Blacks, Crimes, and Sentencing

We have the NFL National Anthem protests about police injustice. That seems to also include minority sentencing. There is no doubt that blacks get longer sentences than whites. Pointing to racism is the usual reaction, but is that the reason? I am sure that could be some of the cause, but I suspect that's not the global reason.

We know that blacks and other minorities make up a large portion of the gang activity in US cities. I suspect that a gang member will get more prison time for possession of cocaine than someone who isn't in a gang.

We also know that crack cocaine is more widely used by blacks than whites. Crack often gets a longer sentence than other drugs because it's one of the most addictive drugs on the streets. A person can get addicted from a single use. A crack addict once told me he would sell his mom for a rock. He surely didn't mind stealing from his mother.

Seeking Life In America

When I first looked at this drawing on Facebook my mind went to the US/Mexico border. As I read through the comments, I saw that many agreed with me, while some saw Israel and Palestine, and a few saw it as South Africa, even though there is no wall.

Why would the leftist artist drawing this see Mexico as a slum area? We know Mexico has areas like Acapulco where people from all over the world vacation. We know cities like Mexico City look like most large cities around the world.

We're told everyday that people sneak into the USA to find a better way of life. What's wrong with life in Mexico? In 2016 Mexico had an unemployment rate less than 4%. That should indicate the country is thriving, especially when we look at the number of US factories that move, daily, to Mexico. In Mexico they have free healthcare, so that shouldn't be a reason to flee the country.

Symbols of Hate

Recently, we have been bombarded by news of hate symbols. These symbols have varied from Swastikas to cotton balls. Yes, you heard this right. There has been two instances of people being offended by decorations made from raw cotton, which is common throughout the southeast where cotton is one of the main crops. These decorations are enjoyed for their rustic beauty.

The use of certain words have been a point of contention. A sorority was threatened with suspension for singing along with a hip-hop song that contained the word “niggas”. This is a word I have often heard by whites and blacks since it became popular in the hip-hop music genre.

The Beginning of The End of America

There has been a movement since the 1930's to change America. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party used the Great Depression to begin a progressive takeover of the country. This takeover came in the form of higher taxes and price controls.

Today, we see the Democratic Party, the ideological left, using the same tactics. Progressives, despite the name, believes capitalism is the root of all evil. They believe government should either own or place tight controls on all businesses, no matter if it's large or small. Some might liken their goals and tactics closer to those of Karl Marx. In either case, the result is always failure.

Racism and Prejudices

I was asked recently why Jews are hated. I found that to be a thought provoking question. It led me to doing a lot of reading. Even after that I saw no clear reason. In biblical times it had a lot to do with their religious believes. Hitler hated Jews because of his time spent living in anti-Semitic, Vienna. Hitler later came to associate Jews with communism. This is likely due to the part Jews played in the Russian Bolshevik revolution.

In Poland, "Judeo-Bolshevism" was known as "Żydokomuna" and was used as an antisemitic stereotype. There has been a long connection between Judaism and communism. Some say this is a fallacy attributed to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion that told of a plan by Jews to dominate the world through communism.

The Myth of Free Speech

Whether it's democrat or republican, you will hear free speech often addressed. I'm not sure if either side truly believes in free speech. In Charlottesville, Virginia a small group of about 200, made up of neo-Nazis and average citizens, marched in protest to the removal of Confederate monuments honoring past war heroes. Many on the left believe those monuments represent traitors and slavers. I'm not going to debate that topic at this time.

The most concerning aspect, aside from those hurt, is the violence that happened because many on the left and some on the right didn't like the speech. It's hard to say who threw the first punch, but AntiFa and BLM were involved and both have a history of violence. When the police allowed the leftists to make contact with protesters, the outcome of violence was inevitable. Some believe the police encouraged this violence. We may never know exactly what happened.

Labeling America

These days, politics is driven by labels. There are three main groups, Conservative, Liberal(progressive), and Libertarian. Note that I used capitals with those labels. That's because those are names of groups. If we look closer, we will find many use those labels who have varying beliefs.

No matter the ideology, you will run into purists who try to say who can wear the label and who can't. I've personally run across that with upper case Libertarians, those who belong to the party and claim to be purists. I've been told I'm not libertarian because I believe differently on a few issues.

It seems, daily, I find anarchists who sometimes carry the Libertarian label. On a given day I'll find an anarchist who claims to be a progressive. I watch as people who all carry the same label, arguing over some issue.

Jobs and Automation

President Trump ran and was elected on jobs. If you listen to democrats, there are more jobs than people, which means labor must be Imported. Since the beginning of the industrial age people have been worrying that machines would replace humans, which is the main topic of this writing.

A friend and I were discussing economics when he asked me what I thought about minimum incomes and wages. I told him that in the USA the economy is regional and not national. For that reason any minimum wage should be regional or restricted to the state.

Economics of Illegal Immigration

The Wall Street Journal just published an article about labor shortages in United States. agricultural, construction companies, restaurants and their complaint about labor shortages due to a shortage of illegal immigrants. They complained how they had to keep increasing wages in order to keep the employees they have.

Throughout history businesses have sought-out cheap labor. It's some of the extremes businesses have taken that brought on the rise of unions, communism, and socialism. Everyone is aware the part slavery played in the early USA and the world. In the USA, agriculture required cheap labor, so they brought in mostly African slaves. Slaves had little value for many industries because they needed higher skilled labor. Even after slavery ended, Africans still did a majority of the field work. This continued until the late 60's when African-Americans became better educated and sought out higher paying jobs.