When I was in Mexico earlier this year, I was interviewed by Drew Media for “Democracy Down,” a documentary that explores the future of human organization in interviews with thought-leaders across the political and philosophical spectrum. Each week, they are releasing the lightly edited raw interviews for this project, and here is the interview they recorded with me.
VIDEO COURTESY: Drew Media
In the two months since George Floyd was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, the world has changed significantly. For example, major businesses in America are fully onboard with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement as almost 300 top corporations have pledged support for the cause. These corporate leaders have been joined by all the professional sports franchises and political leaders of both parties have expressed solidarity with BLM.
Any expression of “All Lives Matter” has been deemed to be racist. For example, a Sacramento Kings broadcaster lost his job for tweeting “All Lives Matter.” In New Orleans, a Mardi Gras krewe captain faced intense criticism and the defection of members and bands from her parade for issuing a similar message online. A New Orleans area teacher was fired because her husband admitted to painting “We All Matter” and other non-racist slogans on his fence. It seems clear that in the politically correct climate today, everyone must express support for BLM or face a withering backlash.
The problem is that the BLM organization was founded by individuals who admitted to being “trained Marxists.” Of course, all Americans should oppose individuals advocating an ideology that threatens our constitutional republic and our capitalist economic system.
Karl Marx is the founder of communism, a system of government that survives by fully destroying the freedom of its citizens. People living in communist countries have no human rights and exist only to serve the all-powerful state. Today, communist governments endure in North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, and China.
All these countries repress their people and deprive them of basic freedoms such as the right to speak, assemble, petition, and practice their religious faith. These barbaric practices have existed in all communist nations since the overthrow of the Czar in Russia in 1917 and the eventual formation of the Soviet Union. Since that time, communist dictators have killed at least 100 million innocent people throughout the world.
Unfortunately, the media does not allow any mention of the Marxist origins of BLM or any criticism of the organization. Any courageous critics will be labeled a racist. Understandably, most people fear being given such a label, so they will refuse to give their honest opinion and just appease the mob to protect their job and their family.
The stampede to support BLM has been seen in every sports league over the last few months. Americans used to be able to enjoy sporting events without being lectured about their political beliefs. It used to be a nice diversion from the pressures of everyday life. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Today, sports are just one more area of life that has been overtaken by social justice warriors.
The NBA has painted Black Lives Matter next to their court in the “bubble” in Orlando. The NFL has expressed support and will play the “Black National Anthem” prior to the National Anthem during the first week of games this season. In Major League Soccer, players raised their fist and knelt in support of BLM at the opening of their season.
On Thursday night, before the opening game of the season, all the players with the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals knelt before and during the National Anthem. However, in the San Francisco Giants game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, all the players knelt prior to the National Anthem, except one lonely “Christian.”
The player who refused to kneel was Giants relief pitcher Sam Coonrod, a true hero. In an interview after the game, Coonrod explained his refusal to join his teammates by claiming that he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
Such a courageous stand needs to be applauded. Usually, a player, such as Saints Quarterback Drew Brees, who expresses support for standing for the National Anthem, will cave after strong criticism. Eventually, Brees and his wife apologized multiple times.
Coonrod took the road less traveled. He explained his opposition to BLM by noting “I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean towards Marxism and they have said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that.”
Fortunately, Gabe Kapler, the manager of the Giants, supported Coonrod’s decision. He said that players were going to be able to “express themselves.” He also noted “We were going to give them the choice on whether they were going to stand, kneel, or do something else. That was a personal decision for Sam.”
This “personal decision” is quite exceptional in the environment we live in today. Congratulations to a rare breed indeed, a player who truly stands alone.
Imust ask, what does the destruction of statues of abolitionists have to do with George Floyd?
OK, yes, that is the pure definition of a rhetorical question; it has nothing to do with it. And therein lies the crux of what is happening in America. The misguided children, and that reference is not based upon age, but rather level of rational competence, have taken a totally unrelated event and leveraged it for an ideological agenda that embraces violence. The nation was appalled at the George Floyd murder. However, the rational inquiry that should be made is, what does tearing down the statue of Frederick Douglass or Abraham Lincoln have to do with George Floyd?
Matter of fact, what do Christopher Columbus, Teddy Roosevelt, or the Washington Redskins have to do with George Floyd? None of those whom I reference wore a Minneapolis police officer uniform and certainly have not been charged and sit in jail awaiting a court date.
Only the irrational, misguided children of the progressive, socialist left would deduce that the way to respond to that tragedy is with violence. And so, business owners who had nothing to do with George Floyd are having their livelihoods assailed, looted.
Then, America’s misguided children respond by saying, “what’s the big deal, they have insurance?” This is the infantile, delusional mind of leftists that justify their brand of violence and mobocracy by saying “you can pay for the damage we inflicted yourself.” I guess they do not understand the effect of their lunacy on insurance premiums increasing.
Just this past week, Minneapolis and Burlington, Vt. declared that racism is a public health emergency.
Oh boy, another “pandemic,” what shall we do now, be forced to wear BLM face coverings? Is there going to be a rush for a vaccine to end the public health emergency called racism? Can I go to my local pharmacy and get an over-the-counter drug to curtail the symptoms of racism? Ahh, maybe a band-aid will do.
Yes, I jest, but one can only laugh and use a little humor to offset the clear and present delusion of America’s misguided children.
In cities like Chicago and New York City, crimes, shootings, and murders are on the rise, but two of the left’s most prominent misguided children, Mayors Lightfoot and de Blasio, blame COVID-19. I have yet to hear either of these two take a stand against the leftist violence plaguing our streets. Matter of fact, de Blasio went so far as to assist in painting a BLM mural on Fifth Avenue in NYC…after all, Marxist misguided children tend to flock together. And in Chicago, the black-on-black crime is genocidal, far more than the 2019 statistic of only 15 unarmed black men being shot by police officers. But BLM nor Mayor Lightfoot are taking any actions in Chicago.
See, the misguided children get angry, abjectly enraged, when you refuse to follow along with their misguided temper tantrums. You become the problem…did I mention George Floyd?
Speaking of childish temper tantrums, in Portland Ore., the violence is running rampant in the streets. And what is the response of the mayor of Portland? Try to get things under control? Ask for assistance? Nah, this misguided child lashes out at the federal government which was attempting to restore law and order and serve and protect the citizens of Portland from the mob.
More misguided children.
We watched what happened in CHOP/CHAZ, whatever you call it, in Seattle. The mayor there, a misguided child herself, allowed this little “Lord of the Flies” endeavor to happen. She referred to the place as festive, until what we knew would happen, happened. And it happened that young black men lost their lives, shot, murdered, again…but no BLM protest. So, the Seattle mayor moves in the police to restore law and order. Now, the misguided children have turned on her and demand her being recalled.
Lesson learned: you cannot appease, compromise, negotiate, or acquiesce to the misguided children, so stop giving them the Froot Loops and believing they will be placated, satisfied.
But probably the biggest indicator of America’s misguided children comes from a city not far from where I went to college: Asheville, North Carolina. In Asheville, they have decided to issue reparations to descendants of slaves…after all, it was a Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves. Did I mention that the misguided children want to destroy and take down Lincoln’s statue? He apparently didn’t do enough for blacks.
So, who writes the check to who in Asheville, NC? I can almost guarantee you that there is no one alive in Asheville that has ever owned slaves. Heck, I do not think you can find anyone in Asheville, NC that was a slave. The only slaves in America today are those economically enslaved to the Democrat Party because of their welfare nanny-state policies and programs. Yet the misguided children align themselves with the party of the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that still views blacks as nothing more than descendants of slaves.
How utterly disgusting.
We should not be allowing the misguided children to run the amusement park. Where are the adults, the grown-ups, who instill guidance, rational thought, discipline, wisdom, and discernment? Who will step in and be the statesman, stateswoman?
The sad reality is that very few are finding the resolve, intestinal fortitude, and character to confront America’s misguided children. And if that continues to happen, they become useful idiots…and we lose a country.
This column was originally published at CNSNews
QUESTION: Do you think CNN is deliberately trying to influence the election as they accused Russia?
GY
ANSWER: Absolutely! Nikita Khrushchev, the former head of the Soviet Union, made a famous statement about the press: “The press is our chief ideological weapon.” The press is a very dangerous tool, and it is clearly degenerating in the United States. CNN targets Trump for calling them out as FAKE NEWS, but around 38% of Americans, according to Statista, stated that they at least agreed that CNN regularly reports made up or fake news about Donald Trump and his administration.
CNN is openly being manipulated by Jeffrey Zucker, who is the CEO of CNN. Any CEO of a company would be fired if they took it from #1 to #5, and as far as most-watched channels, Fox is #5 and CNN is now #22. Zucker’s son, Andrew Zucker, at the age of just 15, served on the advisory board of Democratic politician Cory Booker’s startup tech firm. He was just 15-years-old! The fact Zucker is still employed by CNN is astonishing. Since CNN is owned by WarnerMedia News & Sports division of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, this calls into question the management of AT&T. Why have they allowed CNN to crash and burn simply to push a political agenda that is subversive?
On April 1, 2020, John Stankey announced that he would be stepping down as CEO of WarnerMedia and that former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar would be assuming that role effective May 1, 2020. Kilar reports to Stankey who will continue as COO of AT&T. On April 24, 2020, AT&T announced that effective July 1, 2020, Stankey would replace Randall L. Stephenson as CEO of AT&T. Stankey donates to the AT&T INC. FEDERAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (AT&T FEDERAL PAC), which was among the top 10 spenders in politics during the 2016 elections.
Zucker’s job performance was horrible, but he still has a job after destroying CNN’s ratings and undermining the image of the United States worldwide. AT&T’s political spending appears to further the personal political views of the management rather than that of the company and the best interest of the shareholders. There has been a rebellion among journalists over how biased the press has been, and some editors were fired.
All of the main news organizations, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, are all linked at the very top to the Democrats.
QUESTION: You’ve written about the collapse of communism in Europe 30 years ago and the looming collapse of socialism in the west. In Russia and Eastern Europe, most of the deaths occurred in the first 30 years of communism and few deaths occurred when it collapsed. Is it possible that for western socialism the vast majority of the deaths will occur during and just after the collapse? What differences and similarities should we expect to see between the post-communist world and the post-socialist world?
ANSWER: The early stage is the zealot period that we are in right now. People think that this is the panacea; it will solve all problems and create a new future by destroying at least 20% of businesses to recreate the economy GREEN with Guaranteed Basic Income. They wrongly think that they can hand people minimal checks and they will stay home and watch TV. This is NOT going to play out that way. It appears that they will create a civil war, and then we will see Russia and China fuel the rebellion just as the French assisted the American revolutionary elements against Britain. The same risk exists whereby there will be a lot of chaos and turmoil upfront, most likely following the US elections.
Things can erupt in just a three-month period like a three-month correction in the stock, bond, commodity, or currency market. In December 1916, Grigorii Rasputin, the controversial ‘holy man’ and close friend of Tsar Nicholas II’s family, was finally murdered after several failed attempts. The view was the Tsar was being influenced by this zealot, who today would be someone like Bill Gates with his demand to vaccinate the entire world.
The February Revolution (February 23 – March 3, 1917) began with a series of public protests in Petrograd, which lasted for eight days and eventually resulted in the abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total number of people killed and injured in those confrontations with the police and government troops in Petrograd was estimated at around 1,300 people.
On March 8, (23 February) 1917, demonstrators and striking workers took to the streets to protest against food shortages and the war. Two days later, the strikes spread across Petrograd. Pay attention to these lockdowns for they are creating food shortages.
The on the idea of March (15th/2), 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and also removed his son from the succession. The following day Nicholas’ brother Mikhail announced his refusal to accept the throne. A Provisional Government was then formed to replace the tsarist government, with Prince Lvov becoming the leader.
Then in April 1917, this is when Lenin returned from exile, traveling to Petrograd in a sealed train from Switzerland via Germany and Finland with the assistance of Germany.
On September 9th (22–27 August) 1917, General Kornilov, commander of the Russian army, attempted a coup ordering his troops to march on Petrograd to counter the threat of the Bolsheviks, which only supported their revolution. Then on the 7th of November (25) 1917, the Bolsheviks seized control of Petrograd.
It was 37.3 weeks between the murder of Rasputin and the seizure of the capital by the Bolsheviks. There are 37.33 weeks within an 8.6-month cycle. The Russian Revolution conformed to the 8.6 Economic Confidence Model frequency.
According to democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Covid-19 pandemic is proving that the United States “is a brutal, barbarian society for the vast majority of working-class Americans.” As evidence of this, she claims that “40% of us couldn’t even afford a $400 emergency” before this crisis, and Covid-19 “is more than a $400 emergency.”
However, her “40%–$400” statistic is false, and the facts that broadly inform this issue reveal that:
AOC’s Allegations
In a recent video, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–NY) declared: “This is supposed to be the richest society in the world, and I think what this crisis is showing us is that this is only a rich society for a very small amount of people, and it is a brutal, barbarian society for the vast majority of working-class Americans because 40% of us couldn’t even afford a $400 emergency before this thing started. This is more than a $400 emergency, and we’re really going to have to step up and completely change our approach to our public systems.”
The “40%–$400” Statistic
The statistic cited by AOC stems from an annual Federal Reserve study of people’s “self-reported ability to handle unexpected expenses.” Contrary to her claim that “40% of us couldn’t even afford a $400 emergency,” the survey actually finds that 12% of U.S. residents fall into that category. Furthermore, the facts surrounding this 12% figure reveal that it overstates the portion of people who can’t afford such an expense.
Per the Federal Reserve’s report on this issue, “if faced with an unexpected expense of $400”:
Hence, AOC’s figure of “40%” includes people who would place the expense on a credit card and not pay it off right away. This is materially different from her claim that they “couldn’t even afford” it.
Moreover, the same report notes that another survey found 76% “of households had $400 in liquid assets (even after taking monthly expenses into account).” In other words, it’s not that they “couldn’t” immediately pay for an unexpected $400 expense; they just preferred not to do so. Given that 40% of U.S. residents carry a credit card balance “most or all of the time,” the “$40%–$400” statistic says little beyond that.
With regard to the 12% who claim they “would not be able to cover the expense at all,” consumer data shows that the lowest-spending 10% of U.S. households spend an average of $1,369 per year on entertainment and $208 per year on alcohol. That’s enough to handle about four $400 emergencies every year. Furthermore, these figures are based on household surveys, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis explains that they “are subject to deliberate underreporting of certain items.”
The fourth-lowest 10% of households—who are also included in AOC’s 40% figure—spend an average of $2,830 per year on entertainment and $320 on alcohol. This is enough to cover about eight $400 emergencies, which means the issue is not about a lack of money but how it is spent.
In spite of these facts, media outlets have published headlines like these:
Also, the survey includes all “noninstitutionalized, civilian” adults who live in the U.S., not just “working-class Americans” as AOC asserts. Thus, it also includes non-working Americans and millions of unauthorized immigrants who are not legally allowed to earn income in the United States. Since these individuals often work off the books and don’t disclose the money, this potentially skews the results of such surveys.
Government Social Programs
Also belying AOC’s rhetoric about the inability of Americans to weather a Covid-19 crisis is the fact that taxpayers already pay for most of the living expenses of low-income households, including the vast bulk of their medical costs. Roughly 22% of the U.S. population is on Medicaid, and as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services explains:
Beneficiary cost sharing, such as deductibles or co-payments, and beneficiary premiums are very limited in Medicaid and do not represent a significant share of the total cost of health care goods and services for Medicaid enrollees.
Beyond medical care, federal, state, and local governments provide a wide range of other benefits to low-income households. In 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office identified 82 federal means-tested welfare programs. When all of these benefits and other sources of income are included, U.S. households that are officially “in poverty” consume an average of more than $50,000 per year in goods and services. This amounts to 5.2 times the income they report to the Census Bureau.
Governments also shift the costs of some welfare policies to the private sector. A prime example is the federal law that requires most hospitals with emergency departments to provide an “examination” and “stabilizing treatment” for anyone who comes to such a facility and requests care for an emergency medical condition or childbirth—regardless of their ability to pay and immigration status.
In 2018, federal, state, and local governments provided an average of $23,050 in social benefits to every household in the United States. The federal government defines these as “payments from social insurance funds, such as social security and Medicare, and payments providing other income support, such as Medicaid and food stamp benefits.” These alone are on par with the total average household income of Eastern Europe, including both private earnings and government benefits.
In addition, the federal government has recently enacted enough Covid-19-related legislation to nearly double its regular $2.6 trillion annual spending on social benefits. This includes but is not limited to $192 billion for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and an estimated $2.2 trillion for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Impact on Personal Savings
Such levels of government social spending, which AOC wants to increase, are the main reason why many workers don’t save more of their income. As detailed in 2016 working paper published by the European Central Bank:
Furthermore, Americans must ultimately fund these programs, which hinders their ability to save. The $23,050 per household in social benefits that governments paid out in 2018 ultimately came from American households. Although high-income households bear a greater share of these costs than others, middle-income workers lose about 15.3% of their paychecks to social insurance taxes.
If, in contrast, these workers could have saved and invested a fifth of these taxes during their careers, each retired middle-income worker would have an additional $199,000 to $764,000 in savings today.
Voluntary Charity
Long before governments began providing appreciable amounts of social benefits, the U.S. led the world in charity, and it continues to do so.
In notes that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the 1780s, he described how Americans cared for the sick and poor with striking contrast to modern, government-run welfare programs:
In the 1830s, a French historian and political scientist named Alexis de Tocqueville visited the U.S. and wrote a famous work entitled Democracy in America. In it, he stated that what “I most admire in America” is how people were personally engaged in advancing the welfare of society:
In the United States the interests of the country are everywhere kept in view; they are an object of solicitude [concern] to the people of the whole Union, and every citizen is as warmly attached to them as if they were his own.
When a private individual meditates an undertaking, however directly connected it may be with the welfare of society, he never thinks of soliciting the cooperation of the Government; but he publishes his plan, offers to execute it himself, courts the assistance of other individuals, and struggles manfully against all obstacles. Undoubtedly he is often less successful than the State might have been in his position; but in the end, the sum of these private undertakings far exceeds all that the Government could have done.
Although federal, state, and local governments consume about 33.5% of the U.S. economy—at an average cost of $54,000 per year to every household in the nation—U.S. citizens still donate about $50 billion each year to charities that provide “direct services to people in need.” That equals an average of $1,316 for every person who is reportedly below the poverty line.
U.S. citizens also donate $38 billion per year to health charities, along with $59 billion to education charities, and $127 billion to religious groups, many of which serve the poor.
A 2016 study of 24 nations by the Charities Aid Foundation found that the people of the United States are most generous and donate 1.44% of the nation’s gross domestic product to charities. The next closest nation, New Zealand, donates 0.79%, or 45% less than the USA. Nations such as Finland (0.13%) and France (0.11%) donate less than one-tenth of the USA.
The Big Picture
The most comprehensive mass measure of people’s financial condition is their consumption of goods and services. This is the World Bank’s “preferred” indicator of material well-being due to “practical reasons of reliability and because consumption is thought to better capture long-run welfare levels than current income.”
The latest available data show that middle-income Americans and even the poorest 20% of Americans consume more goods and services than the national averages for all people in most affluent countries. This includes the majority of nations in the prestigious Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including more socialistic nations that AOC says the U.S. should emulate:
An important strength of this data is that it is adjusted for purchasing power to measure tangible realities like square feet of living area, foods, smartphones, etc. This removes the confounding effects of factors like inflation and exchange rates. Thus, an apple in one nation is counted the same as an apple in another.
Summary
Contrary to AOC’s portrayal of the USA as “a brutal, barbarian society for the vast majority of working-class Americans,” the key facts that inform this matter show that:
Lance LeGume, President of the National Redskin Peanut Growers Association, in a recent exclusive interview with Ace Reporter Hugh Betcha of the Canada Free Press, announced a stunning new development: the Washington Redskins football franchise will be soon be purchased by the National Redskin Peanut Growers Association for an undisclosed sum which will allow the franchise to retain the franchise name and change the team logo slightly to remove any suggestion of political incorrectness.
“It is a win-win,” announced LeGume as he held up a helmet displaying the new logo: the ubiquitous and tasty redskin peanut. “We keep the famous and revered name, and get free publicity for our wonderful product each time the team takes the field. Everyone is reminded of this tasty snack, everyone is happy, and no one is offended. Who does not love redskin peanuts?”
But when asked for comment on this new development, Nancy Pelosi reacted with an outburst of anger typically reserved for anything that Donald Trump does.
“This is just one more example of the right wing, racist Republicans’ attempt to smear an entire race of people, which must be stopped,” she yelled as she slammed his fist on the desk. “We are going to introduce new legislation to block it,” she said.
“You mean the sale of the franchise?” Hugh inquired.
“No,” replied Pelosi, “the word ‘redskins’. It is inherently offensive. You may change the logo, but people will still see the peanut and hear the word and be reminded that there are people out there with red skin, and someone, somewhere, somehow is still going to be offended. This is why I do not even eat the damn things anymore. Every time I ate a redskins peanut I was reminded of our treatment of Native Americans over the years.”
Nonplussed, Hugh terminated the interview and filed this report.
In a related, fast-breaking story, Pelosi announced today that the House will take up legislation banning certain words or phrases, among them: “white bread,” “white milk,” “White House,” “Snow White,” “White Christmas,” and other equally offensive words or phrases too numerous to repeat here….
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
De Oppresso Liber
A group of Americans united by our commitment to Freedom, Constitutional Governance, and Civic Duty.
Share the truth at whatever cost.
De Oppresso Liber
Uncensored updates on world events, economics, the environment and medicine
De Oppresso Liber
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
Australia's Front Line | Since 2011
See what War is like and how it affects our Warriors
Nwo News, End Time, Deep State, World News, No Fake News
De Oppresso Liber
Politics | Talk | Opinion - Contact Info: stellasplace@wowway.com
Exposition and Encouragement
The Physician Wellness Movement and Illegitimate Authority: The Need for Revolt and Reconstruction
Real Estate Lending
Centinel2012 