Give Thanks…
Not Hate
“I don’t
want to energize the group, and I disavow the group," Trump told Baquet.
"It’s not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to
look into it and find out why.”
"I
disavow and condemn them," Trump told Times reporters.
By J.M. Hamilton (11-25-2016)
Last year at this time, JMH wrote a piece on the politics of resentment that appeared to be driving the Trump campaign.
Many of us have, recently, encountered the anger, the fear,
and the hatred in news accounts, and witnessed it in our daily lives…. An
unacceptable level of rage, and sometimes overt racism, directed all too often
at immigrants and non-white Americans.
To quote POTUS Trump this misguided/misdirected anger should
be “condemned” and “disavowed.” Hatred of any American – due to the circumstances of their birth (skin color, race,
creed, gender, sexual orientation) – is not only morally repugnant but is Un-American.
Any Neo-Nazi movement or Alt-Right movement should be
stomped out and crushed; and in fact if the misguided and the nescient and the
fatuous serve any purpose, it is to remind us that hatred still exists and must
be eliminated.
And how do you crush the fear and resentment that spawns jealousy
& rage spilling over into hatred?
It’s done through education.
Too many white Americans are not only afraid for their jobs
and their social standing (that fear is legitimate), but they are deathly
afraid that a fellow American – often a person of far less fortunate
circumstances than themselves – might be getting something for free (that fear
is not legitimate).
Now there are economic arguments to be made about waves of immigrants
& refugees entering into a country so rapidly, that they crush the social
safety net, create too big of a burden on society & the government, and the
plutocracy’s favorite, suppress wages.
But race, and hatred of our fellow man, has no business entering into
that discussion.
Unless you are a Native-American, and particularly if your
hide is white, you are an immigrant or are a descendant of immigrants. In short, the U.S. is a nation of
immigrants. It’s what makes this country great.
As for fear of economic & political disenfranchisement –
my white brothers & sisters – your fear is not unfounded but it is, often, misdirected. Don’t fear the 1
in 5 children born into poverty in this country. Don’t begrudge the poor kid, at the public school,
who may qualify for a subsidized lunch.
They are not your enemy, and they certainly aren’t the
“takers.”
Our enemy is a hyper-rapacious plutocracy that has
co-opted, and owns & operates, the government for its own ends.
This plutocracy, oligarchy of billionaires… siphons off hundreds of
billions of dollars from Federal and State governments, annually: in
fraudulent contracts; regulatory capture; bailouts; tax loopholes galore; free money from the Federal
Reserve; passing the social costs of their products onto the taxpayer &
future generations; credit card wars & failed nation building exercises; and
government privatization (e.g. defense & private prison contractors) that
creates perverse incentives against society, increases the national debt -
exponentially, and results in the ripping off of taxpayers; etc, etc, etc.
And I can assure you, Mr. & Mrs. John Q. White-American,
as much as you may think you’re going to get rich in your lifetime, and you
have a Goddess given right to become rich in your lifetime…. For all too many of
us, our odds of getting rich are about as great as winning the lottery. And those odds are growing worse, the more
the elite export jobs offshore, via free trade agreements, and the more the
oligarchy wraps its tentacles around the federal & state governments. These bastards own the politicians;
politicians that should be serving America and ordinary Americans.
Our anger and resentment needs be directed into running for
office, showing up at the polls, volunteering for campaigns, and staying informed: 24/7/365. That’s where our resentment belongs, and
that resentment, that anger, needs to be channeled into activism: particularly,
at showing up at rallies, and volunteering, for candidates that will support your interests, not
the 1%.
The plutocracy, and their minions – the political class - thrive and feed off of our ignorance & apathy. And they feast upon it, like a Thanksgiving
Turkey. And whatever ethical or moral issues you may possess about not taking money from the government, the elite and the wealthy, trust me, hold no such reservations. In fact, it's why they are so wealthy.
There’s one more reason Mr. & Mrs. John Q. American that
you should not resent poor Americans who need assistance. One of the fallouts of crony-capitalism, particularly
free trade uber alles, globalization,
robots, automation, and AI is that there will be fewer and fewer jobs.
Even if Mr. Trump is successful - and many of us are praying
for his success in rolling back highly harmful free trade agreements, that have
gutted the American Dream – the intermediate to long term trend for jobs &
opportunity is on the decline.
Even if – as JMH has proscribed – we break up all the job killing
cartels & monopolies, automation & AI will take many jobs away.
If not yours than almost certainly your daughters, sons, or
grand-kids. Lawyers on the street, truck
drivers unemployed – due to automation & computers? Get used to it. Welcome to the 21st Century.
And this issue will likely be the greatest debate in coming
decade(s), how should the wealth and bounty – in our newly automated/labor lite
economy - be divided up? The ownership
class, the rapacious plutocracy…. Who built their billions off exploiting your
labor, your government, to their own ends.... will, likely, insist that the spoils
go exclusively to them. The public, on
the other hand, (who built this country, gave their lives in foreign wars,
supported – w/ their tax dollars - the infrastructure & schools that made the
plutocracy fabulously wealthy) may want a seat at the boardroom table, a share
in the capital & profits, and a guaranteed basic income.
Hey, if the Fed can print up trillions to bailout Wall
Street Robber Barons, it can print up trillions for a guaranteed basic
income. We merely, need to make sure
that aggregate demand does not outstrip aggregate supply, which could lead to
catastrophic inflation.
Is it doable?
Answer: Not w/out a paradigm
shift in thinking, not w/out complications/adjustments, but as sure as the sun
rises in the East, you can bet on it. In
fact, Americans should insist upon it. The
key to unlocking the door to a government that works for ordinary Americans is
to banish money from politics. Money
does not equal free speech.
No. Money in politics equals bribery and corruption.
No. Money in politics equals bribery and corruption.
White America is just now waking up to the fact that the
deck is stacked against them, and they are being royally screwed. So far, too many Americans have been fooled into
thinking that their fellow American, often a person of color or humble origins, is the issue.
Who benefits from 99% division & distraction (and
yes, in some instances, racism)?
Answer: The Plutocracy/ The Oligarchy/The Billionaire class.
Yes indeed, our Whitey privilege cards have been revoked,
from the day laborer to the professions.
Those cards are not being revoked by the disenfranchised and the
powerless… they are being revoked by the Oligarchy (and think tanks, MSM, and
academics owned by the Plutocracy), who have been slitting this nation's
collective throat for the last 36 years (since the dawn of the Reagan
revolution, and by a neoliberal/Ayn Rand economic policy run amok).
Don’t worry about your neighbor getting free stuff, because you
& your college degree(s), my friend, are likely to be the next in line.
Act, think, and educate yourself, politically & accordingly.
The futures and lives of you, your children, and their
progeny may depend upon it.
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing
2016
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