What they tell you..but don't want you to know....

Currently I am taking an Intro to Public Policy Analysis course for my masters and it has turned out to be some what of an eye opener about how the government sees citizens. The MEN who make policy, our representitives, and those that just specialize in researching and cranking out text all have a basic expectation of citizens that I don't think most people... rich or poor, well educated or not have any idea of. These individuals expect us as citizens to be actively involved, concerned, and educated about how government works, what is going on in government, and use our powers to control those we elect.

At first glance..this seemed very simple to me. We do spend a large amount of our education learning of the structure of government and all that jazz. We learn what democratic is (even though we live in a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy as some people like to force on us). We learn that we vote for the people that will represent us. There are even little mini elections at elementary schools that get us all ready for our grown up responsibilities.

But our government has become this corrupt machine that has out smarted the founding fathers that set this all into place. Politicians have a one up on all of us. These MEN we elect to represent us know that we have the power to control what they do so they have help to feed into a national epidemic know has lack of value on education. Now I am not sure how actively these men have set out to help devalue education but they do it in many ways. One way is through capitalism.

Our society is market driven, by definition the only failure for public policy is Market failure... In the United States everything depends on the market. We teach our children, through our actions, that making money and being finacially successful is the ONLY thing that really matters. Children from a young age learn that it is better to be a doctor than an activist, that high paying jobs are all the glory...so we focus them in the direction of math and science. We push them to read the "Greats" not so they have better understanding of literature but so they have something to talk about at the country club. Every step in education is to get you one step closer to being rich.

So all the education we receive about the government and how we play a central role becomes just some stupid piece of information that we pick up on our way to being rich. Now that we have groomed a bunch of crabs in a barrel we ask them to make informed choices, we put all of the information needed out so they can see it...and say "GO". The Problem is that we slept through our history classes. We pick the person promising to do what we think is best for our finacial well being... tax breaks and such. Then here is the key... Because we don't truly get what our role is we sit back and wait for our representatives to do what they say. Ha!

Politicians have us nailed. They are fully aware that once they are in..they are in. They know that there are very few of us that actually take on our responsibility...and they know that those few are usually the richest of the rich. This way they cater to that elite group..their pockets stay fat..and they keep their place because we are so clueless that we don't know whats going on.

What Bills are being bounced around congress right now? Whats was the last case decided on by the Supreme Court? What has been going on at your State capital? Who is the mayor of the city you live in?

The Reality is...
The citizens of the U.S.A have been hoodwinked in to thinking they are running the show...we have been distracted by capitalistic ambitions and the "American Dream" in so many ways that our minds have gone numb. WE are not in control of our government.... And guess who Politicians blame for all the corruption, all the dirty lies, all the failures in government. US! It is our fault because we are too busy watching the ticker at the bottom of the screen to see how our stock is doing to look up and see whats going on in D.C. and right in our own city!

I didn't want to..but I have to..

I really hate where the country is going in race relations. It seems that all of the sudden people have lost their minds... The Jena 6 situation has helped to excelerate the whole thing. I guess i should first say that what happened in Jena, LA was a whole lot of racist mess gone wild. (Why did it take a YEAR to get this nationally recognized?? Where were the black leaders when this went down??)I supported the movement in the beginning. Now I do have an issue with the entire black community continuing to rally behind this..(I heard something about not shopping on some day in Nov???) Meanwhile the very young people we set out to get freedom for are appearing on BET Hip Hop Awards and youtube videos...someone please get these kids a PR person quick. Are we fighting for the right to look ignorant?? I thought the whole point was to shine light on the justice system and incourage equality..no?

Truthfully I feel like the Black people that seem to represent our community most often have caused this problem. No they did not create racism..but they have made it possible for racist white ppl to feel comfortable. The civil rights movement of the 60's and 70's did just the opposite. White people were nervous... Why else would they see the Black Panther Party as the #1 threat to national security? In the 80's and 90's they were cautious because we were still feeling powerful... affirmative action had them loosing jobs..rap music was always talking about killing police and such so they stayed "politically correct". Oh but how times have changed. The absence of Black leaders is whats killing us... Al and Jesse are not rallying anyone..come on. People are so scared to be seen as militant these days..so scared to get an FBI file on them...so scared to march through the streets... So now white people don't feel like they have to respect us or anyone else.

Did anyone see T.I on BET explaining how artists are only talking about what they USE to do in the streets...but that we should be glad he is rapping about it and not doing it. Um... Then why did ATF kick in your door?

Oh and Bush's ass and the California situation is hillarious to me. He really thinks that by swooping in to save all of those rich white people in Malibu from fire is going to make up for watching black people drown in NOLA??? Somebody please get this man a clue. FEMA is there to do what for these people?? I mean they all have insurance..they all got evacuated..they will all have brand new homes built from the ground in no time meanwhile half of NO is still a war zone.

On a broader scope I think race has become an over sensitive subject. True nooses on trees, statues, and doors is SERIOUS...Hate Crimes against all are serious.. but people are tripping out. I do not believe that Halle Berry was smashing on Jewish people by her comments on Leno... was it maybe not the most appropriate place to make the joke..sure. But wow.. anti-semitic.... Not at all. Stereotypical...yes..but not hateful by any means. Just like not too long ago a blogger I read often was asking people to launch a full scale attack on companies with the phrase "____ is the new black" on t-shirts.. I found this crazy..the term is totally a fashion reference and this woman had up telephone numbers and addresses to the different companies. People are so on edge that they read into anything.

We need to start stepping back and taking an inventory on everything before we get offended and then correctly express ourselves...there are real racist acts taking place and we are wasting our energy on issues that we just didn't take the time to think about.

The reality IS:

Until Black people stand up and say "no more"...until we take back our dignity and show the world that we are not a bunch of ignorant gold teeth wearing sex addicts.. until we work together to reform our image.. these racists will be acting out...

And that goes for every oppressed population..stop playing into negative images and start trying to strengthen the true identity of our communities.

But thats just what I think...

Be Peace

New Beginnings..

First Post..Yay! Not much to say. I have another blog on xanga thats for my personal stuff. This is more for my thoughts on the world etc...and thoughts on the world I do have. I'm an idealist trying to be a realist. i think its incredible how pessimistic most idealists are...Good things to come..a little politics and a little fashion..I like to split my time evenly...oh and I love music so that will be present too.. I guess if nobody reads this other than my wife...oh well... I have to get the stuff in my head out somehow...

Be Peace...