Dancing With the Devil: The November Elections

What do you think will happen if Donald Trump is reelected President? What do you think the outcome would be should Joe Biden win in November? Given the derisive climate we are living in, those are two questions we need to seriously think about. In fact, in a October 2019 Georgetown University poll, almost 68% of those surveyed said that we are quickly heading for a second civil war. That's a scary prospect folks.

The first civil war was the bloodiest war ever fought by this country. Some 620,000 died with another million or so either missing, wounded, or dying from their wounds or disease. About 420,000 died in World War II; 58,000 died in Vietnam. Given the size of our population and today's technology, can you imagine what the death toll could be? Ghastly would be an gross understatement, especially when you consider that we have a much higher percentage of people who are considered seniors, in nursing homes, or requiring medical care of some sort than at any time in our history who would affected.

Nevertheless, let's briefly consider the two scenarios. Ever since Trump's election in 2016, the establishment media has been waging a political assassination campaign against him. At every turn they have been trying to find some way to discredit or remove him, be it claiming Russian collusion, insider deals and bribery, to falsified "leaks" and whatever else you can think of.

The Democrats have been trying to undermine him at every term. The contempt individuals like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and a myriad of others have for Trump is palpable to the point of being embarrassing. Even prominent Republicans have been critical of the president, violating Ronald Reagan's old political maxim, "Thou Shall Not Criticize A Fellow Republican". Loyalty is a fickle thing in politics.

Meanwhile, since the 2016 election, there has been growing street violence. Groups like Antifa have been using old style "Brownshirt" street fighting to attack anything or anyone who disagrees with them. BLM, which started off seeking social justice for black individuals, has morphed into a radicalized Left wing political group more akin to Antifa than not. Other, even more radical groups, including several militia-like organizations which threaten violence have started forming.

In addition, a new Left formed on college campuses, social media, and elsewhere. Their goal is to deny, wherever possible, the opposition an opportunity to speak. They have attacked speakers (including those who had been invited to speak), trashed stores which sell anything opposing their views. They have harass individuals on social media in an attempt to silence them while going after subscribers, commenters, or even advertisers who support them. Freedom of speech for some but not all.

Since March, the violence has increased due to the deaths of several black individuals resulting from police shootings. Most of these incidents are still under investigation, but the tone has been set---charge them or the city will burn, which carries the obvious implication that their guilt and conviction should be foregone conclusions. So much for a fair trial.

Former 2016 Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has already publicly stated that should Trump win, Biden is to, under no circumstance, accept the results. Hillary has stated that they will need additional time to "ensure" that all votes are counted, which could take months. Presumably, this means they'll all be properly---and legally---counted before January. This brings up another issue, the votes themselves.

Because of the COVID-19 virus, many locales are encouraging mail-in voting. Of course, this creates the opportunity for all sorts of mischief such as lost ballots, altered ballots, disallowed ballots, or maybe even the dead voting! For those who "insist" on voting in person, this will likely be made as inconvenient as possible.

Traditional polling places will be closed and people will be herded into large buildings to vote amid constant reminders of the dangers of COVID-19. That may be enough to keep a lot of people home. As Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin once said, "It doesn't matter who votes. It only matters who counts the votes". Ole Uncle Joe knew what he was talking about.

So, Trump wins, then what? At first, not much. The media will downplay it and point to the votes yet to be manufactured...err...counted. However, as days drag into weeks, the patience on both sides will wear thin. There will be an increasing number of confrontations; many of them violent. When it becomes obvious that either Trump still wins or that fraud is afoot, that's when gloves will come off quickly.

The Far Left will go all out. There will be no middle ground. No compromise. There will be violence in the streets, be it cities, the towns, or the suburbs. The media will censor much of it as it has thus over the past several months. The economy, already hobbled by COVID-19, will largely come to a screeching halt (except possible online). It will be simply too dangerous for many people to go out.

There could be blackouts as electrical substations are attacked. Water purification plants could be attacked as well. Hospitals and pharmacies could be periodically attacked. In short, think Beirut. Read up on or watch videos about the "Color Revolutions" in Eastern Europe or the "Arab Spring" to get a good idea of what to expect.

Meanwhile, expect to see local police set up at key locations, especially major streets and expressways which will be subject to roving roadblocks by protestors. The state police will be out in force (most of them deputized as federal marshals). The National Guard will be out too. As looting and riots increasing, "shoot to kill" orders will be issued. Some states may even tell their citizens to move to certain secure areas or be prepared to defend themselves best as they can. It like literally look like a war zone.

After a few weeks of this, many of the least committed on both sides will start to settle down, leaving only the most extreme (of which there will still be plenty), but a general sense of normalcy will slowly evolve. Ultimately, Trump may be forced to resign "for the good of the country" in what will be a thinly veiled coup staged by his own party. An interim "caretaker" President will be installed. The media will hail it as brilliant statesmanship but everyone will see it for what it really is. The ruling Oligarchs of the Corporatocracy will use the chaos to restore order and everything else to their liking.

We will enter a long period of "normalization" which is code for protracted martial law. Various rights will be "temporarily" suspended for our "own good". Of course, we will never see those rights ever again, at least not in the same form. The New Order will begin. "Your papers if you would please".

What if it goes the other way and Biden wins? What happens then? You will immediately see the corporate media proclaim a "mandate by the people". There will be an immediate demand that Trump concede regardless of the status of mail-in ballots. They will want to secure the election as quickly as possible to avoid any delays or possible dispute of the results.

You will see the Left go bat shit wild. Yes, there will be massive celebrations in the streets, but in conjunction with these there will a great of celebratory violence with the usual vandalism, burnings, and lootings. On a slightly deeper level, you'll see Leftist groups start going after those who supported Trump and the Republicans (with the exception of large donors who just as likely donated to Biden and the Democrats).

Meanwhile, the Far Right will cry "foul" and take to the streets. Voting locations will be quickly secured by not just police but also by Right wing groups. There could be direct clashes with the Left while the small conservative media eggs them on. Indirectly you could see demand from all quarters of the Right for an immediate recount. Lawyers will file their previously prepared briefs to bring the whole process to a halt. Again, the economy would be affected through fear of potential violence.

As before, the local and federally deputized state police will be out in force along with the National Guard. The Democrats will assert the legitimacy of the election while the Right---conservatives and Republicans---will demand a recount first. Ultimately, martial law will be imposed under the pretext of restoring order and normalization, thus ushering in a New Order.

It's highly possible that during the chaos, that there is a massive wave of illegal immigrants, be they from Latin America, Asia, or the Middle East (especially terrorists hiding among the influx). This surge could overwhelm already strained social safety nets of cities and states throughout the nation but mainly in the southwest, Oregon, and Washington State.

Hostile foreign powers could use the chaos to make whatever nefarious move they've been harboring such an invasion of South Korea by the North, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, a possible toppling of the government in Iraq by pro-Iranians, or attack on Israel by Iranian backed terrorists.

Of course, any combination of the above could potentially happen. It's also possible that aside from a few protests or minor riots, a bit of looting, and some political posturing that not much of anything happens. That's the best case scenario I think. However, it's more likely that the post-November election will bring about a new course for America, whether it's a more polite form of corporate fascism from the Right or a more direct form from the Left. "How do take your revenge my dear---sweet or bitter?"

One of the things which has made the American Experiment so unique in history has been the peaceful transition of power. Given America's deep divide, fanned by the corporate media, this election will put the American Experiment to its toughest test to date. As long as we remain divided, only the Corporatocracy will win. In a "winner take all" electoral system, sometimes the losers are the weepers.

The Impeachment of Donald Trump and What it Means for America

The Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, have been trying since day one to smear Trump's character as much as possible. It's been all about making him look ridiculous and destroying the country's faith in him. Naturally, the media has gone along hand-in-glove with their efforts. After all, Trump was the outsider who wasn't suppose to have won. There have even been Republicans who, at least behind the scenes, have been supporting the Democrats efforts as well. Of course, Trump hasn't helped his cause thanks to his tendency to speak out, often at the wrong time or wrong place.

The reality is that this is all about power, wealth, and its control. It reminds me of two mafia families locked into combat over a situation not of their making and wanting to get back to business as usual, and yet, the situation has presented each with an opportunity to acquire more power at the other side's expense. It always comes down to turf doesn't it? It doesn't hurt that you have Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House acting like the "don" of the Democrats. She's about as much of an insider as you can get. On the other side is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the "capo dei capi" of the GOP. Both remind me of Bond villains straight out of central casting.

In the middle is Donald Trump. A tough New York real estate mogul, business entrepreneur, and "reality show" boss with the ultimate catchphrase, "You're fired!". He's the "chairman of the board" as it where. Pelosi believes that in the political world, no one is above her. McConnell controls the Senate, known the world over as the "most exclusive club on the planet". He's a master politician too. Both play the long game. Pelosi would love to "fire" Trump, and in doing so, hurt the GOP. McConnell will protect his party's control of the Senate at any cost and would gladly weaken Pelosi's control of the House.

At stake is ensuring that President Trump is a one term president; an aberration. A fluke who stumbled into power on the wave of mass public discontent of the government; a government operating openly under the control of the Oligarchy; the only ones who truly deserve to rule, or so they believe. Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump, was to be the "first among equals" of this Plutocratic driven triumvirate. Meanwhile, the changes imposed by Trump have to be deflected or stopped before he undoes everything they've worked for. But one thing is for sure. The likes of a Donald Trump will never be allowed to become president ever again.

In 2016, the Presidential race was to be between one of the pre-vetted Republicans and Hillary Clinton. It really didn't matter who on the Republican side as long as they had been rubber stamped by the party bosses and the Oligarchs. On the Democrat side, Hillary was to be nominated. While Bernie Sanders was never a serious threat, he could not be allowed to be seen as a serious challenger...or a serious candidate. The media would handle the latter part while Hillary and the DNC Chairperson, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, ensured that the Democrat primaries were fixed. The "fix" extended all the way into the Democratic Convention where Sander supporters were all but shut out.

However, no one was counting on a Donald Trump. He was brash, a bit condescending, and arrogant. He was outspoken, seen as an American success story, a master showman, tough, and was quite wealthy. He was also a household name thanks to the "Go-Go" 80's which created modern day robber barons like Carl Ichan, T. Boone Penkins and other corporate raiders, "greed is good" movies and books, "Alex P Keeton", and Robin Leach! The public couldn't get enough of "The Donald".

But most of all, Donald Trump understood the frustration of ordinary Americans. He knew how to turn a phrase...and stage a show. Most of all, he didn't need the support of party bosses. He could fund his own campaign so he didn't need the financial backing of the Oligarchs; and he could buy his own media coverage. To the ruling elite, Donald Trump was one of their own who had turned on them. They did their best to ridicule him; calling him a "clown" or the "the circus". They tried to ignore him or whatever they could to marginalize him, but the more they did, the more the people wanted more Trump. While other candidates could barely fill convention rooms, "The Donald" was filling whole stadiums.


The "Empress and the Fool". That was how the race between Hillary and Trump was characterized by the media. The power players from around the world lined up to donate billions to the Clinton Foundation's "pay-to-play" scheme as they had when she was Secretary of the State in what they believed was a sure thing, but now the payoff would be bigger. Never mind the fact that she wasn't connecting with voters, not like Bill Clinton had years earlier. Never mind the skeletons which continued to tumble out of her closet, her brazen lying to Congress and willful destruction evidence, her sense of entitlement, her strange and erratic behavior, nor that cold, contemptible, and calculating arrogance.

There too was the Democratic Primary. If she was the "darling of the Left", why was it necessary to rig the results? Was it to avoid the appearance of a serious challenger in Bernie Sanders or was it his message that she and others were so afraid of? Perhaps worse yet was her acceptance from Donna Brazile, the new DNC Chairman who had replaced her co-conspirator, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a copy of the questions to be used in the final presidential race? This act alone showed two things. The first was Hillary's "above the law" attitude. The other was her fear of losing. All in all, it helped to expose all those things which Americans abhorred in its leaders.

What this impeachment is all about is ensuring that another Donald J. Trump never happens again. The first order of business is to destroy the one they currently have to a degree that the moniker of an "outsider" will turnoff voters for years to come. It must be made to be the equivalent of "amateur" or "inexperienced". People will clamor for the "professional" politician as the only "safe" choice, which can only mean someone from one of the two corporate owned political "mafia-like" families.

I fully believe that, as the pontificating in the Senate continues and the media spin machine churns away, the real business of ensuring that a Trump never happens again. The cost of campaigns are already far beyond what ordinary citizens can afford. Primaries are dogmatic purity litmus tests and serve to expose and eliminate any true reformers. You can say it. You just can't mean it.

Media coverage is carefully controlled in both content and in access. The tightly regimented bureaucratic partisan system of committees, whips, and funding effectively prohibits any rare "loose cannons" and keeps everyone in line. Partisan gerrymandering allows the parties to select voters instead of voters selecting their representatives. The absence of term limits all but guarantees uninterrupted power for as long as the incumbent wants it. Even the old Soviet Politburo saw more turnover than we currently have!

Besides, this doesn't even take into account illegal immigration, the passing of tax or rate increases by unelected bureaucrats, attempts to restrict or rescind our Second Amendment right, a militarized police, unwarranted search and seizure of our property, gathering of our private information and the creation of electronic dossiers by government agencies, total corporate financial control of parties and politicians or corporate lobbyists writing public legislation, massive corporate welfare, the media as the propaganda arms the elites.

It does this take into account the corporate/government revolving door or the use of our military to enforce joint corporate/government foreign policy objectives. The military is to protect this nation from foreign threats, not secure foreign assets or resources for profit. If our Founding Fathers could see this, I think they would have simply paid that damn tea tax and walked away.

We can't forget that collusion between both parties, the media, and with the blessing of the Oligarchy has all but excluded third parties and Independents from the political process, even though Indies represent the single largest political voting bloc and continues to grow while the registration for both the Republicans and Democrats continue to shrink. Not exactly "equal representation" now is it?

These aren't things which "could be". These are things which already are. These are the things which have destroyed our democratic republic. Trump was seen as someone who could, at least, restore some of that republic and its former glory. This is what the elites---the Oligarchy and their willing puppets in Washington---want to see continue, and that means ensuring that no one like a Donald Trump ever again is elected to a position of power. No one again must ever threaten the status quo. This is the other half of the impeachment story which isn't being told, nor is it ever likely to be.




How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy

Is American Becoming an Oligarchy?


Elizabeth Warren and Donna Brazile both now agree that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged


10 ways the Democratic primary has been rigged from the start


Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC


Donna Brazile finally admits she shared debate questions with Clinton campaign

Do You Trust the Government?

With the Presidential election cycle, among others, starting to heat up, now would be a good to time to ask yourself, "do you trust the government?". As we all know, we're no longer a democratic Republic as originally intended by our Founding Fathers. Instead, we've become a defacto Oligarchy whereby government and the super-wealthy (along with their global corporations) work in tandem to the point where are interests are overlooked (or better, ignored) approximately 99% of time according to some surveys (at best, our interests are addressed only about 10% of the time). So, what do you think, how much faith do you have in government?

According to a recent Gallup Poll, the overwhelming majority of Americans have little or no faith in government regardless of which of the two corporate owned party holds sway. As of late January 2019, only 10% of those polled indicated that they had faith in government. 31% said they had a "fair amount" while 57% had little or no confidence whatsoever.
Let me tell you, in practically every other country on this planet those numbers would be a near guaranteed that a massive revolt or revolution was about to happen. These type of results would have most government leaders shopping around for a nice place to spend in exile somewhere.

In terms of domestic policy, 63% of the population believes government can't be trusted to get it right. Think about for a minute. 63% of Americans, regardless of party, ideology, gender, age, religion or whatever have no faith in Washington's ability to deal with the issues which directly affects us each and every day. Yet, for some mysterious reason we keep falling for their same old repackaged ideas and "solutions".

In looking specifically at the different branches of government, we find that as of the end of 2018 (the most recent result) there's not much difference. 59% of the American People have little or no confidence in Congress. Of course, the approval rating for Congress has been dismal for decades; sometimes barely making it out of single digits! As for the Judicial Branch, which includes not just the federal courts, but the "unSupreme" Court as well, it's much better. 68% actually trust either a lot or a fair amount the Judicial Courts.

To get a balance perspective, I checked with Pew Research to see what they showed. The poll I looked at was the most comprehensive on trust in government from 1958 through 2015. According to them, just 19% of citizens have any trust in government. Yikes! By comparison, they number was 80% in 1963 under President John Kennedy's Administration. My how things have changed.

Pew also broke the trust factor down by party. It found that just 26% of the Democrats and Republicans trust the federal government. Given that it's largely a problem of partisan making, it's a little surprising that the figure was so low. As an aside Independents distrust the government about 70% of the time (conservative leaning is about 71% while liberal leaning is roughly 67%).

If we look at other factors like age or race, we find that younger voters (mainly Millennials and Gen Z, both of which having shown support for socialism) trust the federal more than older voters---27% among 30 and under; 19% for those 31 to 49; and 15% for those 50 and over. So while the younger generation trusts government more, the numbers are far from stellar.

Among whites in general, a mind-boggling 84% either have little to no trust in Washington. Blacks distrust the federal government by a margin of 77% to 23%. For Hispanics (many of whom having come from totalitarian regimes) 69% have little or no faith in government. These are staggering numbers; the kind of which that indicate a fundamentally flawed societal foundation of the kind you would expect to see of a nation in a "death spiral". Historically speaking, few countries have been able to survive numbers like these and emerge unchanged to their core.

As an interesting aside, those with a post-graduate degree have any trust in the government about 23% of the time. That means among the academic professionals (professors, doctors, lawyers, etc) 76% have little or no faith in Washington. Those with a Bachelor or Masters degree have an even lower opinion. 80% of them keep their hand on their wallet when Washington comes knocking. Finally, individuals with a High School diploma, GED, or less trust government just 19% said they had any faith in the federal government.

Finally, I wanted to look at the approval rating of each of the institutions I mentioned starting with President Trump. As of the first two weeks of July 2019, Trump's approval rating stood at 44%. Obama's average for his first term was 49%, so despite all the "fake news" being manufactured by the corporate owned media, Trump isn't doing too bad (the average for all Presidents is 53%).

As for Congress, through the first two weeks of July 2019, their disapproval rating stood at 76%. Lastly, the Supreme Court. Rasmussen, which had the latest polling results of the high court, found that 60% of those surveyed approval of their decisions. Meanwhile, 40% said that the ideological balance was about right with 24% saying it's too liberal and 36% saying it was too conservative.

The poll also broke down the responses by political affiliation and race as well. It found that 77% of Republicans approved of the Supreme Court's decisions along with 57% of Democrats and 50% of Independents. 64% of whites agreed as well as 52% of Hispanics and 51% of blacks. Interestingly, the poll also revealed that Justice Ruth Ginsberg was the most popular member of the court while Justice Brett Kavanaugh had a higher name recognition, albeit only slightly.

Einstein once famously remarked that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Are the American People insane or are we just that easily duped by propaganda. Maybe we're just lazy. The US Office of Strategic Services made the following observation about Adolf Hitler their psychological profile of the Nazi leader, "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it". You could apply that same description to describe how both of the political parties as well as the corporate media acts vis-à-vis it relationship with the American People. I guess someone was paying attention after all.

So what do you think? With numbers like these (which, by the way, have been long trending), why do we keep voting in the same crooks and charlatans time and again? We know they are lying just as we know they have no intention of representing us. We know or should know that it was our actions (or inactions as the case may be) has led to the loss of our Republic.

The American People should understand by now that we need term limits; that we must end political gerrymandering; that at least at the state level, we need voter ballot initiatives and referendums and that we, the taxpayers, should have the final say on rate, tax, and salaries increases. It's our money and Lord knows that politicians can't be trusted with money. We also must remove Citizens United and get unlimited corporate money out of politics as well as end the revolving door between government, Wall Street, and E Street where is the lair for lobbyists. By the way, 80% of voters oppose Citizens United.

Until we do these things, we will continue to become bystanders to a government which was supposed to represent you and I regardless of our political leanings. In the absence of action by us, the voters and citizens of this country, money will fill the void. Lastly, if you have any doubts, I encourage you to check out the links below. We have to act.



Politicians Don't Actually Care What Voters Want

Trust in Government

Trust in government: 1958 - 2015


Presidential Approval Ratings--Donald Trump

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

0% Approve of Supreme Court Performance; Plurality Believes Ideological Balance About Right

Citizens United Poll: 80 Percent of Americans Oppose Supreme Court Decision

Reparations: Sins of the Father or Simple Extortion?

It seem that the issue of reparations is one of the subjects which never quite goes away. However, it hasn't been until just fairly recent that it's been seriously considered. It was most recently raised as an issue in the recent 2020 Democratic Presidential debates with several candidates coming out in favor of some form of compensation for what transpired more than a century and a half ago. But first, some history.

Representative John Conyers (D-MI) proposed a bill (HR 40) every single year, starting in 1989 until he resigned in 2017 that addressed the issue of reparation. In 2016, a United Nations' committee, the "Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent", urged the US Congress to re-examine HR 40 and to pass it. They pointed out that there is a lingering legacy of racial discrimination, resulting from slavery and Jim Crow laws which continues to "negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights" of black Americans.

Rep. Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rouke (D-TX), Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) all support some form of compensation while Rep Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has already reintroduced HR 40, of which she is a co-sponsor, to formally set up a committee to review the possibility of reparations. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders (D-VT) has said that while he favors some type of compensation, added that there has to be a better way than "writing a check".

Back in 1999, black activist, lawyer, and founder of an black advocacy organization called "Transafrica", Randall Robinson, stated that as a result of riots, lynchings and institutional discrimination, has cost blacks incurred $1.4 trillion dollars in damages. Dr. Robert Browne, an economist and black activist, also stated that every black individual in America should be entitled to around $142,000 each. He argued that reparations were justified in order to "restore the black community to the economic position it would have if it had not been subject to slavery and discrimination". As an aside, while Dr. Browne proposed $142,000 per person or roughly $1.4 to 4.7 trillion , others have estimated that the total amount owed is as much as $17.1 trillion.

Also in 1999, the "African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission" demanded that West pay African nations $777 trillion dollars within five years (obviously that didn't happen). In 2001, the UN sponsored the "World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance". The result was a statement calling on the West to pay Africa compensation resulting from the slave trade. It was also stated that Africa's current economic problems are the result of the slave trade.

Starting in 2007, various politicians in the Caribbean have joined the fray and demanded that the West pony up with some form of reparation because of the slave trade. This also applied to the former colonial nations such as the UK, France, and Holland. Today, 15 Caribbean nations have demanded that the US and European nations provide some form of financial compensation as well as repatriation to Africa. In addition, they have demanded free educational programs to teach individuals about Africa's cultural and religious heritage as well as to provide free medical and mental health care to all those of African descent.

While there's no doubt that the black community in America was severely affected by slavery and the subsequent era of Jim Crow, we have to ask ourselves whether or not the black community has already been compensated by various changes in the laws down through the years, and whether the US Government is fully responsible. We should also address whether other groups may be entitled to some form of compensation as well. There are also other factors such as whether every black American is, in fact, a descendant from a slave and what about the ongoing issue of slavery in today's world.

Before we examine these demands, we need to acknowledge the fact that slavery has been a part of the human condition practically from the beginning of civilization. In the majority of the world's religious texts (such as the Christian Bible, the Jewish Talmud, and the Muslim Koran), slavery is not only condoned, but there are even specific requirements imposed on both the slave and their owner.

In this "New World" the notion of slavery came along with the earliest explorers; the Italians, French, Dutch, English, and Spanish. It was simply part of the society's mindset. However, it just wasn't the Europeans. It was common throughout the Middle East, Asia, and even in Africa. In fact, it still today occurs in these regions. Even in the Americas, slavery was just as institutionalize among the native populations as anywhere else. So, not only did Europeans take slaves, so did the native peoples who had so for centuries. Let's also not forget, that the slaves who were shipped to America and elsewhere were captured by other African tribes and taken to seaports to be sold to the slave traders, some of whom were Europeans while the majority of them were Arab who resold them.

It should be pointed out that in addition to slavery, there was the condition known as a "indentured slavery" or "indentured servitude" which was barely one step removed from actual slavery. The only real difference between the two was that an indentured servant had a signed contract which legally ended his misery, often with the promise of perhaps a certain sum of money or piece of land after a period of time (another difference was that the contract was, technically, entered into voluntarily, although in truth, there was really no other alternative except starvation).

However, the work and living conditions was often so brutal, that many never reached term of their contract. As an aside, the holder of the contract sometimes lied about the time served so that someone who agreed to work for 10 years may, in reality, have actually worked 12 or 13 years. In addition, there were those who were sold into a form of indentured servitude which had no expiration date. This was particularly common among the poor Irish, Welsh, and Scots, and among those who didn't speak or understand English (this happened to a couple of my ancestors).

Prior to the Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783), Great Britain was the largest slave trade nation in the world thanks to its navy; surpassing the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and Italians. During the war, all of the colonies agreed to suspend the importation of slaves from any country for the duration of the war. After the war, the Southern States gradually began to resume the importation.

On March 24, 1794, Congress passed the Slave Trade Act, which prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship used in the trade of slaves. This essentially limited the practice to foreign ships. The importation of slaves ended in the United States in 1808, which was the earliest date allowed by the Constitution. In 1800, the Slave Trade Act prohibited any investment in by private citizens in the trade, as well as employment of any US citizens on foreign ships engaged in the transportation of slaves. As a side note, Parliament passed a law in 1807 prohibiting the slave trade within the British Empire. It should also be noted that the West--Europe and America-- were the first to abolish the institution of slavery while it contained to thrive in the rest of the world.

Although mostly a popular myth, many believe that the American Civil War was fought over the sole issue of slavery. In truth, the bloodiest war in American history was fought over a variety of issues, mostly economic, of which slavery was just a part. It's worth noting that in the South, only around 5% or less of the total population owned any slaves (the average was three, whereby their owner often worked side by side with them. The stereotypical plantation owners made up just around 2% of population).

Nevertheless, the issue of slavery came to forefront with Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" following the carnage at Gettysburg. While President Lincoln had previously stated on several occasions that he would not interfere with institution of slavery provided that it preserve the union, the battle at Gettysburg drove home the point that war would drag on indefinitely so long as the South's economy continued to hold.

Thus, his famous address was aimed at undercutting the South by (illegally) freeing the slaves throughout those states which had seceded from the Union (but not those states which remained). It wasn't until the passage of the 13th Amendment in December 1865 that the institution of slavery officially end in the US. It was also the first of the Reconstruction Amendments to be adopted following the war's end. What eventually followed was a series of so-called "Jim Crows" throughout many of the former Confederate states. These were all ultimately ruled unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Movement was instrumental in making this happen.

The Civil Rights Movement got its start in the mid 1950's, but really took off in the early 1960's thanks to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, A. Randolph Scott, Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young, Bayard Rustin, and Reverend Ralph Abernathy, along with others such as the "Freedom Riders, which included a number of whites. However, there could have been no progress without the support of key political leaders including Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, along with a majority of Republican Congressional leaders and a large segment of Congressional Democrats (who were strongly opposed by Southern "Dixiecrats").

In short, the Civil Rights movement was lead by black leaders but supported by powerful politicians, resulting in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, the creation of the EEOC, Affirmative Action, and other programs, agencies, and laws down through the years aimed at ending inequality. In addition, there was the introduction of various programs designed to relieve poverty (such as the Community Action Agency), urban renewal which was implemented to revitalize decaying inter cities, low interest loans and professional assistance from retired business leaders to help create and support minority businesses, not to mention obtaining government contracts. We've also saw the creation of the NAACP, the Urban League, among others.

Meanwhile, states have continued to pour millions of taxpayer dollars into education for minority (predominately black) schools and after-school programs. Some of these have been successful, while others such as court ordered desegregation (aka forced busing) have been less so. Nevertheless, there are now dozens of avenues available to young black Americans obtain access to higher education (including minority only scholarships and apprenticeships), and launching new minority owned businesses (Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics also have programs solely aimed at their particular demographic).

In terms of culture, the black experience is alive and vibrant! There are numerous highly successful black entertainers (Oprah Winfrey, Samuel L Jackson, Lawrence Fishburne, and Morgan Freeman immediately come to mind). There are black only award shows, magazines like Ebony and Jet, television networks and TV shows as well as radio stations dedicated to the black community, not to mention musical genres as well as movies made by black producers and directors and directed at black audiences. This includes the NAACP Image Award, Black Reel Awards, BET Awards, Miss Black America, AAFCA, and many more. There are even books written specifically for a black readership.

The fashion industry has its own niche in the black American marketplace. There are professional associations and awards for the black professional. It's not uncommon to see specialty shops aimed at the black customer, or Hispanic and Asian for that matter. The same goes for the Hispanic and Asian communities. I need to point out that while these are aimed exclusively at their racial or ethnic community, they also participate in mainstream programs which are not race or ethnic group oriented such as the Oscars, People's Choice Awards, MTV Music Awards, and have achieved great success.

In other areas such as sports, black athletes have done amazingly well, not just in terms of their athletic performance, but also in terms of their salaries and endorsements. Black politicians have also done extremely well in this country at all levels of government...including the presidency and Supreme Court. There are black oriented churches such as the AME Methodist. I would be remiss not to point out that mixed race couples, while not the societal norm, are also not uncommon.

Lastly, I should point out that the Latino and Asian communities share many, if not most of these same professional, social/cultural, and economic outlets which cater to their specific demographic, the white community does not. Instead, they share the stage with these other groups who, as I previously stated, participate in both the broader arena as well as their own demographic specific outlet (but, of course, we're not suppose to mention this).

So, while there remains some race oriented problems (and perhaps there will always be), racism is not the issue the corporate owned media tries to make it out to be. Much of it, I dare say, is manufactured or played up. Other issues such as poverty continue to exist, but it is not and has never been the result of race only. On a personal note, I believe, as Dr King once said, that a person should be judged by content of their character, not the color of their skin. In terms of education, the door is wide open to anyone who wants to put forth the effort to take advantage of the opportunity. The same goes for starting a business or moving up the corporate ladder. As a side note, it should be pointed that to disagree with the accepted narrative these days will often earn you the moniker of "racist", whether justified or not.

Where does that leave us? I think the black community has come a long way. It's possible for any black child to go anywhere and to achieve anything their racial opposite can achieve, provided they are willing to put forth the same effort. To expect to be handed everything on a silver plate is not only naive, but even insulting, not just to the rest of America, but to the black community itself. It's like they're saying the black man or woman is incapable of making it on their own, so let's, as a society, do it for them. I think society has done much to provide the black community with the opportunities it needs to succeed which is in itself reparation enough.

For those "demanding" some sort of financial payment, I think they're simply looking for a handout while making another excuse for their own continued failures. By promising "free money" in order to enlarge the number of their accomplices behind the facade of "slavery" they've revealed themselves for the con artists they are. I think much of what has held back black success has come from within the black community itself such as a subculture that academic achievement is seen as "acting white", or the prevalence of drugs, booze, and gangs, unstable homes and broken families with absent fathers.

Finally, perhaps the best "reparation" is the fact that their distant ancestors end up in the United States of America where they have a far better quality of life and more opportunities than they would have if their ancestors had remained in Africa. They say that success is the best revenge. Maybe success is the best form of reparations too.


Reparation for slavery

Reparations For Slavery: Just More Symbolism over Substance

Initiatives Help African American Entrepreneurs Gain Training and Access To Capital

Black America Net: Black Award Shows