Category: Social Behavior

Racism is alive and well in America

Racism is alive and well in America. That includes “liberal” California.

A high school ended its football season after a racist posting “Kill the Blacks” was found on a chat site by administrators at Amador High School in Sutter Creek. That is a community in the Sierra foothills not far from Sacramento. Last week, the football team of another high school near Sacramento, River Valley in Yuba City, forfeited its season after a video showed several players staging a reenactment of a “slave auction.” And last spring at another Sacramento-area high school, Oak Ridge, a football player reportedly taunted a Black soccer player with “ape sounds” during a match.

In Los Angeles three Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council and a top county labor official held a conversation last fall that included racist remarks, derisive statements about their colleagues and council President Nury Martinez saying a white councilman handled his young Black son as though he were an “accessory,” according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by the Los Angeles Times and reported on local television news programs. There are calls for Martinez to resign.

I have no solution. Hate of others will not end no matter how so many of us try to stop those that are taught to hate.

Is the American Democracy Coming to an End?

A Trump supporter attends the former president’s rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

Too many Americans believe that elections are fixed. That is a problem for the survival of the American democracy.

In a survey by The Washington Post of 19 of the most closely watched statewide races in the country, the contrast between Republican and Democratic candidates was stark. While seven GOP nominees committed to accepting the outcomes in their contests, 12 either refused to commit or declined to respond. On the Democratic side, all 19 nominees contacted by The Post said they would accept the outcome.

President Joe Biden gave a speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 1, 2022 about democracy in America. In that speech he said

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people.” 
 
“They refuse to accept the results of a free election.  And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”

The Washington Post survey proves that many GOP candidates are in opposition to the idea of winners and losers in every election. That should frighten everyone. It frightens me.

The British Soap Opera

The British soap opera was on full display today. If no one was watching none of this would be happening. But the soap opera has great TV ratings.

https://cdn.cnn.com/…/220917131038-01-queen…

Prince William, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II’s other grandchildren held a vigil at her lying in state on Saturday, as the royal family prepares to bid farewell to the late monarch at her state funeral.

The brothers stood watch for 15 minutes over the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall, where it has been displayed to the public since Wednesday.

They were joined by Princess Anne’s children Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, Prince Andrew’s daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Lady Louise and Viscount Severn, who are the children of Prince Edward. The Earl and Countess of Wessex were present to support their children as Louise and James are comparatively younger than their cousins, a royal source told CNN.

To Hell with the Proletariat

In Les Misérables, author Victor Hugo criticizes the injustices of the nineteenth century. Issues such as women’s rights, intergenerational conflict, cruelty of the justice system, and the failure of society’s institutions are all discussed in the novel, which is still resonate.

I have a four year degree from CSUN (California State University Northridge) in the San Fernando Valley.  The first two years of my college experience was at a community college.  The cost was $6.50 per semester.  The two years at CSUN coast $42 per semester.  The cost of a college degree was affordable for everyone.

I know, it was a long time ago but what happened?  Why did the cost at the community college grow to $1238 per semester? CSUN now costs $7,064. I am not reporting on the cost of books or the cost or the cost of room and board.

It is no surprise that college attendance has resulted in high student debt. Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. Federal support has not kept up: Pell Grants once covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third. That has left many students from low- and middle-income families with no choice but to borrow if they want to get a degree. According to a Department of Education analysis, the typical undergraduate student with loans now graduates with nearly $25,000 in debt. 

This country refuses to help its youth obtain a college education. Sean Hannity: “We have a lot of young people that work on my TV show, they’re not making a $125,000. They’re now eligible to get in some cases up to $20,000 and in other cases $10,000. This is New Green Deal radical socialism.”

The Rich don’t care about the rest of us.  The philosophy is to hell with the Proletariat.  After all they are just the working class.

The debt reduction by President Biden is a nice gesture but it does not address the issue of the excessive fees to obtain a degree.

Where was Donald Trump during those four years he was president?     

 

Should AR-15 Weapons be Banned?

The House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill that would ban assault weapons following a summer of deadly mass shootings that reignited calls for increased gun control.

Though the measure passed mostly along party lines, two Republicans and five Democrats broke with their parties on the vote, according to the official tally. 

Assault weapons have been used in numerous mass shootings, including killings this year in Uvalde and Buffalo; Parkland, Florida in 2018; Las Vegas in 2017; and Newton Conn. in 2012.

Among the the five Democrats who voted No was Vicente Gonzalez of Texas. James Rivera, a spokesperson for Gonzalez said “There are tens of millions of assault rifles already in circulation across America, many of them are used by responsible gun owners for hunting in South Texas, and a ban on some of those models will do nothing to reduce overall risks. Our focus should be on keeping guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others.”

There are 20 million AR-15 type weapons in the United States. Do we need more? 

A Demagogue

A political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. “a gifted demagogue with particular skill in manipulating the press”

What is an example of a demagogue?

Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Senator Joseph McCarthy, all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the mob against the moderate, thoughtful customs of the aristocratic elites of their times.

Donald Trump clearly meets the definition. Trump is the 21st century version of McCarthy. It was Joseph Welch finally asked the question of McCarthy: “Have you no decency, sir?” Unfortunately Donald Trump has no decency.

After Roe vs. Wade reversal, a new war between the states

It is accurate to say that the United States is in a period similar to 1850-1860 — the decade that led to the Civil War.  The president in 1850 was Millard Fillmore. By championing the Compromise of 1850 he can be credited with delaying an American civil war for more than a decade. The compromise admitted California as a free state, left Utah and New Mexico to decide for themselves whether to be a slave state or a free state.

The similarities today could not be more apparent.  Each state can now decide whether abortions are legal.  Likely same sex marriage and voting rights laws will also be determined by each state.

The words “a house divided cannot stand” come to mind.  California, Oregon and Washington State see the world through a different lens.  As an example it is clear that California and Texas have little in common. Texans are concerned with an invasion of illegal aliens and California accepts them as if they came to the United States legally.    

Without a civil war perhaps it would be best if we all went our separate ways.