Georgia is Blue!

As an adult learner, I like to consider politics in relative real life terms. The focus of today's election in Georgia is not only turning the state blue for the first time in history, but also turning the House seats and the Senate seats blue too. Shea Roberts, in her second run for a House seat, has uprooted the Sandy Springs incumbent and won her election. Across the state, other former red seats have now turned blue. Is changing really coming? Time will tell. Here's the reality that I see. Everyone in their right mind was ready to do any and all things necessary to remove Trump and his minions out of their respective, high level positions. This means everyone had to band together for the greater good. Let's also consider that here in Georgia there are a lot of people who have migrated here from other states that do not have that like minded southern mentality that has been the controlling mindset for a time. I hope that this is all real. On the other hand, let's play devil's advocate. Let's say the Georgia House turns blue, the Georgia Senate turns blue and the President is blue. The only thing left to consider is whether or not Biden's tax plan will benefit the middle and lower classes as promised or if it won't because even through all the tough talk and midnight tweets, Trump was a business man and with every change he implemented everyone benefited financially due to the trickle down effect. Those are facts. If all turns blue, and Biden's plan doesn't benefit anyone, we've all been lied. Outside of all that, until this weekend with all the protests going on against Trump's loss, it sure has been peaceful outside.

What Social Classes Owe to Each Other

I have been following politics for almost the entirety of my life, and I consider myself a Social Democrat. I have generally aligned myself with the political philosophy of Franklin Roosevelt for a few years. I personally agree with the concept of positivism and a government social intervention when necessary; I think it is the government's responsibility to remedy most inequalities. That is why reading about William Graham Sumner's political philosophy was enlightening. Sumner had a very minimalist subsection of Liberalism. He believed that individual hardship must be remedied by the individuals themself. However, he believed that the government could correct all malicious acts of other/mistakes made by civil institutions. One political issue I have been critical of is raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is an issue that has been brought up by several politicians to help reshape social issues and unequal distributions of wealth. However, I do not believe that raising the minimum wage would be the best way to alleviate this issue. I am just afraid of raising the minimum wage will affect small businesses; I believe that this could cause way more problems than solve them. Only the most wealthy businesses could afford to pay the minimum wage requirement, while the other smaller businesses will be bleeding. Raising the minimum wage may help raise the standard of living, but I can see how it could further the equality between local and big business. One of the best ways to limit inequality, in my opinion, could be through a Universal Basic Income; You address the inequality without hurting smaller businesses. I could see how raising the minimum wage so abruptly can cause more problems than they solve. However, I am open-minded to any differences.

Marching, Protests and Civil Disobedience, oh my!

Living in today's conditions, one may want to consider Thoreau's quote from "Civil Disobedience": "Let your life be a counterfriction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn". I believe this quote is applicable and useful within contemporary America. Acts of civil disobedience are still a viable mechanism of protest. The only thing to consider is that these acts of civil disobedience must be modernized in order to affect any real change. I note, however, the acts of civil disobedience used in today's world often times resort back to outdated tactics which include riots. In this accord, the consequences become too great. Effectively, as a leader, in order to be a counterfriction you have to live a change that is exemplary to those that follow. Specifically, on a small scale but a global platform, parents have to set the example they want their children to live by. Parents must be the change they want to instill in their children. For example, I don't have any children, but I have a 4-year-old nephew/godson who sticks to me like glue. I come from a military family so that structured upbringing is instilled in me. As a result, we are all helping to bring little Roman up in that same light. Talk through miscommunications. Problem solve when there are issues. Always be productive, and always have good manners with the mindset that you were not raised by wolves. These same values could be instilled within American politics if our chosen leaders actually applied those principles in their decision-making processes. On the contrary, American politics is so full of greed and back door dealings in the name of self-preservation that this cannot be accomplished. When considering the family unit, there is no greed to consider because the familial unit will suffer in the long run which is why extended family members have so much dissention between themselves. The immediate family understands the need to be unified even in the face of conflict because it understands to survive they must stick together. Civil disobedience can be a useful tactic, hands down, because when the people are not being represented AT ALL they have a duty to themselves to stand up for what's right. However, it does not go without saying and this saying has stood and will stand to the test of time: It's not what you do, but how you go about doing it.

Why Not Just Say?

I'm sure we're all aware of the indictment that came down on one (1) of the three (3) officers involved in the mruder of Breonna Taylor. He was charged with Wanton Endangerment, and of course, the people of the African American community are outraged. What else is new right? Black people are always mad about something right? Wrong. In this situation, there are activists making a big stink about how unfair the system is. You've got the Attorney General dragging his feet on providing some sort of resolve to calm the general public. You've also got the mass media reporting on this nationally ever since the matter went before the Grand Jury. Here's the problem at hand: the police officers were at Ms. Taylor's apartment looking for an ex-boyfriend to serve a warrant on him as he had provided her address as his place of residence. The police arrive on the scene in the middle of the night and attempt to kick the door in to serve same. As a result, Ms. Taylor's then boyfriend who was laying in bed let off a series of gunshots at the front door. The police returned fire and Ms. Taylor ended up dead. Those are the hard cold facts. The issue is, the people only heard the portion about the police shot and killed Breonna Taylor while trying to serve a warrant at the wrong address. My point, as it relates to this class, is if the media are aware of the facts as they are the ones reporting and leaking information to the general public, why not also just say what the law states. The media could, without having to go over to CNN to listen to a bunch of political pundits, at the same time that they are reporting the information, also relay to the people what the law says. Why not just say the police officer is being charged with Wanton Endangerment because he didn't use caution in returning fire. He just started shooting. Why not just say the police officer didn't identify himself as a police officer before he and his buddies went all guns blazing on that apartment. Why not just say the simplest thing to calm down the uproar? it would make everything so simple.

What are we "fake caring" about today?

What's on my mind today? Local urban comedian, hip hop artist and Instagram personality @lilduval has a saying he normal starts his daily posts off with. He asks "what are ya'll fake caring about today?" What this means is no one cares about a particular issue until a loud enough noise is made about it, but had no one said anything to begin with, it would be business as usual. I say that to say in this week's edition of World News Tonight, you would not believe what story was the headline. It was the case surrounding the murder of Breonna Taylor. For a quick recap, on March 13, 2020, while in the process of serving a No-Knock Warrant at the residence of Ms. Taylor in the middle of the night, Ms. Taylor was shot and killed by the Louisville Police Officers who were serving the warrant. The main issue at hand is the fact that the officers were at the wrong residence to begin with. In perfecting the warrant, Ms. Taylor woke up, approached the door in her pajamas and was killed behind a closed door in her home as the result of gunfire exchange between her boyfriend inside the residence and the police officers at her door. The second issue at hand is the officers who ended up killing her have not been arrested. This is where mass media and politics comes into play. There has been national outrage over this incident and the fact that the police officers have not been held accountable to this day. Come to find out those same police officers were previously involved in what a like to categorize as "botched" warrants. The Black Lives Matters protests have followed her case and African Americans of all platforms, both high and low, have made a stand against the Louisville Police Department's failure to prosecute, fire and arrest those officers involved. Throughout this whole time including all the protests, all the election hooplah and covrage of the ongoing fatal virus, Breonna Taylor's murder has been swept under the rug. The only time the news would really discuss it was in an effort to give context to what a celebrity's shirt or shoes meant. As of Friday however, World News Tonight provided an in depth discussion into her case. Why is World News Tonight fake caring about this case now? It is because Breonna Taylor's case is finally going before a grand jury to be heard after only six (6) short months. FINALLY!!!! They want to talk about it now that the Powers That Be have deemed it a "case". Must've been a slow news day because it's always been a "case".

Words have Meaning . . .

What's on my mind today? In visiting my parents there is always something interesting to watch on the news. Thing is, everyone tires of watching the news because they are always reporting on one bad thing after another, especially in the evening. My parents, however, don't particularly watch the local news. No, on a Friday evening, you can find them tuned in to World News Tonight. On tonight's episode, the highlighted stories revolved around Trump possibly having called soldiers who have been to war and lost "suckers" and "losers", a black man having died after police officers put a bag over his head and then applying a knee hold on his neck, and a Minnesota man who had been trapped for four (4) days in the wilderness when a tree fell on top of him. Of the three (3) stories, my thoughts were they would have opened up with the man trapped for four (4) days, then the murder by yet another group of police officers and Trump's adjectives last. Mass media and politics doesn't work like that. First up was Trump. Rumors are currently circulating that Trump allegedly remarked that soldiers who had died in war were "suckers" and "losers". Trump has no filter, but as uncouth as he is, even I don't believe he would make such a disrespectful statement. In light of the broadcast, my dad and I joked that if he did he sort of sounded like a coach reprimanding their squad after a loss. The point is, even with all the mayhem going on and in some states they have had 100 straight days of protests, because this is an election year, the media is going to report on something the class clown said as if it's really news. That is really something that could have been left for the papers. It really feels like during this election period, broadcasts are made moreso for shock value. Secondly, was the report on the "black man" who was killed during an arrest after the officers put a bag on his head and applied a hold on or around his neck which caused him to suffocate. My first thought was, "When did the media stop referring to African Americans as such"? Mind you, I'm not biased. I am 40 years old and see the world in a broader view than others so in listening I'm not looking to find fault in the language being used. I'm listening to the story being told because there's always more to the story than the sound bites posted on social media. However, in listening, one couldn't help but notice how the anchor would put specific stress on the classification of "black man". It was a bit unsettling for two (2) reasons: 1) Was "black man" being stressed because that is the venacular being used at present as a result of the numerous incidents that have taken place over the last couple of months, i.e. Black Lives Matter; or 2) Was the anchor using his platform to incite anger in those watching because yet another "black man" from their community has been robbed of his life and liberty by the hands of another group of police officers? It's hard to tell, but we all know the media has a way of inciting an uprising. Lastly, we hear of the older gentlemen who had been trapped for four (4) days alone in the wilderness under a tree. Details are not provided as to how the tree fell, but his story of survival consisted of counting in five (5) minute intervals and prayer. A picture is shown of this older caucasian man who was a Vietnam vet. Very soothing story and a good way to close out the broadcast. If you're reading this, I'm sure you can see what I'm laying down here. Words have meaning and the media knows how to turn those words into power for better or for worse.

America: We Have a Problem!

What's on my mind today? Today, I chose a discussion thread on why America is populated with confused people and those who choose to be alienated from politics. It's because they let the problem come in. I'm a movie junkie and just about relate any type of situation to a movie I've seen. Ever seen the movie called "Project X"? There are actually two (2). Strikingly, there are more movies by the same name then you would think. The original Project X is from 1987 which starred Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt who were tasked with monitoring a group of chimps used for military experiments. The Project X relative to our present conundrum was released in 2012. It involves a group of three (3) nerdy, high school kids trying to make a name for themselves who decide to throw an epic house birthday party since the main character's parents are going out of town and he'll have the house all to himself. Problem is one of the friends decides to go overboard with the invite and posted ads on Craigslist and with the local radio station to ensure attendance. As a result, all the kids of Pasadena, CA show up at this kid's house and the party of all parties for 2012 goes down. There's a flame thrower, a garden gnome full of ecstacy that the majority of the kids gets exposed too, a midget who was placed in the oven who goes around punching guys in their lower regions randomly as payback, a wrecked house -- of course --, and the kid's dad's E-Class Mercedes Benz in the bottom of their pool. Utter anarchy and pure pandemonium. The news team had their chopper providing coverage of the party on the news. It was EPIC!!! I actually wanted to be there. Fast forward to the next day when the parents get home. In true movie form, the dad is shocked and proud of his son because OMG look what he did as they stare in disappointment at the Mercedes being lifted by the tow truck out of the pool. The dad didn't think the son had it in him. Meanwhile, the mom hasn't stopped crying since their arrival back to their trashed home. The kid gets punished though. The point is: America with all of its freedoms and liberties and open door policy has become that house party invite. It's so EPIC over here that everyone wanted to come over and they did. Only thing is, there are no parents to come home to punish us and the police can't break it up no matter what they do. The news teams though are definitely providing coverage of all the carnage. If you haven't seen it, definitely check out "Project X". It has a pretty good soundtrack too. You're welcome!