The Real Reagan Legacy

There was an interesting discussion of the problems facing the incoming Obama administration on PBS’s The McLaughlin Group a while back. As usual, the group was in the midst of a shouting match - this time about whether or not the proposals Obama was making had any chance of working and how badly the Democrats would suffer in the next election if they didn’t. That’s when Pat Buchanan drew a comparison between the current situation and that faced by the incoming Reagan administration.

He pointed out how Reagan’s plans took over three years to start bearing fruit and how the Republicans got soundly thrashed two years after his election (a year before any positive changes in the economy were seen). This got me to thinking about my own thoughts and feelings during those times. You see, I was inspired by Reagan’s candidacy like I hadn’t been since Johnson (who reminded me of my dad) and Bobby Kennedy. I was too young to vote during the 60’s, let alone understand what the real issues were all about, but I was certainly primed for the polls in 1980. Besides, Reagan was the only politician ever mentioned, let alone given praise, by Ayn Rand.

Regardless of how he is painted by the politicians of today, I still believe that Reagan’s attempt to get government out of the way of way of free enterprise was the morally correct thing to do. Unfortunately, what he apparently didn’t realize (I know I didn’t) was that those who passed themselves off as Capitalists had been so corrupted by years of having to work around government interference that they no longer had the decency required to be actual Capitalists. Even Alan Greenspan, who not only was praised by Ayn Rand but contributed an essay or two to her books, was fooled into thinking that the profit motive would be enough to keep those clowns in line. A casual look at any news program today will reveal how well that turned out.

Now before you start thinking that maybe Ayn Rand just didn’t know what she was talking about, I should point out how she railed against the so-called ’defenders of Capitalism’ - the Republicans. Don’t get me wrong. She certainly had no great love for the Democrats, but at least they didn’t hide their liberal agendas. The Republicans, on the other hand, pretended then and now to be all in favor of freedom and free enterprise and yet consistently voted in ways that violated everything they preached. They’re the ones who consistently vote against the rights of women, gays, sexual freedoms, the content of our children’s education, and those who seek ’alternative’ lifestyles. And I’ll bet that the way they treated women was particularly annoying to Ms. Rand, one of the greatest minds the world has ever known.

What does any of that have to do with free enterprise? It’s simple really. Free enterprise only works in an environment that encourages freedom of thought! When looked at that way, the Republicans have acted for decades as the greatest hindrance to freedom this country has ever faced. Maybe if Reagan and Greenspan had paid more attention to what Rand was saying, they would have realized that their plans needed some serious checks and balances placed on their own party.

As for President Obama, I’m almost afraid to hope that he is as level-headed as he seems. If I could give him one little piece of advice, it would be to suggest that he push his evolving party to become what the Republicans should have been for Reagan. After all, Bill Clinton did a lot of good by stealing ideas from the conservatives. Genuine free market Capitalism is not only the way for Obama to take control of both sides of the political landscape, it’s the only true path out of the economic mess we’ve stepped in.

I want ice water.

Ball Of Confusion - Revisited

I love the old Temptations song Ball Of Confusion and I’ve been waiting for quite a while for someone to do an updated version. Well I’m tired of waiting and will now tackle the task, at least the lyrics part, myself. My thanks to leoslyrics.com for the original lyrics.

Ball Of Confusion - Revisited

1, 2… 1, 2, 3, 4, Ow!

People moving out, foreclosures rolling in.

Why, because the bubble’s crashing in.

Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Vote for me and I’ll set you free.

Rap on, brother, rap on.

Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the…(preacher.)

And it seems nobody’s interested in learning but the…(teacher.)

Muslim nations, immigration, regulation demonstrations,

Aggravating humiliation, prisons all around our nation.

Ball of confusion.

Oh yeah, that’s what the world is today.

Woo, hey, hey.

The sale of guns are at an all time high.

People walking round with that look in their eye.

The cities are strange in the summer time.

And oh, the beat goes on.

Evolution disillusion, oil controls the screamin’ polls.

No mo’ rockets to the moon, kids still growing up too soon.

Politicians say low taxes will solve everything.

And the band plays on.

So, round and around and around we go.

Where the world’s headed, nobody knows.
[Instrumental]

Hey Google user, can’t you hear me talking to you.

Just a ball of confusion.

Oh yeah, that’s what the world is today.

Woo, hey, hey.

Fear in the air, tension everywhere.

Unemployment rising fast, Obama sure got elected fast.

And there’s no safe place to live, we’re now a well armed nation.

And the band plays on.

Eve of destruction, tax reductions, bridge inspectors set new records,

New blood in demand, economics out of hand,
Genocides, diamond kills, investors running for the hills.
People all over the world are shouting, "End the wars."

And the band plays on.

[Instrumental]

Hey Google user, can’t you hear me talking to you.

Sayin’… ball of confusion.

That’s what the world is today, hey, hey.

Let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya.

Sayin’… ball of confusion.

That’s what the world is today, hey, hey.

Let me hear ya, let me hear ya, let me hear ya,
Let me hear ya, let me hear ya.

Sayin’… ball of confusion.

I’m so proud, but it sure wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. So don’t forget my check when you decide to record it. I may be laughing now, but I’m still a Capitalist.

I want ice water.

Tolerance... Not! Racism

Because of the profound effect that this issue has had on me personally, deciding how to tackle the subject of racial intolerance has been a difficult task. Growing up in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s as the offspring of racially mixed parents has provided me with more than a little experience with racism. So much so that I hardly know where to begin. But I know that in order to give this issue a fair and rational review, I must be willing to set aside the emotions evoked by it. As one who suffers from depression, brought on in part by my experiences in this area, I hope that you can understand why this is difficult for me. I’m certainly no Mr. Spock, but I do know to use reason and logic to get at the root of a problem.

The first thing to be done is to untangle of all the imagery and confusion that any discussion of race is bound to provoke. Now everybody knows about America’s history involving the enslavement of Blacks. And while there is absolutely no way to excuse that, it is helpful to remember that Blacks represent just one case in a very long history of similar travesties committed by Man. In fact, I think you’d have a hard time finding any group that hasn’t been similarly mistreated at one time or another. Next we must realize that many acts considered to be racially motivated have actually been motivated by what is commonly called peer pressure. I call it collectivist politics.

Anyone who has spent much time with other people, and I’ve had just about enough, has to have noticed that a person’s behavior can be profoundly influenced by those around them. Only an idiot actually believes that a person deserves to be mistreated because of his skin color. But even an idiot knows he can be outcast if he doesn’t get with the program. This same logic applies whether the issue involves race, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, or the side of the tracks one was born on. So you see the real issue is not racism at all. This is behavior motivated by collectivist politics - the evil acts of one group against another as justified by the mere fact that the first group is stronger and the other group is ’different.’

When I was a little kid in Charleston, West Virginia, the police would routinely conduct these brutal sweeps to clear the streets of my neighborhood. All of the cops were White. All of those arrested were Black. I’d like to believe that this was done to keep homeless drunks from causing trouble, but that could just be wishful thinking. During this same period I was often the butt of jokes about how I would eventually try to pass myself off as White. As you can probably imagine, discovering that people thought that way about me was not only confusing, but damn scary as well.

In 1965, during a car trip back from spending Christmas in Florida with my father, I got locked inside a White owned restaurant in Georgia. Being a naive little boy, I had run ahead to be the first one inside. I was so busy spinning on one of the bar stools that I didn’t even notice that the doors had been locked after I came in, to keep my dad and his girlfriend out. Because of my appearance, no one inside realized that I was with them until I ran to the door my dad was pounding on. I’m not sure if I was more afraid of being locked inside or of what my father would do if they didn’t open the door. Those poor fools had no idea of the kind of man there were keeping from his son. Fortunately, an apologetic waitress let me out and my dad’s girlfriend was able to talk my dad into just leaving.

In 1966 the country apparently went nuts from all the racial tension. Because I still had a small shred of innocence left in me, my first knowledge of this came when my Black friends decided that we should leave our elementary school in protest. Unfortunately, the only White friend I had at the time had been assigned, as playground monitor, to prevent kids from wandering off. Because I was so desperate to be considered genuinely Black for a change, I allowed myself to be pressured into being the one to remove ’the White obstruction to our freedom.’ He was just a good kid trying to do what he was assigned to do, so he refused. It was then, out of embarrassment and frustration, that I committed one of the most shameful acts of my life by punching him in the stomach. I was so disgusted with myself that I couldn’t even leave with the others. I’m not sure why he didn’t report me, but I lost a good friend forever.

In 1968, while living in Los Angeles, I was jumped by two Black kids because according to them, and unbeknownst to me, their classroom was at war with my classroom. That got me started on the path from being the sixth grade salutatorian to being one of the world’s worst truants. When Dr. King was murdered a few months later, I was terrified at the prospect of looking so White while living in an all Black community. This was because there were rumors about Black gangs venting their wrath on Whites.

In 1969, while I was riding a bicycle a few blocks from home, some Black people sent their dog after me. When they discovered that they actually knew me, after I had fallen and broken my arm, they said that they’d only done it because they thought I was White. After that I went almost nowhere, let alone to school. With truancy being a such big issue with the government, and with my attitude turning more negative by the day, I became more ’trouble’ than my Sister wanted to deal with. So she shipped me back to my Mom in Ohio.

All of these things can be attributed to racism, and it’s clear to me that the stupidity operates in all directions. However, they can also be attributed to collectivist thinking motivating a desire to impress one group at the expense of others. That was certainly the case when I punched my friend in the stomach.

If you’ve read my Opening Rant article, then you’re familiar with my belief that each of us thinks and acts according to the personal philosophy we have chosen to guide us - whether we’re conscious of that choice or not. And Collectivism is the most dangerous kind of philosophy precisely because it’s so nebulous and unspoken - exactly what appeals to the masses who can’t be bothered to look beyond the moment. Simply stated, Collectivism allows that anything is okay so long as it can be justified as ’necessary’ by those powerful enough to impose their will. While it has been used historically to dominate Autocracies and Theocracies, it’s most commonly found in the form it takes in today’s so-called Democracies.

Now please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that democratic rule can be the ideal form of government. But we’ll never achieve that ideal so long as the majority simply bow to collectivist politics because they’re too stupid or too afraid to object. Let’s take a look at where this type of thinking as gotten us so far, shall we.

Apparently, just about everyone said the Hebrews were inferior. Voila! Hebrews were persecuted for many, many years!

The Roman and the Jews said the Christians were dangerous. Voila! Christians were persecuted for many, many years!

The Christians said the Holy Land must be purged. Voila! We got Crusaders!

The Muslims said the Holy Land must be purged. Voila! We got Jihad!

The Whites proclaimed Manifest Destiny. Voila! Ethnic cleansing of Native Americans!

The Whites said that Blacks were inferior. Voila! 400 years of Black enslavement!

The Nazis said the Jews should be exterminated. Voila! Fire up the ovens!

During WWII, the majority said we just can’t trust them slant eyes. Voila! Americans in concentration camps!

After WWII, the majority said that the Jews deserve their promised land. Voila! Israelis in, Palestinians out!

Muslim extremists decided to attack The Great Satan. Voila! We got 9/11!

The U.S. retaliated for 9/11. Duh? We go to war in Iraq? Doe!

And let us not forget those ’special’ cases where those imposing their will didn’t seem so dangerous. Voila! We got Rioters, Bombers, Snipers, Terrorists, and School Massacres!

Just in case you thought there was none, let’s now take a look at how this kind of thinking affects the economy.

The majority said the wealthy should pay more taxes. Voila! We got a progressive tax scale!

The wealthy hired lawyers to fight against excessive taxes. Voila! We got tax sheltering and tax evasion!

The majority said the poor should pay less taxes. Voila! The primary users of government services pay almost nothing for them!

The majority said we shouldn’t use ’illegal’ drugs. Voila! We got ourselves a drug war on all fronts and a prison system bursting at the seams - very expensive!

The majority said we should unleash the power of Wall Street so everyone can pay less taxes. Voila! We got economic disaster!

The majority screamed, "DO SOMETHING." Voila! It’ll take generations to pay off all this debt!

If you were to ask anyone in the majority if they were wrong when these decisions were being made, the response would almost certainly be a resounding "Hell no! Just ask anybody!" Those who suffer from these ’high minded’ decisions would of course be dismissed as ignorant scum who’s opinions don’t count anyway. And most of them were usually too ignorant or too afraid to speak out anyway. Remember the little boy who dared to ask why the Emperor was naked? The sad fact is, if you searched through all of history, you’d have a hard time finding a single man-made disaster that didn’t have some sort of collectivist rationale behind it.

As far as the treatment of Blacks in America is concerned, our great leaders - the Black leadership as well as the federal government - have merely tried to replace one collectivist nightmare with another. It must be remembered that every one of the state and local governments that looked so bad during the civil rights movement were financed by public funds. But instead of passing - and enforcing - laws that would have made it impossible for them to use tax money for racially biased policies, our leaders - with complete approval from the majority - have simply instituted a racially based ’quota system’ in it’s place.

Again, it must be remembered that the majority of Whites were actually behind the civil rights movement, even if many were afraid to show it. Laws that would have taken away the power of local government to enforce the ’peer pressure’ of a powerful minority on them was all that they needed to speak out. But instead of actually leveling the playing field by guaranteeing the individual’s right to decide who deserves his or her support, the federal government has wasted many billions of dollars on a collectivist bureaucracy founded on institutionalized racism.

The bottom line is that what we call racism is only one of the countless faces of collectivist politics. And if we want to have better relations between any of the various groups on Earth, we’re going to have to rid ourselves of the profound stupidity that stands in the way: Collectivism. If President Obama is as smart as he seems, he’ll focus the spotlight on the real issues and not allow it to be pointed at something so trivial as the color of his skin.

After all, everyone will be nicely tanned in the future. Deal with it!

A good metaphor for how we've dealt racism in this country can be found in The Trees by the group Rush.

I want ice water.

It's Time To Prove Ourselves Again

We’re now only months away from the forty year anniversary of Man’s greatest achievement: the landing of two men on the surface of the moon. Until that time, Mankind had spent almost it’s entire history suffering under the delusion of being the powerless ’pets’ of supernatural beings who seemed to have nothing better to do that to meddle in human affairs. Somehow, we seemed to live at the center of a universe that was at once terrifying and unknowable. Gradually, and with great resistance from the fearful masses, we came to the more realistic view of ourselves as insignificant beings living on an insignificant planet in a universe that was vast beyond our wildest imaginations. We also came to realize that we weren’t so powerless after all, and the ultimate proof of that was our landings on the moon.

Unfortunately, our great successes has lead us to make the arrogant assumption that we have nothing left to prove - that we now stand alone as the masters of our reality and divorced from any dependence upon it. How wrong that assumption has proven to be as clearly evidenced by the state of the environment that we, and every other form of life we know of, must live in. While it’s certainly true that we have made great scientific strides in areas like technology and medicine in the years since, the fact that we have done so in such an irresponsible manner have all but undone the surge in confidence the moon landings gave us. And the current economic crisis is threatening to become the grave marker for all our dreams.

Indeed, the problems we now face appear to be coming from too many directions to face head on and so many of them seem to have the potential to overwhelm us by themselves, that we ironically find ourselves once again feeling powerless amidst an unknowable universe. But the truth is that, just as in the past, we are not powerless. We are not helpless. We are simply unfocused. Maybe that’s what President Kennedy saw in the early sixties. Remember, those were hard and frightening times too. Maybe he knew that all we needed was a great challenge to overcome to restore our confidence and prove to ourselves that we can overcome great obstacles. And maybe, just maybe, that’s all we need today.

But what challenge could we undertake to get those creative juices flowing again? What obstacle can we conquer that is both realistically achievable and spiritually fulfilling enough to grab the hearts of Mankind? I believe that we can overcome all of our troubles if we have to time to do so, but there is one problem that, if not solved quickly enough, threatens to rob us of the time we need to solve any of the others. And that is the disaster we have made of our environment. Oh I know that this is such a huge an nebulous problem, and I’ve heard all the arguments that seem to be at odds with each other. But the fact is that our dependence on fossil fuels lies at the heart of just about every environmental issue, and that is absolutely something we can do something about.

I believe that President Obama should use the anniversary of Man’s landing on the moon to challenge this nation to become completely independent of fossil fuels by the end of the next decade. Sure, a lot of people will scream that he is crazy and that it can’t be done, but people said the same things when President Kennedy challenged us to go to the moon. And let’s not forget all of the other great developments that came about as the result of achieving that impossible dream. The possibilities are endless from this one as well.

We are literally standing on the brink of the end of civilization as we know it. It’s up to us to decide what kind of future we want and what kind of future we deserve. It’s time to prove ourselves again.

I want ice water

What - Me Worried?

My Internet connection has been off since the beginning of December due to my own kind of 'economic downturn,' causing me to do my share of begging, pleading, and promising to repay. So even though it may be as late as mid February when this article gets posted, it's actually 3:30am on December 16th as I begin to write. Of course, I'll probably still be tweaking it right up to the moment it's posted. Be forewarned: I am being possessed intermittently a Hollywood caricature of an old Black woman as I struggle to write about this very serious subject. So grin and bear with me, please.

Once again it's that time of year when the red-suited storm troopers have come to hold our loved ones (and nation) hostage until we bankrupt ourselves fulfilling their ransom demands. However, I think that perhaps their masters will be disappointed this year, due to the fact that their previous ad-induced bling-bling flings have already pretty well deflated the bubble. Can anyone please explain to me why everyone is so surprised to find that the banks, including the little piggy, are empty, considering the deranged and frenzied spending binge we've been on for the past few years?

But there's a new year a comin' and hope springs eternal! No wait, I think that I may just be regurgitatin some o dat Madison avenue haze. In reality, the forecast for the immediate future ain't looking all that rosy. For although the Bush may have been thoroughly burned, the new Obamanation will have one mighty struggle rising from these ashes. And as all of those campaign polls and election results demonstrate, the new Man's race is not his biggest problem. I don't know about you, but my cupboard is getting pretty bare and I'm finding it very difficult to live on just bread, or words, alone. But enough about my little problems.

I'm more concerned about all those poor suffering rich folk. Man it was sad to see them all parading into Washington in their corporate jets, limousines, and fancy suits to beg for ol' Uncle Sam's help. Po' thangs! Pitiful, just pitiful. Kinda brings to mind what it musta been like goin' before the motor company's pay allocation board in that Atlas Shrugged book. You know, the one where your pay was based on ol' mister Lennon's from each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs. And it's not like it's their fault neither, 'cause ain't the pursuit of something for nothing the new American Dream? Those folk simply done what any red-hot-blooded American would do when he finds a good piece of American Pie within his reach. After all, everybody knows that all that stuff about 'earning your way' and 'living within your means' is just The Man's way of keeping us down.

And speakin' of those nice gov'ment folks, they certainly done their parts gettin' us into this mess ain't they? We sent them to mount Washington to cure all that ails us, and with all their wars on this and wars on that, they've given new meaning to 'put your money where your mouth is.' And just look at all the fine work they've done in 'leveling the playing field.' Why with all their half-truths, double-dealin, and outright hypocrisy, we're now the equal of any of those third-rate countries that used to speak so badly 'bout us. Yes indeed, those big shots sure have set a fine example for us all. It does our country right proud to be represented so well. After all, who needs 'moral authority' anyway? If you ask me, I'd say that being the 'leader of the free world' was pretty high fallutin' thinking to begin with.

But wait just a darned minute there. Did I get that backwards? Wasn't there something about of the people, by the people, and for the people? Wasn't it us, after all, that bought lock, stock, and barrel into the idea of 'buy now and pay later?' How many of us actually stepped forward to raise hell over the true meaning of 'consumer driven economy? Maybe, just maybe, those big shots are merely reflections of what 'we the people' have allowed ourselves to become. Maybe the American Dream has lost it's luster because we've failed to maintain it, like the way we've failed to maintain our now crumbling infrastructure. Could be time to break out that ol' bottle of Tarn-X?

Now I hesitate to say this, as I wouldn't want y'all to think I've gone all pollyannaish on you. But is it possible that we could solve all our 'market worries' by simply bringing to the market something that will actually sell? What, exactly, are we buying with all those bails of cash our great leaders are passing out? Could it be that no matter how hard you pursue it, genuine happiness can only be gained by those who've earned it?

Will we ever wake from this nightmare so we can dare to Dream again?

I want ice water.