods, never getting out, because the “hovering” of power into one segment of our society has ensured they no longer have to SHARE that power with the rest of society, and THE POWERFUL NOW MAKE THE RULES TO THEIR BENEFIT.
Government cannot and should not fix all of society’s ills, but I think even the most right wing of us understand that tax dollars spent on programs that prevent the situations that develop into poverty, violence, and blight are a wiser use of our combined and tax generated resources than addressing the eventual unpleasant results for lack of those programs, as long as they are limited and targeted and accountable.
And yet, right here in north OC we see elected leaders offering money intended to benefit the community instead going to those corporate pals already posting record profits. Money that could have provided after school programs to give that kid a place to do homework and shoot hoops away from the gangs that are going to get him popped for association with them, is given to the same forces running LOW WAGE INDUSTRY, and ONLY to the low wage industry that keeps people in poverty so grinding that even working one and a half day’s labor does not equate to one day’s survival! (NOW I am awake.) The local government’s INSTITUTIONAL REFUSAL to even ATTEMPT to develop jobs outside of those low wage industries ensures those working those jobs have nowhere to go for better pay, so entry level work becomes a dead end career, yet we have the audacity to tell them, “those jobs were never meant to support someone” while still demanding FULL TIME SHEDULES of those hotel workers not expected to feed their families on the ONLY work available for those with limited skills or English. Yes, those limited skills or English hamper the upward mobility of the workforce, but when there is no incentive to move upward with a new skill set because there are no jobs to move into, (and little time or energy to increase one’s skills or education when every study shows one must work the equivalent of TWO FULL TIME JOBS at minimum wage to pay rent) then how VOLUNTARY is our economic system? And who the Hell are we to tell someone that because their skills or English are limited they don’t deserve to EAT and have a place to sleep today?
Do THOSE LIVES MATTER? We don’t act like it. We treat them as disposable and when the headlines say someone was shot in the barrio, that seems to be the price one pays for living in the barrio (by choice, right?) We excuse our indifference by saying their poverty was CHOSEN by those who elected to work in low wage industries and have the “freedom” to work elsewhere. All while our government games the system to PREVENT better opportunities elsewhere.
We cut programs for mental health and then say homelessness is a problem for the churches and private sector to solve. Is tuberculosis? Because the last time I checked, homelessness is overwhelmingly equated to MENTAL HEALTH, which IS a function of government in providing for the HEALTH and SAFETY of those unable to provide it themselves. No it should not all be on government, and the private sector does a better job of administering lean and effective programs, but we have a lot of nerve dropping our collective responsibility onto the churches and charities without an offer of aid to shoulder that load. We get furious when we see the state dump their prisoners onto our local jails, and in turn onto our streets, but we don’t make the same connection to cuts to funding for mental health and safety net services and the dramatic increase of people living on our streets. When that impact becomes a SOCIETAL NEGATIVE with the loss of our parks and libraries and public spaces and the spread of disease in the homeless camps for lack of hygiene, then yes it IS a FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT. But homeless lives don’t matter either. Lucille Kring tried to call 2-1-1 for them and they didn’t want the indignity of her offer to line up for shelter for one night so they deserve to be left out to die. Right?
Back to the Winships point, (I hope) nobody is saying Black Lives Matter More than White Lives, because all lives matter. But too many generations have seen Black Lives as less than white lives. Here in north OC Latinos are the “black lives” of back east, and homeless lives hit the bottom of the ladder for those with a voice, but it all comes down to the haves and have nots and the value of one’s life is LITERALLY, based on insurance tables, equated to our EARNING POWER.
So yes, the Winships have a point, a disjointed one, but a point, that there is NO DIFFERENCE between the enforced slavery or prostitution of earlier times and what we see happening today in a form of economic slavery that SHOULD be a wake up call to those of us with the heart to start screaming to society to change our ways and see “the least of these” as OUR BUSINESS, not as a government mandate but as a MORAL MANDATE embodied in every holy book of every major religion on earth. And when Society shifts to see the blessings God has bestowed upon this nation not as some cosmic reward for being so star spangled superior to the rest of the earth’s nations, but as a sacred TRUST that He granted to us with the knowledge we would do the RIGHT THING with those blessings in treating others with a sense of value, ensuring ALL LIVES MATTER within the justice system AND the economic system, while answering to a God who demands we not force a man to “toil in vain” and forbids us to muzzle the ox who is treading out the grain.
When we as a Society shift our hearts and minds and VALUES to recognize the inherent worth of ALL PEOPLE, then government will follow society’s demands, but it is going to take a movement along the lines of Wilberforce’s efforts to eliminate the economic slavery we have imposed on generations that we believed we had freed in the Mid Victorian era.
Winships, did I get that right? If not, I feel better for getting it off my chest. Have a good day. Happy Monday.
*Cynthia: You have it…..you got it….by George she’s got it……yes the missing empathy
gene has actually been found….right here behind the Orange Curtain. Thanks so much
for one from the heart. As our dear hispanic friend said back in the 60’s….”if it wasn’t for the space industry….we would still be piling our mattresses on top of our station wagon
and coming out from Oklahoma!.”
Good one Cynthia….good one!
Pablum.
It is Democrats who thrive by keeping blacks on the poverty plantation.
Shivas, it is ALL of us who do it. Yes, the Dems keep minorities (not just blacks) dependent on them, and thus voting for them, by maintaining the low wage system that leaves a workforce reliant on social programs, which the Dems increase while the GOP tries to reduce. The GOP uses fear to keep voters in line, convincing us that if not for them standing in the way of the liberal machine the “takers” would over run the “makers,” and may God forgive us for ever using such hateful words to describe human beings.
How about we reduce welfare budgets by actually reducing POVERTY?! What a concept. How about we create a TRULY “free market” not by allowing employers to treat their workforce as indentured servants, but insisting they pick up the FULL COST of their own workforce, instead of dumping HALF the cost of their low wage labor onto the taxpayers of this nation? Free market does not mean free-for-all, it means free of encumbrance, and that should work both ways, with the community being free from the obligation to underwrite the profits of stockholders by ensuring employers pay the full cost of producing their profits, freeing up tax money for the things taxes are supposed to go to like parks and libraries and roads. Responsible business is good for the economy, putting money into the pockets of workers who in turn cycle it back into the economy, instead of trying to get by with food stamps and a short paycheck. Freed from the cost of paying for services to the working poor, our taxes would fund quality of life programs like improving our schools, which in turn do a better job of educating kids to get even better jobs and keep the upward cycle moving forward away from poverty. Social programs freed from the crushing weight of underwriting the working poor could then focus on those unable to care for themselves (as we prefer in Republican circles) and get the homeless off the streets, improving quality of life for them and for those of us able to enjoy our parks and public spaces again. What a concept. Life improves for the poor, and the middle class, and nobody’s taxes went up. Yes corporate profits drop, but they are profits the corporation HAS NO RIGHT TO because they were boosted by the silent subsidy stolen from taxpayers picking up the tab for their low wage labor. No we won’t mandate what you pay but if your workforce collects social service programs because you fail to pay what you KNOW is required for basic survival, we will hand YOU the Invoice, or we will boycott your products and services as consumers until you pay the true cost of your product or service.
We already have a movement building within the business community to do this voluntarily. While “B” corporations are brand new, there are already 1,700 of them, along with a non profit clearing house to handle the Impact Assessment to be certified as a B corp, AND a worldwide funding mechanism aimed at returning percentage of profits to the community that hosts the businesses, and passing those blessings along to incubator programs that encourage the next generations of entrepreneurs. Not ONE of those B Corp owners reports going to bed hungry or waking in the middle of the night with the strange urge to light candles before a portrait of Marx or Lenin.
We have a generation of business owners who have decided being economically, socially, and environmentally responsible is GOOD for business, and good for the community, which in turn becomes even BETTER for business.
Instead of pointing to “the other” and assigning BLAME, can we come together and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY to fix what is broken? We all enjoy that 99 cent burger as much as we enjoy our stock dividend in the burger chain, and it is time to give some thought to those flipping the burger with little opportunity to move into something better, while their kids are doing homework in the corner booth trying not to remind the manager they are there. I want something better for my community, and I don’t want to mandate it by law, but I am willing to shop with the burger joint that offers something better for their people. How does COSTCO do it, but Walmart can’t? I would rather shop at COSTCO any day of the week over Walmart. And because I vote with my checkbook I refuse to SHOP at Walmart. This is how it begins. We refuse to buy the cheap crap from the Chinese sweat shop, and we need to do the same with its American counterparts. It is not a fairy tale, and it IS possible. This is a simplistic retelling of the concept and it needs a lot more work from brighter minds than mine, but demanding accountability for the full cost of business and its impacts on the community is a beginning to freeing taxpayers from the crushing burden of underwriting record profits for corporations who LAUGH AT US for not having lobbyists as good as theirs. Once upon a time our elected officials were supposed to be our representatives and if they are going to keep shoveling our money into their friends then we can put away our checkbooks and vote in the free market manner those corporations understand.
And now let’s go where the liberals dare not go.
If “Black Lives Matter” and ALL Lives Matter, who is speaking up for the UNBORN LIVES MATTER constituency?
“The employment rate of low-wage workers in Seattle declined slightly, as did the hours worked, which would lead to lower total earnings. The early evidence from Seattle is that a higher minimum wage at the city level doesn’t raise total earnings by much, because low-skilled workers end up with fewer hours on the job.”
The Conversable Economist —
11 million residing in the U.S. illegally causes downward pressure on wages – especially those in lower wage categories.
*Pablum….. Rhetorical Trumperism…..nonsensical twisted logic. How many Republicans or Democrats are standing on the border holding back the tide?
Chris Simcox and the Minute Men tried to do something and were squelched by American Big Business, Real Estate Developers, The Construction Industry, Big Pharma, the Car Dealers, the Real Estate Agents that deal in Rental Property and a host of others. If you actually opened your eyes or even just asked around….you mental giants might really find out the truth. When was the last time you called the Border Patrol to turn in someone for hiring an illegal immigrant? We certainly aren’t…but then you seem so outraged by having to pay for healthcare for all these illegals!
* .. coming from the specialists in “nonsensical twisted logic” …. imagine that …..
You mean because employees flout minimum wage laws for undocumented workers? I’m all for punishing them aggressively for that — and problem solved!
That is NOT what I mean – I suspect you already know that.
I mean an excess supply of low wage workers (illegal in this case) tends to force wages lower. Supply & Demand – Econ 101.
Simplistic and — studies say — wrong.
Remember that the OFFICIAL POLICY of the United States, through the Federal Reserve — is to have at least 2% unemployment. Marx referred to this (in general) as the “Reserve Army of the Unemployed.” You should give a nod to the source of your insight.