Eyes Open

Ever heard of sunset towns?  They were ones where black people were welcome to shop, visit, work menial jobs, and so on, but only till sundown.  After that, get out of town.  Or else.

Or have you heard about the death of Jesse Washington?  He may well have been guilty of the murder he was accused of and confessed to.  But being mutilated?  Then burned to death?  Slowly?  To maximize suffering?  Follow the link if you have a strong stomach.

Especially if you were a black person in examples like those, you needed to have your head on a swivel and eyes wide open.  Today, too, if you're someone marginalized, you'd better be alert at all times.  You aren't safe.  You are threatened.

This was and is no secret to the people under threat.  They knew their situation.  They warned each other, sensibly, not to go sleepwalking through life, because it could get them killed.  Horrifically.

They had to wake up and watch out for reality.  Or else.

You might want to keep this history in mind when you run into the word "woke" now.  Before you object to the word, you might want to think about where it came from, what lay behind it.  I mean, "You need to stay alert" is a sentiment you have a problem with?  With what's happened to people in the past?  With the ones who've had someone kill them by kneeling on their neck?

Object to whatever you want, I'm not telling you what to do.  Your life, your decisions.

Just keep in mind the decisions that led to some lives being ended.  Think it all through.  Clear-eyed.

"I Alone Can Fix It"

This entry comes from a campaign quote of 2016:

"Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it."

If you don't remember that—or 2016, for that matter—it's understandable.  The party in power likes to keep as much obfuscated as possible, partly by continually manufacturing more controversy.  It's a way of keeping us from thinking about what they've done or are doing.  No one has time to think things through.

Still, looking back at "I alone…" is worthwhile.  It's a telling statement in several ways.

First, it's immensely arrogant.  Out of everyone in the nation, over three hundred million, why would any one candidate be the only suitable person?

Second, it's beyond baseless.  A career in real estate, reality tv and, as we now know, committing business fraud doesn't give someone the knowledge base to be able to make such a claim.  "No one knows the system better than me"?  Really?  Coming from someone who's never even been in the system?

Third, it's remarkably revealing.  "Nobody knows better than me."  "I alone."  Fifteen words, and still managing to concentrate twice on himself, and only himself.  He turns out to be a narcissist?  Don't that beat all.

It just goes to show that, regardless of what any of us want to believe, in the case of anyone who might be trying to put one over on us, whether a politician, an advertiser, an influencer, or anyone else, we need to exercise our critical thinking skills.

Do they have something to gain for themselves from what they're saying?  Are there any facts to support their claim?  Do they at least have a history of truthfulness?

If you fell for this one, don't beat yourself up too much.  There was plenty of propaganda going by trying to get you to believe it.  And it was skillfully done, playing into The Politics of Discontent.

No, if you fell for it, don't beat on yourself, just don't let it happen again.  Think things through regardless of the pressure of events.  Consider what the claims are trying to accomplish, and whether there's any evidence to support them.

And, as in this case, if the answer is no?

Tell the one making the claims to beat it.

Getting Rich Going Bankrupt II

You may have noticed that the current chief executive of this country is busy gilding his office spaces, statues, and so forth while his constituents are economically struggling.  If you find that odd, reminiscent of "Let them eat cake"—something no politician should consider repeating or re-creating—consider this:

For him, it's normal.

I wrote a year ago about how he's enriched himself while his lenders and employees lose out.  Letting everyone else suffer while he increases his wealth is his operating method.  So of course he's doing it.

Don't believe it's normal for him?

The six bankruptcies were the result of over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York: Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump#Business_bankruptcies

Something to think about while eating a Trump Steak and Trump Chocolate and drinking a Trump Vodka reading Trump magazine, sitting on your Trump Home furniture in the house you bought with a Trump Mortgage.

Let me just add that, if 49.8% of the electorate doesn't look around and realize it made a mistake in 2024, this really will be the new normal.  There are plenty of other wealthy, unscrupulous individuals out there.  If half the voting public is going to hang an "Exploit Me" sign around their collective neck, expect the country to continue to be taken advantage of.