PRIVILEGED AND THE BLIND MAN

 There is no difference between the Privileged and a Blind man eating steak, for no matter how savory, succulent and tasty the meal is, the blind man will never see how the meat is a product of slaughter and butchery. Neither will see this reality upon the first bite nor will either one care. The only interest would be to thank the chef for the time and dedication for its proper preparation. 

 There are many examples of repealed and non-government regulation and its effect on people, communities, society, Nations. The examples exits but are not in the public eye because if it were, Americans would question its principles and morality. The very fact that our private sector is dancing around the World looking for nations to exploit to the level of “pennies per slave” just so that they don’t have to pay Americans a decent wage, benefits for top executives and maintaining a system of trading imaginary capital and empty financial trades is and should be reason enough to stand up and support more Government (People) intervention.  But to do that, you might have to slightly consider the fact that people might have common sense to pay attention to the details.

We can name random countries different in structure and ideology as confusing  and  possessing  corrupt aspects of government, socialist, terrorist or just evil in comparison  with our nation’s Republic  structure; Republicanism at its core, and we can embrace a “free market” with its self-appointed superiority above the principles of equal barter and trade when in truth, it exploits people just as cruelly and effectively as any corrupt system of apartheid, skewed theocracy or terrorist society. An inherited mark placed back upon the World inked deep by Cain's legacy for deviating from his humanity.

Cuba, pre-Castro, and its economics is a prime example as well as many Pacific and Malaysian  Islands, South American, African and Asian nations where America and the Western World exploited people for cheap labor with zero regulations. Once done, they all left those countries devastated, war torn, resource drained and desolate. The economic practices on the surface flourished and looked good on the reflective side of the mirror but in every society that had been done, the division of wealthy to poor increased tenfold. Why? Because you cannot have a growing free market where everyone is a winner and in a capitalist society to maintain this, you will need to have a significant number of have-nots to control, to bottom feed just enough to be used as hors d'œuvre and simple appetizers. What keeps all the people from becoming completely indentured are government regulations. Historically it is because of this that American slaves were freed, children emancipated from sweatshops as well as women, immigrants and migrant workers given protection and an established legal retirement age for the elderly from being exploited into their graves was instituted.

We live in a world of “assumed” privilege where the illusion of “working hard” is greatly rewarded.  Only now are Americans seeing that what they thought was the American Dream is just that … a REM induced dream as deep in mythology as Dante's decent into the Inferno.  It is only when we agreed to fall asleep did we dream of a reality where waking up to a world that is either living to be the exploiter or being the exploited was real. Unfortunately, the rest of the World is wide awake and beginning to catch up to exploit us right back with vengeance, retaliation and purpose (i.e. China, the Middle-east, the European Union, Brazil, Russia). You can thank the Bush years for this accelerated evolution and Obama for setting the alarm clock to get up.

THE BODY AMERICA

“Thank you for taking the time to talk with me last week. Unfortunately, we decided to go in a different direction for this position. I was very impressed with your skill set and attitude, but I believe that the position is far below your experience level. Best of luck in your search.

Regards,

XXXX”

This was the end result of an interview for a Contract to set up a New Business. Without going into the "private" details and Name Dropping of the company, the gentleman who contacted me looking for someone to assist him in this opportunity to Start-Up this financial group, the type of company that I have extensive experience and contacts in doing. The gentleman sat quietly on the phone while I detailed my experience and commitment for not only doing the Right thing but my unique ability to be Forward Thinking and Pro-Active for making sure that any costly issues are addressed before it happens and still keep COSTS under budget. Assuring that when it comes to my experience and background I have references that lists a whos who in the the Industry; Financial, Government, Community and past clients of HIGH REGARDS of my work. I then ended the Interview with the gentleman saying, “I will call you next week and we will talk some more”. One week later, I had to call him and left a Voice Mail. The next day, I get an e-mailed, the aforementioned.

Now this might not be a big deal for most people, for some, it would be part of the reality of a broken economy in America but for me, it is different. As a person who can handle rejection, (as a Black Man in the United States, its pretty much coded in our DNA) I get responses like this ALL THE TIME. I have lost count on the number of times when a person's perception of me changes from phone Interview or Paper to meeting in Person. Once seen by people for interviews and they see the nature of my Being and the nature of my background and professionalism, due it tone and tenor, the interest changes. I have been told, “You might come off TOO stiff or TOO serious and that might bother some people”. I use to take that into consideration when I’d get comments back from interviewers such as, “What we are looking for are people who will FIT into what we have.” I would passively let that wash over me when I began to ask, “Well what do you mean by FIT? or “Explain to me what your group is looking for so I can get an understanding about what your Group is like and the piece you are looking for me to FIT into?” Doing that, I was seen as being "Aggressive" and "Confrontational" when simply I was asking to "Define" what my lack of FIT was to them. If I entered into the Interview smiling and bubbly, I appeared "Phony" and "Untrustworthy". So I quickly went back to what I know best, Being Me, Being Honest, Being True, Being Black since I can't be anything else but.

I put emphasis on the last statement not because of some false sense of RACIAL pride or blind faith in evidence not seen, I do it because I have the knowledge and understanding of who I am and of my place in America. I also realize that America is at its temper tantrum stage in development and is fighting to understand the CHANGES within its BODY. This is a simple concept to follow but I know many people, specifically American WHITE folk, won’t get it. In conversation and in speaking engagements I describe where I am and how people like myself fit into what I call , "THE BODY AMERICA".

Imagine if you came from another planet and you wanted to know what the make up of the United States consisted of. After you give a “brief"" History of the United States, its economics, its social and religious growth, history and its politics, you then would be asked about its PEOPLE. I would then step forward and break it down like this;

"If you want to know what is the Body America, break Her down in three parts, her Soul, her Spirit and her Mind. America’s Spirit is her Native American People. Where they are, how they subsist and ultimately their social conditions because as People, they are tied to their LAND thus they become the essence of America’s Soul. To kill or diminish Her Soul; you open the door to a Darkness that is capable of doing any and EVERYTHING. Even to Herself.

Her Spirit comes from her Black People. Its creativity, its intuitivism, Her mood and optimism, its facility to come back from atrocity and depravity and still have LOVE for its ideals, they are the heart and RESPECT and interest in the WHOLE Body, Her Black People call for salvation by reminding Her of the void developed by Her PAST deeds and maintains the promise to NOT turn away from it. Her Black People live to Love Her even when she does not always LOVE back.

America’s Mind is Her White People, the Majority, the Power, the Shakers, the Movers, the Managers, the Actors but unfortunately not too bright as Her Thinker; more so She is a Runner and prides Herself as the one which only "REACTS". As the reactor, She often does not look back upon all Her actions and deeds or skips over the DETAILS. Seen only as sitting at the head of the Boardroom, The Mind’s only responsibility is to be “The Decider”, deciding on matters that may feed its Body but rarely, if ever, it’s Soul. "

Now this may seem like HATE LANGUAGE or RACIST, but then again if you enter into this breakdown with a closed mind or have MADE UP YOUR MIND in advanced and are not looking to see beyond a particular perspective prior to reading this, then it is. BUT if you take a moment to hear me out, you will see that I am very PATRIOTIC and a person of Spirit.

Whenever Black and Brown folk bring up the fact that WHITES are the majority in the United States, the hairs on White folk’s necks rise up in anticipation for personal or a racial attack but it is FACT. As the Majority, it is rare if ever Minority issues are considered. Being such as it is, the opportunities of the Majority are shared by all; being Shakers, Movers, Managers and the one’s that do the THINKING – One Thought, One Mind, only One Perception for One Reality. As rule, this has been the very FOUNDATION of the Body America.

Now look at Her today, Native Americans are non-existent in the fabric of America. If a person were to walk the streets without a SOUL, what would you experience? Black Americans are beaten down and beaten back and even ATTACKED for its Spirit, now imagine someone walking down the street without any Spirit? Now imagine a person walking down the street without pause or hesitation randomly doing without purpose or constantly reacting without thinking? Now take all of the above and combined them into one BODY and what would you have? That BODY would be Deaf, Dumb, Depressed, Angry and Dangerous to its SELF and others. This is the Body America, which too often is the acceptable vision and aspiration for its people.

When the Mind does not listen to the Body, there is a disconnect that places the totality of its existence in a state of Slow Burn. This means that the BODY, although shining brightly, its shine shrink and dwindle into nothing. That individual spark that brought about the birth of Democracy with all its freedoms in individuality, religion, law and expression, with the Mind’s ignoring of the Soul and Spirit, this Nation has unfortunately evolved into a Majoritarian Authority, turning what was simple into a Peoples’ Government sacrificed on the Alter of Democracy. More so, the Imperial Bubble this Nation exists in is simply that of a room full of like minded Bodies that collectively reacts to the gun without understanding that if the “heart” cannot handle the drive and the “spirit” isn’t willing, the grand strategy and goal to get to the finish line will ultimately fall short and the RACE to be number ONE will be nothing more than tales of nostalgia told to grandchildren who are more interested in Today than Yesterday.

It is accepted that the “soul’ is the foundation for LIFE and the “spirit” the FIRE that drives the body. Both are so fixed in their connection to each other that when one tries to break the two, separate the two, divide it from the fine line that bonds them together, you plan to create a void, a hole that must be filled. Too often what the Mind uses as filler for the gap created often are artificial elements that infect and grow into a cancer. Like cancers, they are very insidious as it breaks down the natural order of the BODY. Cancer slows down and ages the body, the Body is broken down and it quickly burns itself out, like a slow burning candle. A Mind that is on the run, a Body that only “reacts” and limits its ability to see and or seek the aid needed to heal will eventual stop and die. And yet we also know that in turning to one’s SPIRIT, we can heal Bodily illnesses by drawing on its SOUL. Unfortunately the Body America never looks back or even considers the details even when the solution is natural.

“Unfortunately, we decided to go in a different direction for this position.”

What direction is that? Backwards? Side ways? Down? It can’t be forwards because you had found someone that has all of the core elements you were looking for and THEN SOME. That is ‘if” you are truly looking for someone to assist you in STARING up your company for forward momentum.

“ I was very impressed with your skill set and attitude, but I believe that the position is far below your experience level.”

Impressed so much that you are willing to NOT bring in a talented and or solid professional into the fold to create success and presences in the field you desperately need help in. And then there is the “far below your experience level”, which by it’s sentence structure is an insult. One does not understand that when you use this PHRASE you in essence say, “I look at YOU, I ignore YOU, I laugh at YOU, I fight YOU, and then I WIN over you.”

It is in this Mind, this practice, the REACTION of the Body America, a Nation misses out on the Spirit and the Soul of America and adds further to diminish it. When you look at other societies, they see the examples in America’s Soul and they see America’s Spirit and they make NOTE not to make the same mistakes in ignoring it. If anything, they embrace and invite it into their social make up. This is the primary reason why the International Position of America to LEAD the World is slipping on all levels. We ask why Nations such as China, India, Brazil, London, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Germany even Canada have crept up behind and tapped the Body America on the shoulder and said “ Either Lead, Follow or Get Out of The Way.”

Like all things included in Liberation Theology, we cannot expect an individual, a group, a Peoples or a Nation to grow unless you can accept that like nature, it has to evolve, it has to CHANGE. America is now moving into the adolescence of it existence on the Planet. It can no longer afford to live like a Child Nation in a World of Adults and Elders. We all have a purpose in life, some are here to Do great things, some to Be great things, and still others are here to act as "Guides and Guardians". When a Nation in its REACTION cannot turn just enough to realize that it has forgotten its Guides and Guardians, you will soon find that every Person or as I’d like to say, “Every Cell” in the Body America will be told:

“Unfortunately, we decided to go in a different direction for this position.”

Signed,
THE WORLD

A BENEDICTINE HOUSE CLEANING

For a while, it seemed as though my mind had turned off. I am not use to living my life in an emotional flux. Most people not connected to me personally would most likely think I am insensitive to the world around me but in truth I am very much affected by the events around me.

My brain is constantly stimulated. Often times it is so hyper stimulated that I find myself getting a bit scattered trying to keep pace with my thoughts. It is worst then my body is tired and my brain is running a marathon. That is where reading and sometimes Junk Food Television come into play. Last night was one of those times.

Getting over my emotional setback, I began writing again. It was after midnight with my mind in overdrive as I struggled to focus on a topic to write on, I flipped the channel to the late News. It’s a habit to have the television on for me. I tried to do it in compete silence but it never took. A sociologist told me once that this television thing is a product of my early childhood when television became a member of the American family and as such, it became a part of my though process. Television then as it is now in the background is much like having a person in the room with you; someone having a conversation. Although you may not be paying attention to any one particular show, the voices in the background produces a subconscious “comfort” that helps me focus my over active mind.

WHATEVER. I like TV as oppose to quite and music so that's what I was doing just before I heard in the background about the latest Celeb to hit the streets on New York.

So while thinking about doing something on my conversation with this kid I met who is in the S&M (for which I know you are all looking forward to reading), I got caught up in New York’s preparation for the Pope’s visit next week. Funny how I go from S&M to the Pope in once sentence Right?

Well I am listening to how the Pope’s visit is to make people here loose their minds. I mean you have the Catholic Churches cleaning house. You know how at work when you know the District Manager or the CEO is coming through for a visit and all of a sudden “everyone” has to UP his or her professionalism like cleaning off the desk, no more casual dress, rehearsing possible answers to questions you might be asked, you know all the phony prep work. You have the news promoting youth choirs made up of little Black and Brown children singing Gregorian chants songs in Latin, information on how traffic will change, the Who’s Who list of dignitaries that will have VIP seats to see the Pope, his United Nation’s agenda, then there are the Commercial items like tee-shits, mugs, hats, bobble-heads, sandwiches and then you have all the Catholic representative speculating how much grace and gratitude the Pope will bestow upon the people of the New York City.

Huuuummmmm?


There goes my brain working overtime. I begin to think back about the time Pope John Paul II made his World tour to the New York area back in the day and how he stirred up similar excitement BUT the only difference was, I was working for a Catholic school and TRUST ME, when a Pope visits, it isn’t for the purpose of spreading the Gospel, he’s here CLEANING HOUSE.

It was very resent that there were reports that Christendom in the West is on a major decline. Not just Catholicism, but all Christian faiths in Europe. For the most part, religion in general is and has taken a back seat to Europe’s embrace of real World philosophies and socio-economic practices. I like how the Christian Conservatives in America define the movement as the GODLESSNESS OF EUROPE. From the many ethnic groups that have either migrated to Europe or have lived for generations throughout the Western World, the shared consciousness of those opposed to Christianity and its affects on countries outside of Europe is coined as, “ …. Jesus Christ symbolizes no spiritual power, or moral uprightness. He is no more than an artifice for legitimizing wanton imperialist aggression.” It is in this belief that has turned those non-European countries and cultures away from the Gospel that is the “Word” of Christians and into the interest of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. With Catholics being 22% of America’s religious population (Latinos making up the Majority) 64% state that the Catholics Church is out of touch. That is a problem when you have an organization that forbids criticism. What is especially interesting is that Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the World and has the most actively participating faith on the land. Historically, these two Religions not only encompassed the known Western World but transformed it in their intense religious war killing 100's of thousands possibly millions undocumented. Some would argue that since there is a decline in Christian followers in Europe, this has become fertile ground for new and more Eastern philosophies to enter into the void. Others argue that in the decline of secular and Christian churches in the West, the ability to expand into other countries and cultures to make up the difference are aggressively declined where as in the West, the boarders are traditionally open to non-Christian faiths, constituting an unfair advantage. Regardless of the reasons, the numbers are down and for the Vatican, so are the dollars.

Working within the Catholic organization in the 1990's, and I may sound bias when I say this, BUT the bottom line was Parishioners and Dollars. There was never a moment, behind closed doors, that the books weren't open and people were dropping sweat balls in between the pages of the rolls. When Pope John Paul II was in New York, heads rolled, Mother Superiors and Monsignors were running with ledgers in hand, simple meetings went on for hours and sometimes days. No one without a potion of responsibility was absent and or not held under deep scrutiny and when it was all done, the organization was streamlined, lay-people (those are Non-Catholic employees) were let go, schools and churches closed and a HIGH LEVEL CAMPAIGN for recruiting younger members became the focus. Just sitting back and watching the television, I see this heavy rotation concentrated on YOUTH participation, organizations and education. This same focus was exactly what was pushed more than 10 years ago. Then again, so was the Gulf War. I suspect Pope Benedict XVI will be doing the same even if the US News and the Catholic Media machine are down playing it. The Catholic Church is in trouble and when you get the HEAD to leave the thrown, you know that the kingdom is going to be shaken up.

This statement just might sound a bit stiff and again a little bias but the Pope’s visit is nothing new to New York. I can give you a listing of Important and Famous people where the entire city rolls out the red carpet. It is business as usually to shut down streets, redirect traffic, creating tee-shirts with someone’s face on it or have the entire city’s News agencies forget that there are other events going on at the same time. The Pope’s visit is just one more tourist attraction. Already the losers of the Theater Strike of 2007 are looking forward for making up their loss with the Pope’s visit. Amazingly enough, I don’t hear much about what Message of God that Pope Benedict XVI plans to bring. How is that for keeping the faith alive?