What Matters?

Here is a thought for the day:

Lives Matter.

If you need to put a color in front of that statement, then you are the racist.

Why do I say that?  Here is the definition of racism: “the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.”

That is, identifying by race just plays into the identity politics that are by their very nature racist.  This is true whether we are identifying particular races whose lives do or do not matter, particular races whose businesses we should or should not patronize, particular races who should or should not receive taxpayer money, particular races who should or should not receive special benefits, or any other type of categorization by racial identity.

Identity politics and its accompanying racism is a tool in a game played by ideologues who are seeking nothing more than their own power.  Racial identity as well as other identity groups are nothing more than pawns in their game. 

Watch this game play out in the proposed police reform bills.  The Democrats quashed the Republican bill that had a good chance of bipartisan support and thus a chance to pass into law. Democrats aren’t even interested in debate on the bill.   Instead the Democrats with the support of their usual propaganda machine (mainstream media and entertainment industry) put forward a bill that has little chance of passage. 

Why, you may wonder, would they not want to debate a bill that might pass?  Why propose something that likely will not pass?  The answer is simple.  They care more about keeping the issue alive for their own election purposes than actually enacting the reforms.  The languishing bill allows them to continue to use racial identity politics against their Republican rivals.

Identity politics is strong and getting stronger.  People are fired, ridiculed, attacked for simply questioning its premises, for wanting to treat all citizens equally rather than singling out one group or another for special treatment or for their “collective guilt.”  I’m sure the statement that opens this post (“Lives Matter”) qualifies me for attack by those invested in the identity politics game.

Historically, the Democrat party was once the anti-Black party.  It now claims the title of the pro-Black party, the party that will be the Savior for Blacks in America.  What cloak will they next put on?  The answer is the one that serves them best in their quest for absolute power over all of our lives.

So, I will stand against their attempts to turn me into a racist by buying into their identity games.  I will not prefer one race over another.   I will not make decisions about individuals based upon the color of their skin, whether it is what life I think matters or what business to patronize or to whom I might feel guilty.

As I stated in a recent post (LINK):  

Unless and until we stand up to the game being played out in our capital and on our streets, the war of identity politics can and will only increase, and only to the benefit of those who are using it for their own gain.

Here are two essays worth reading:

Commentary from Harlan Hill in Real Clear Politics, Think the ‘Cancel’ Mobs Can’t Get Any Worse? Think Again  (LINK)

Opinion by Megan McArdle in The Washington Post, Where do we draw the line in tearing down statues?  (LINK)

Identity Politics and Victimhood vs. Liberation and Sovereignty

Black Lives Matter leader and Greater NY BLM Chapter President Hawk Newsome stated, “if this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” (Video Interview on The Story, June 24, 2020).  And what is it that Mr. Newsome and his BLM want?  At the end of the interview he stated, “I just want Black liberation and Black sovereignty, by any means necessary.”

Let’s think about that.  Liberation is the act of setting someone free.  I think that was celebrated just a few days ago on Juneteenth, the celebration also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day.  Juneteenth celebrates and commemorates African American freedom.

So, to what liberation does he refer?  Perhaps he has liberation confused with some idyllic Utopia where everyone has everything they want, perhaps even without having to work for it, where no one is biased, where everyone has everything that everyone else has, where no one ever has to compete for and sometimes not get the job, or house, or friends, or family, or whatever else that he wants.  Perhaps he refers to that Utopia that we all know can never really exist.

We will come back to these thoughts in a moment, but first let’s look at the definition of his other key word:  sovereignty.  Usually used in referring to a state, country, or similar entity, the word sovereignty means supreme power or authority; the right to be self-governing.  No, the identity group Black is not a self-governing state and if he seeks it to become so then that idea is quite radical and will indeed require burning down our system as well as our country. 

But, perhaps by sovereignty he intends to mean the right of Black individuals to be responsible for themselves, to make their own decisions and chart their own individual courses in life.   That of course requires choices and decisions and in the real world everyone makes some very good decisions but also some very bad ones.  In either case, when an individual governs oneself that individual must be prepared to take the consequences, both good and bad, of those decisions.

And, if that is the sovereignty to which Newsome refers, then Black individuals received that sovereignty along with their emancipation.  If that is BLM’s demand, then BLM already has what it wants.  So, let’s explore why they feel so oppressed that they must protest and riot for “liberation and sovereignty.”

The key here is identity politics.  It does its best to deny Black individuals the freedom to be individuals.  That is its point and how it serves as a tool for those who seek power via division and, in classic socialist tradition, pitting one group against another.  As the Left has fueled the flames of identity politics for the last many years, Blacks have been pushed and cajoled to see themselves not as individuals but as members of a victim group. 

With Blacks as the oppressed, and Whites or the System as the oppressor, the oppressed Blacks are urged to blame the oppressing Whites for everything within their lives that is less than the Utopia of perfection that we all dream of.  Anything less than perfection is not the fault of the oppressed, but of their oppressors.  The Utopian dream would be possible if the oppressed were liberated from their oppressors.  This is the fairy tale of identity politics.

“Systemic Racism” is nothing more than a false narrative that is used to solidify victimhood of all who are deemed members of that identity group known as Black.  It is a byproduct of identity politics – a means of dividing us to further a progressive quest for power.  To proclaim that some sort of systemic racism is the force that keeps Blacks from being liberated and sovereign is simply another way of claiming, underscoring, and maintaining victim status for an identity group.  

Identity politics, not plantation owners, is what now keeps Blacks enslaved.  Group victimhood diminishes self-worth and destroys individuality; with that comes a lack of motivation and a dependence on those who have convinced these “victims” that they cannot live without the assistance of their victim-makers. 

If liberation is necessary, it is not from the “system”, not from “institutionalized racism” but from politicians who push a victim narrative promising to save those victims, while at the same time turn those “victims” into an underclass of dependent voters who will keep their victim-makers in power. 

Yet no one forces Blacks to be identified by a group narrative.  They, like any other individual in this country, have the freedom to create their own narrative, one in which they are free to see themselves not as victims but as individuals who can take responsibility for their own lives and in so doing enjoy the fruits thereof.  They can do this without envy of or hate for or dependence on some other group.  But this requires accepting the fact that the life they create will in all likelihood not be perfect – there is no Utopia.

Truly accepting one’s own liberation and personal sovereignty requires no small amount of courage.  It is easy to sit back, take no risks, and let others create things that you would like, whether that is a physical creation or the fruits of one’s labor, or a state of mind.  It is easy to accept the narrative that you can do no more than be dependent on others for your well-being.  And, when your life is not what you would choose, it is easy to be prompted into a mindset of victimhood. To break free of that mindset takes courage and independence.

This is not to imply that no people have biases or do not act in a way that is or can be perceived as racist.  That, however, does not prove systemic or institutional bias.  There are hundreds if not thousands of anecdotes about a Black person being somehow slighted or treated badly.  Sometimes that is due to racism, sometimes it is not.  There are just as many anecdotes of non-Black and indeed White people being slighted or treated badly.  Sometimes that is because of their color, sometimes it is not.  Some people will choose to see these as the individual occurrences they are; others will choose to see everything through the glasses of racism.

George Floyd’s murder was horrendous.  But what proof do we have that it was racially motivated, that it occurred because he was Black?  How do we know that his accused murderer was not just a cop who was drunk on his own power?  He had, with police union help, been allowed at least 17 prior times to abuse his power; those abuses were not labeled racist.  Perhaps this was just a bad man who felt like killing that day; do we have any proof that the blackness of Floyd’s skin was the reason?  And if we do, how does this horrible murder in any way prove the existence of systemic racism?

Far more realistic than systemic racism is the existence of identity politics and its use by the Left to turn Blacks and others into a dependent sub-class.  Repeated assertions that some specter known as “systemic racism” is to blame are useful to solidify the identity group and hence keep them as a class dependent on those who proclaim with both words and actions that only with their help can the group break free of its dependent status.  Yet, such promises and their accompanying handouts do nothing more than to keep that class dependent. 

It is this political and progressive if not socialist game that threatens the liberty and sovereignty of every individual who accepts as their own the uni-dimensional identity of a group.   The “victims” are nothing more than pawns in that power game.  Their only use to the victim-makers is the color of their skin; their human individuality has no merit and is of little concern to those who are using them as pawns

The system has already worked to grant to those who choose to take it the freedom and the sovereignty Mr. Newsome and BLM demand.  It is identity politics and its accompanying demeaning of the individual that are the threat.  This key tool of the socialist warrior is being wielded well by the Progressive Left who would indeed tear down the system – the very system that has already given BLM what they seek.

So, I would encourage Mr. Newsome and BLM to reevaluate things.  If liberation and sovereignty are what you want, then I suggest that you already have it.  Victimhood and its oppression are just one of many choices available to you.  Do not take the coward’s way forward, blaming others for the imperfections in your lives and life in general.  Within you is what you need -  the courage that it takes to stand up and be responsible for your own lives, to throw off the dependent victimhood identity and choose instead your own individual, multi-dimensional,  and independent narrative.

Co-opting George Floyd – Never let a crisis go to waste.

George Floyd, like so many Blacks and their legitimate grievances before, has become nothing more than a pawn – a tool to be used by others for their own political power agenda.

After my blog post yesterday (LINK)  suggesting more “conversations on race” are not going to change anything and perhaps make things worse, someone asked me “well then, how do we change the system?”  Therein lies a large part of the problem.

I don’t want to, do not think we need to “change the system.”  Improve it, yes – always – but change it? NO.

Change the system to what?  Socialism?  That seems to be the choice of the day.  That would not do anything to address or improve the legitimate grievances of people of color.

And what "system," exactly what aspect of the "system" needs to be changed to such extent that it merits total destruction?

George Floyd was murdered by a police officer.  That officer was arrested and charged with murder.  He will be tried and likely convicted.  Seems to me the system is working.  Yes, Floyd was murdered and that was clearly wrong and a seemingly completely evil act on the part of his murderer.  The system did not kill George Floyd, one man did.  That man will face judgement for his crime.

Not to diminish the horror of Floyd’s murder or the sincere pain it has caused, on the same day he was murdered others across America of all background and color were also murdered.  Some were murdered by friends or family or those of the same race.  Others were murdered by strangers and those of a different race.  Some murders were random; some were personal.  Some may have been committed by individuals wearing uniforms.  The “system” will address these murders too.  There will be investigations, people will be charged and tried.  Our justice system seems to be alive and well.  (Not perfect, there will be errors, but the system is working albeit always open for improvement).

Black Lives Matter demands defunding of the police.  I read this demand as asking for the end of police as we know that term, for if the police are defunded then they will cease to exist.  The BLM petition reads:

Enough is enough. Our pain, our cries, and our need to be seen and heard resonate throughout this entire country. We demand acknowledgment and accountability for the devaluation and dehumanization of Black life at the hands of the police. We call for radical, sustainable solutions that affirm the prosperity of Black lives.

The rhetoric sounds good, but what does it mean, is there really a foundation for this demand, and is it really connected to George Floyd’s death?  Clearly, the pain of Floyd’s death legitimately gives rise to cries of anguish that can and should resonate with us all.  But, the murder by one man who happened to be and should not have been a police officer does not indicate a “devaluation and dehumanization of Black life” at the hands of all police.  That “devaluation and dehumanization” occurred at the hands of one man.  To paint all law enforcement with such an overbroad brush does nothing to improve a system that indeed has allowed a variety of bad actors into its fold.  It simply furthers the hatred toward and implicitly the destruction of the entire system.   This is not going to fix any legitimate grievances that might exist toward that system.

Another “system” that is attacked is the “criminal justice system” which, as the claims go, treats Blacks or people of color differently and worse than Whites.  Clearly, many prisons contain a greater number of people of color.  But it does not necessarily follow from that fact that those people of color are treated less fairly or differently than are Whites.  Life is far more complex than making such a simple jump to such a conclusion.  There are many possible reasons behind the numbers, some of which probably do stem from some sort of unfair or biased treatment but also many others that do not. 

The further implication is that these are “mass incarcerations.”  They are not.  Each was the result of an individual trial that called many “systems” into play.  Not just race, but economics, education, and individual choices are but a few of the many factors that likely affected each of these individual trials.

However, making such simplistic jumps from just one data point – number incarcerated - serves well the purposes of those who do indeed wish to destroy (not simply improve) our systems.  It is a good, strong starting point for fomenting hate from one identity group against another.  That hate does not serve the identity group, but rather the one fomenting the hate, the ones who are not letting this personal crisis go to waste.

Thinking about prison reform, let’s remember that the Left demanded that, told people of color they had to elect them in order to have this problem rectified.  They got the votes but did not make the changes.  It was their hated President Trump who enacted prison reform, something which they fail to note or if they do then they simply argue it was not enough and not soon enough and continue to focus on the problems and destroy the system rather than work toward further improvements to the existing system.

Really the “system” that needs to be changed in the eyes of those who have co-opted Floyd’s murder to their own ends is the system of America itself – its government – its form of Democratic Republic.  Why?  Loss of the freedoms we now hold, loss of the systems that allow us to speak out and to work to improve our society will be destroyed.  That does not help those demanding “change.”  The people that it helps are those who would hold absolute power for themselves.

A former member of Antifa notes that the group uses its anti-fascist name to hide the fact that it is really a conduit for far-Left activism.  This violent group is fighting for Socialism and a part of that fight includes the destruction of America as we know it.  There are other groups and individuals on the far edges of political ideology who believe that America as we know it – the “system” – must be destroyed.  They are more than happy to use moments of racial tension and identity divides to further their cause.  But, be very clear, their cause is not the cause of Black civil rights.  It is not the cause of George Floyd’s family.  It is not the cause of Americans of any color.

The problem here is that we have people who are not thinking.  The Left, the Democrats, the anti-Trumpers, the media all condemn our President for simply enforcing the laws of our country – for supporting our system and our way of life.  Indeed, many would destroy him along with the buildings and the “system.” 

There have always been people who hate America.  There always will be.  But this group, with the help of the media and a lack of solid education in critical thinking (yes, our education system could definitely use improvement), this group of people bent on the very real destruction of America seems to have gained a critical mass.  Using George Floyd’s murder as their match, these people have begun to set America on fire.  They are co-opting the legitimate grievances of sincere people and groups and using them to fan the flames of that fire.  And many, out of lack of understanding about what is going on, are letting themselves be used and are indeed standing by if not encouraging the destruction of our country. 

Some will cheer and say this is a good thing.  I will not.  I do not know which side will win.  But I do know that this hatred, this destructiveness, this lack of respect for all that is not you, this need to have every hurt one suffers blamed upon another who then becomes a target for hatred, revenge, and retribution, this is in large part the result of identity politics. 

It does not look like it today, but we are indeed one America with far more in common than not.  We all know that our form of government is great but not perfect and if we were not urged to perpetuate our hatred we could work together to improve rather than destroy our “system.”  But first we must see people as people.  We must see individuals and not mere cardboard cutout representatives of some group we have been taught to hate. 

And that is the long answer to how I would “change the system.”  I would not.  And I would not let individual issues with our “system” be co-opted for its destruction.  

In essence we need to reset ourselves.  We need to say NO I am not and you are not simply a one dimensional label of one or another identity group.  You are a human being and I am a human being and we each may fit within any number of identity labels, but we are yet more beyond that.  And we will not judge and hate because of some label that is placed upon you or me.  

More importantly, we must not allow others to co-opt our identity and our individuality to fuel the fires of hatred started to further someone else’s power.  We must all proclaim:  I will not destroy but I will work to improve – my life, your life, and the “system.”