Sameness

 SAMENESS

The irrational triumphs.  The irrational has arisen continually throughout history as if it is a returning plague. The deportation of thousands and possibly millions is an example and is irrational. With Trump deporting all the people who usually tend to the rich and famous or do the jobs no one else will do, finding people to tend the estate,  or harvesting the produce and caring for the infirm, is becoming difficult.  We're not sure it's working out as intended.  Deporting people got our elected representatives elected, but come to find out, the deported were the ones doing the work and  maybe we ought to rethink this.

But realize this; being illegal is not the issue.  The deportation of thousands and possibly millions of people from the United States is simply one aspect of our incipient racism. This is simply a form of racism camouflaged.  The anti-abortion activism began it; it too is racist.  White America is afraid.  They have taken a look around and seen that non-white America is increasing in size and influence and it frightens them.  Hence the effort to increase white births surfaced.  We want more white people and less non-white people.  Trump's invitation to white South African farmers can be explained in no other terms than openly racist.

   

Then we have the  attack on DEI which is an attack on the education of non-white people.  We do not want black, brown, or yellow people better educated than white people and this is happening.  Again difference is anathema and sameness is good as long as it is white sameness.  All of these current efforts have one aim - - whiteness regardless of the cost. 

We live in a society that has no clue; the general public is uneducated, uninformed, and often religiously dominated with a religion that insists on conformity to their specific views. This is especially true of the white general public.  The success of the United States as a country, with its level of prosperity, has little to do with those already here.  Our success is the result of people who come here because they want to be successful, or at least find a job, and have access to the resources that allow them to be so.  

I am a white guy so I can say these things.  I live in a part of the country that supports Trump and the forces that elected him.  I am also a criminal defense attorney who has actual and constant association with people who are treated poorly.  I represent those people; I represent them against the power of government which  currently reflects the broader efforts I've described.  I see daily how we treat other people, those who do not meet certain standards:  poorly.  When you put someone in prison for half a lifetime because a product they use such as meth will ruin their life, you are treating that someone poorly and irrationally - - apparently it's better for the government to ruin your life rather than you ruining it yourself; and, we have always put a higher percentage of nonwhites in jail or prison than whites and we lead the world in imprisonment - - us, the land of the free have more people in prison than Russia and China put together.

One only has to observe to realize what kind of world we live in and it can be a very dangerous place for the other.  And it doesn't have to be; that is what is so disturbing.  It is uncaring and often irrational.  People do not need to be treated as they are being treated here in the United States and it does not speak well for us.  The recent reduction in funds for health care for those who can't afford it and the mass detention and deportation speak for themselves.  Unfortunately the war against the other has happened periodically throughout history and presumably will continue to happen and to be fair it is not only us that treat people poorly; but at least we should recognize it for what it is and make some attempt to ameliorate it.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

The Dark Side

 THE DARK SIDE

We see it now; we see it again.  It has arisen from the depths as it always does and will do - - the dark side of America.  It has always been here, sometimes apparent, sometimes not.  It was submerged for many years, but always waiting and pondering the time it was to rise again.  The reaction to George Floyd, the new demonstrations, the anger of the black public once again rose from dormancy and told white America it was not finished, there is more to do.

And once again white America reacted:  it took a while but it slowly gathered momentum - - the attack on what is now called DEI - - diversity, equity, inclusion.  We no longer call it racism; but it is racism at its finest and most inclusive.  One simply can't hide the obvious.  Diversity, equity, and inclusion are, or at least have been, words of importance, words denoting common values and goals.  Not now.

We now have the vocabulary to stigmatize anyone who is not white or properly white-like and with that stigmatization gather again the forces of repression and exclusion.  They have always been with us; sometimes muted and sometimes not.  Now they have again risen to dominate the landscape.  Trump is not the source of this; he is the result and rides its momentum.

This too will fade, but not before it does damage to all of us.  It is the acceptance of brutality towards thousands if not millions.  It is the effort to destroy our educational institutions which produce those who question.  It is a quest of power unprecedented in American history.  It is the empowerment of those who most vehemently want a white society with what they believe is the power to obtain it.

What makes the movement more dangerous than it would be otherwise is the realization that it is not to be.  The battle for whiteness will not achieve its goal.  We, the United States, have become what it was always envisioned by some to be:  a haven for those who need a haven, a new beginning, an escape from an intolerable life.  And most of these new people are not white and many are not Christian both of which are anathema to what is suppose to be here - - whites and Christians.  Our Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, quoting a bible verse as the culmination of the passage of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" encapsulates perfectly the prevailing attitude.

The United States does not have enough births to replace its population.   Japan and China with their aging populations have the same issue and may soon have a crisis of aging.  How do they support all their old people and have enough workers for their factories and farms?  We, here in the United States, don't have this problem - yet.  We have immigrants who do the work and their children will be Americans just like us; a fact that is intolerable to many.  If nothing else we are talking simple economics.

We live in a capitalist world; a capitalist world depends on an expanding population with increasing wealth - - what is produced has to be consumed.  Consumption is the necessary element in a modern economy.  Without consumption there will be no production; without production there will be no jobs; without jobs there will be no Social Security for those who require it.  Immigration fuels our economy and supports our aged.  Those who support this new racism in the name of DEI have no understanding of the consequences if their wishes were to be realized when thousands if not  millions of  people here in the United States are picked up and forcibly deported to places unknown to them.  Treating people poorly not only reflects on us as a people but affects us in many ways obviously hidden to many.   

There are more reasons not to be a racist than to be one but to understand this would take some reflection and maybe some kindness. As I began, the dark side of America has arisen again.  It does so periodically but regularly.

I wish it were not so.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

In Search of Ignorance

 IN SEARCH OF IGNORANCE

A strange title indeed, at least for those who might read this piece.  Ignorance is not something you search for, it is something to avoid, to make an effort not to be such.  Not so, I'm afraid; ignorance is relentlessly sought by vast numbers of people.

Not only is it sought, it is a matter of pride to not know anything.  We all know people who are profoundly ignorant with pride; for some it is status within their circle of acquaintances.  "Hey, I'm more ignorant than you and I can prove it."  And it happens early.

There are those who gave up reading for content in 2nd grade; you probably sat by several throughout your years of k-12 who had no interest in being where they were merely taking up time that they could have used to watch tv at home.   These children had an instinct for ignorance; they certainly couldn't articulate it at the time, but it was there and active.

The parents, those who were the children referenced above, have now found the answer; the answer to ensure a continuing massive ignorance in their numerous children:  home school.  There just are things that they don't want their children to know; it's not good for them; it causes unnecessary problems, and they are not going to be allowed to know these things if it can be helped.

Being a criminal defense attorney, I deal with the maximally ignorant so am somewhat influenced by what I see in my daily activities dealing with people charged with criminal conduct.  There are those who can't help it, I admit.  These people have always been with us and always will be.  Having a populace that can sign their name along with a vocabulary of 500 words  doesn't speak for much.  And again, for those who are reading this, the level of ignorance may be something you have heard about or seen in your own effort not to be ignorant but find it difficult to grasp the actual level of ignorance in the general public.  The people who reflect this vast ignorance really do appear to be much of the public.  But it can happen to any of us in a given situation and we will realize our own ignorance about something specific and make an attempt to alleviate the condition.   

As an example of ignorance in high places - - none of us are immune - - our Supreme Court promulgated a written guilty plea form of eleven pages with the pronouncement that each and every defendant pleading guilty and using the form to do so must either read or have it read to him or her and understand it.  It is difficult to determine how the Supreme Court could come to the conclusion that the typical defendant would actually read something and  understand what he or she was reading or being read to or cared.  Talking with a defendant who is facing a probation violation, on inquiry of his original sentence, can not tell you what his or her sentence actually was, just that it wasn't jail.

Wherever possible, I and many others, use the old plea form of two pages where the defendant says he did it and what he did and pleads guilty so he can be done and allowed to go about his normal daily routine:  the end.  It is a very simple process and one that is repeated thousands of times daily.  The only real issue is that most of these people are allowed to vote and have guns, not that they understand what they plead to.

Unfortunately, the more the human species knows as a unit, the more ignorant we as individuals become.  We can't know much of what there is to know.  So, we are all to some degree ignorant.  But let's agree on one thing:  some of us make an effort not to be while others insist on it.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo