Crowd Sourcing

With the aggregate wealth in the African American community it's a wonder the capital for movies, music , books and dare I say business is not crowd sourced.

Black Woman Earnings

It may seem paradoxical to write just a few posts ago that African American women enjoy a higher a higher standard of living than other women of color throughout the world and then point out their wage gap but actually it illustrates just how much work needs to be done to achieve a reasonably sound foundation for black families. This report highlights the median earnings of black women in 20 states. California does the best but that's presumably because the data are skewed by women in the entertainment industry. As you might suspect, most single black women with children are raising them in poverty.
Lenin or Marx (I forget whom) pointed out that the foundation of the state is the family. America as a whole suffers when black familial relationships are not maintained and nurtured. The reasons are complex & solutions start with individuals but it would be nice to hear & see more positive messages from the hip hop crew and others that family is the true source of wealth.

The black athlete unchained

In the aggregate sports in America is not quite so big a business but it carries an outsize influence because of its media impact. For black Americans sports (as well as entertainment) carries a huge influence because it simplifies the road to riches. Catch the ball, sing a song, act as directed and riches materialize. By and large, black youth tend not to be encouraged to become captains of industry or technological innovators despite their chances being far better to accrue riches and positively impact their world.

The singular achievements of athletes insulates them and whatever monies they earn from the larger community of their families , friends & peers. Suddenly, the support system that produced them is viewed negatively because it expects (rightfully) a return on its investment in them. In economic terms the human capital of the blacks is drained away.

No one seems to really believe that "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" because so little is invested in developing the African American mind. Those scientists & businessmen who do achieve success are viewed as aberrations when in fact they should be considered the norm.

I suspect that of the  roughly 1.6% of blacks earning over 200k per year a disproportionate amount is from sports and media activities.

Africanus Ceteris Peribus

The study of economics benefits all people including African Americans. One of the most potent insights thinking critically about economics provides is just how well off Americans of African descent are in this country.
I often hear black people complain about being poor yet they clearly have not considered

1. How relative concepts like poor & rich are
2. The living standards of blacks around the globe

For example, worldwide most black women do not have a drivers license, much less a car. In America it is not uncommon to see black woman shopping at malls, driving and enjoying what would be termed a luxury lifestyle in much of the and to much of the worlds population (regardless of sex or race). The authors of this report endured much criticism in the media but their fundamental premise carries weight.

Wealth & Income stats for 2011

The Wall Street Journal has a great info graphic on wealth distribution. To see it broken down by race click here for Black Demographics page on black income.

Cornel West & Ayman al-Zawahiri

What do they have in common? Both of them think Obama is a sellout. The Guardian reports on Zawahiri while TruthDig has the West comments.

I vainly tried (on this blog & in person) to encourage people to think critically about the Obama candidacy. His race is not a help to America's black population. It is in fact a buffer that blunts criticism and insulates Obama and the government from being held accountable for the bailout, education and high unemployment among African Americans.

Race and Obama 3 years on

Three years ago President Obama gave one of his most important pre presidential speeches. You can find audio and text here. It concerned race in America and was (mostly) prompted by videotaped remarks by a pastor at his church.
Obama said, " ... we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all."

Real Time

On a recent episode of Real Time (a political talk show on HBO) the host asked Tavis Smiley if he would, "...rather take 80 cents on the dollar or be beheaded?" Tavis did not answer. He may have been considering the propiety of the host breaking out a plate of fried chicken to make a point about the budget.

Just because something isn't as bad as it could be doesn't make it good.

Why have a black president?

As I see it the failure of the Barack Hussein Obama presidency is that he does not move African Americans toward liberty. To be sure he is successful as a symbol of what can be achieved in America. He is inspiring. Like his predecessors he has governed and warred effectively enough for the union to hold. Yet the cost of his presidency weighs against his value.
As John A. Powell of the Kirwan institute notes, "On race, he clearly mutes the conversation and confuses people."
Muting that conversation costs tens of millions of African Americans a great deal and has so far gained them nothing that a president of another race or gender could not have produced.

Young, Gifted and Black

"The inheritance of talents is no different , from an ethical point of view, from the inheritance of other forms of property of bonds, of stocks, of houses or of factories. Yet many people resent the one but not the other."

Milton Friedman

Poverty of the Mind

"Today they say that we are free, only to chain us in poverty"

Bob Marley & the Wailers



Black History Month grew out of Black History Week. Carter G Woodson, author of the Education of the Negro and the more popularly known the MisEducation of the Negro recognized the need for all Americans to know the history of their country and those who contributed to it. He believed that ignorance contributed to the atmosphere of race prejudice. In 1920's America it must have been difficult to imagine Obama's America but he did.

One of the horrors of the Slave Trade was the cultural disconnection experienced by the captives. Language, religion and other aspects of cultural identity, the very heritage that many take for granted were no longer theirs. Their descendants for generations were barred by law from learning to read or write. Opportunities to profit from their labor was sharply curtailed.

Poverty and wealth are typically viewed in material terms. Ayn Rand offers another perspective in her novel Atlas Shrugged. Therein a character named Francisco offers that , "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think."

Indeed it is. At one time Bob Marley accounted for half of Jaimaica's GDP. It wasn't oil wells or gold ore but his beautiful mind that produced it. A mind that sought out it's history.

Ronald Reagan and Obama

Ronald Reagan's son Michael argues in this FoxNews.com posting that his father was more of a friend to blacks than Obama. He cites lower unemployment, rising wages, an increasing middle class and the MLK holiday to prove his argument. He then contrasts that with Obama's record (16% black unemployment and rising).

His thoughts dovetail with this article in the Mercury News. According to Eugene Robinson Black America has splintered into four distinct groups. The groups are

1. The Mainstream - 9 to 5ers


2. The Abandoned - languishing in economic, cultural and mental poverty


3. The Transcendent - Obama, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Oprah


4. Emergent - also Obama, Colin Powell, Lenny Kravitz

How does this relate to the first black president? Obama as a Trancendent Emergent black would never sign an MLK bill or affirmative action legislation (both produced by republican presidents). He is (as noted in a previous post) sensitive to reverse discrimination.

Envisioning Economic Collapse Part 3

Parts 1 and 2 of envisioning economic collapse were thought experiments dealing with economic shocks. No distinctions were made between crisis and collapse. Four years later we find the American economy in the midst of a slow motion crisis and facing the very real prospect of collapse. Not only that but talk of America breaking up into separate countries has gone from unread tomes by policy analysts (see Who We Are by Samuel Huntington) and obscure (in America) Russian commentators to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Whats going on?

In a nutshell debt, of a very particular quality and character. According to the Congressional Budget Office the country is on the verge of a fiscal crisis. To "save the economy" the federal government not only passed the TARP but the federal reserve took action by purchasing mortgages and other securitized products and/or making loans against them as collateral. These actions in a vacum would not have precipated such a dismal outlook but after decades of deficit (starting with the Carter Administration) spending they have pushed the country to the aformentioned brink of a fiscal crisis.

This is only compounded on a local level where the muncipal debt of states, cities, parrishes, counties, towns and whatever other governing body allowed to assume debt has borrowed to the hilt. The idea of a state bankruptcy law has been making the rounds in congress and numerous exposes' have been penned chronicling the issues facing Illinois, California, New York and other local governments. As governments are forced to raise taxes and provide fewer services simultaneously; their populations decrease lowering revenues and forcing them closer to default.

According to Meredith Whitney, 2011 will be the year of reckoning.

The Digital Divide

The fact that digital migration is revealing the same social patterns as urban white flight should send warning signals to everyone out there.

The High Cost of Obama / A bitter cup of Tea

The firing and subsequent review of the firing of Shirley Sherrod is illustrative of the state of race relations in America today.
According to the NAACP, "We are in a moment where there is heightened sensitivity and concern, including within the N.A.A.C.P., about discrimination against white people."
At the White House, "Gibbs also sidestepped suggestions that the administration was too quick to abandon African-American subordinates, including former Obama environmental aide Van Jones."
A cynical black (only Tavis Smiley comes to mind) would have postulated that this could be expected with a black president. To a black nationalist it would seem only elementary that there would be some blowback to a black president of the USA.
Is it worth it?
Where will it lead?

Not so empirical

According to the economist editor, "I asked for Ms. Randolph to be removed because I wanted readers to focus on Mr. Obama, not because I wanted to make him look isolated."
I enjoy reading the Economist, of course I am mindful that it is a British publication.

I- Terations

"Service Economy" equates to....
Serve us
Serf
Servitude
Servant

Thanks to Gerald Celente

Haunted by the Bailout

The treasury secretary touts TARP as a success but it doesn't seem that way.
Local, state and federal government debt has skyrocketed. Consumer spending is down. Unemployment is high. Paul Krugman of the NY Times predicts we are in the third Depression. Gold is at an all time high. Home foreclosures are on the rise. The DOW is mired in misery below 10,000.
The financial crisis of 2007 & 2008 was an economic shock. Specifically it was a demand shock. Accepted macroeconomic theory says that the economy should tend back toward equilibrium. If the economy operated as smoothly as the simple model that might be the case. In reality demand was already artificially created (think housing bubble) prior to the shock and what we are witnessing is the economy moving towards pre-shock equilibrium. Since this is lower than equilibrium with artificial demand levels we observe the aforementioned economic indicators.
In addition the economic shock , due to it's severity, exposed a vast number of inefficiencies in the marketplace and overall economy. This is termed commonly as creative destruction (Joseph Schumpeter). Business models, investment theory, economic theory, fiscal & monetary policy and more were all found to be flawed and / or wanting.
That's a good thing because efficient markets are to be desired.
The bad is that moral hazard was far exceeded by the government in it's efforts to correct the shock. More not less failure would have strengthened the country going forward as it would have flushed incompetent managers and corporate entities from the business landscape.
It is important that failure is not rewarded in an incentive based system yet that is exactly what happened.
Failure was rewarded and corporations already too big to fail were allowed to become larger.
In the end the treasury secretary said breaking up the banks was simply , "too hard and complicated." That phrase alone typifies the lack of direction we have as a society and how it is that Samuel Huntington could speculate that the country may very well disintegrate in the the near future.
Supposedly core ideals of free markets gave way to crony capitalism. What better way to generate jobs, spur innovation and prevent the public accumulation of private debt than to split large banks into regional banks saddled with debt and in need of employees?
That was too hard; much easier to insulate the wealthy against the harsh lash of the market that whips the backs of the poor every day.
There is something to be said for merit if one appreciates quality over privilege.
There is much to be said for low barriers to entry to markets as well and how this was forgotten when those who currently held the keys were threatedned by their own folly.
Poor economic indicators are easily fixed but there must be the moral capacity existent by policy makers to do so. That lack of moral capacity is what will haunt America the most.

The Meaning of July Fourth

Frederick Douglass 4th of July speech

Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory....

...Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart."

But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."

Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse"; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.

But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, "It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, an denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being? The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man!

For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and ciphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!

Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? How should I look to-day, in the presence of Amercans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.

What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No! I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.

What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may; I cannot. The time for such argument is passed.

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....


...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. -- Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other.

The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 'Ethiopia, shall, stretch. out her hand unto God." In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it:

God speed the year of jubilee
The wide world o'er!
When from their galling chains set free,
Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee,
And wear the yoke of tyranny
Like brutes no more.
That year will come, and freedom's reign,
To man his plundered rights again
Restore.

God speed the day when human blood
Shall cease to flow!
In every clime be understood,
The claims of human brotherhood,
And each return for evil, good,
Not blow for blow;
That day will come all feuds to end,
And change into a faithful friend
Each foe.

God speed the hour, the glorious hour,
When none on earth
Shall exercise a lordly power,
Nor in a tyrant's presence cower;
But to all manhood's stature tower,
By equal birth!
That hour will come, to each, to all,
And from his Prison-house, to thrall
Go forth.

Until that year, day, hour, arrive,
With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive,
To break the rod, and rend the gyve,
The spoiler of his prey deprive --
So witness Heaven!
And never from my chosen post,
Whate'er the peril or the cost,
Be driven.

Tiger and Jack Johnson

Just the other day a friend was comparing Jackie Robinson to Uncle Ruckus, saying most people don't know the history. When the history of Woods is written what will it say?
The black economist thinks most of the condemnation of Woods is sorely missing the point. What it seems most people find so troubling isn't that he is free to choose but that he has done so. Dating white women doesn't make Woods a villain or even a criminal. It made Jack Johnson a criminal still.
Whats most illuminating is that those of the black community who would criticize Woods for his somewhat obvious choice of white women seem to forget that doesn't automatically mean a condemnation of black women but simply that he has chosen otherwise. Its indicative of Justice Clarence Thomas (whos married to a white woman) and the remark that African-Americans are not monolithic. Illustratively it shows the idea that African-Americans must adhere to a indigenous 'black culture.' The same one that devalues education.
This culture that features rich, uneducated but crafty and sure-footed black men even has Rush Limbaugh say, "The Black State of Mind is Terrible."

Obama and white voters

In my most recent blog I argued that Obamas' remarks concerning the arrest of Henry Loius Gates could be a fatal error. They have not shown themselves to be as of yet. They are still of concern however. This article in the LA Times concerning Obama and white voters offers that there has been some noticeable affect , "Pew first identified a slippage in white support immediately after a news conference in July, when Obama surprised many by saying that a white police officer had acted "stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor."

A zealous Obama supporter at my barber shop grew agitated when I said the error was real.

As I see it the Obama advisers (wise men as Gov. Mark Sanford put it) are in danger of falling prey to group think and arrogance. Something the governor also warns against in the video.

American racial concerns, myths , stereotypes, history and anxiety need to be considered as Obama governs.

Obama should studiously avoid giving his opposition locker room material.

I doubt any rumour concerning his religion, nationality or what have you may take hold. He could still be felled by a foolish comment that can be interpreted by white Americans that he is not representative of their interests.

No President can do that for everyone but as a black man named Hussein, Obama is particularly vulnerable to credibility issues and should realize it. In fact given American history he should handle these issues with extreme care.

Obama and Gates

President Obama is the the top law enforcement official in the country. He wasted an opportunity to build goodwill with the police forces across the country.
It may indeed end up being a devastating error.
Instead of saying the police acted stupidly it would have been better to support the officer and his friend Skip Gates. I acknowledge that the president has leeway and as leader has the right to express himself.
On the other hand, being that he is the constant victim of attacks concerning his allegiances and national identity why not support the officer and make clear in a practical way that he is not against policemen or police departments.

Racist Robots

So I heard about the racist robots in Transformers 2. I had to go see it then even though I liked the first one and had planned to see it anyway.
Bring them on - these programmed automatons that were more race specific than the humanistic oriented machine villains in the matrix.
Sadly , as so often happens, they were just hype.
No article seemed to mention that the villain robot the Fallen (who curiously hated all human beings [for which thankfully there is no stereotype]) was voiced by an African-American.
Nor did the recurring theme of Resurrection which is prevalent through both films warrant popular attention.
This after even promo materials highlighted the battle royal amongst ancient Egyptian ruins.
On top of that they take the carcass of Optimus Prime to Egypt for Resurrection.
But no, the least common denominator comedy of marginal characters is what was widely reported.
But were the robots racist?
Did the blood boil?
Was I kicked around again by the "big media elite" as an African-American?
No , it's a great summer film and maybe the point of highlighing innocent, naive Skids and Mudflap is to keep the conversation accessible for the masses.

If Palin Quit...

I am fully aware Palin is not "African-American" but we learn from her story.

Winners never quit and quitters never win goes the story.

I guess the republican party is no more.

Me First

After first reading this article on the first African-American woman to be a Jewish rabbi I thought, "What doors has Obama opened for blacks." It was followed by the realization that Alysa Stanton and Barack Obama have worked for years to attain their accomplishments.

In fact, Alysa was working towards her goal long before Obama became president.

While the question of her goal being attainable only after the election of the first black president was suductive it is obviously a dead-end. In this instance the two may or may not be mutually exclusive but it seems unlikely that all like events will be the same.

Now as to why it is pointed out and whether we will get past this American heritage and tradition of pointing out negro, black, woman, Latina etc etc "Firsts" - that's fertile ground.

The Token President or Black Liberty in our lifetime?

Obama's inauguration today was a milestone achievement in the history of America, but the black economist has yet to see the change.

Is Obama little more than a fly amongst the buttermilk?

Does the achievement of one black man (with tangential roots in African-American history) materially improve the conditions of African-Americans?

No, but I am sure it will do much to get the ball rolling.

The Obama Report

Available at http://change.gov/page/-/hem5zet3nalm2/2008%2012%2023%20PTT%20Contacts%20Memo.pdf

Even more interesting is that Obamas chief of staff "took a long planned trip to Africa."

Third World America

I wonder if Noam Chomsky was also thinking America would have the debt of a third world country when he asserted that America was becoming a third world country because of the greater stratification between the rich and poor?

Don't Play Me

Powell as secretary of Defense?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266223/

Thoughts on the Financial Crisis

The economy is a national security issue.

Giving financial institutions hundreds of billions while they fire tens of thousands of workers exceeds moral hazard.

2009 can still be a year of hope, betterment and change. We must not to create a self-fulfilling prophecy of decline.

Today the market closed forty-seven percent off it's all-time high reached a little over a year ago. How long will it take to reach it again?

Black Precedent

Reasonably, with demographic trends predicting an America population over fifty percent nonwhite by 2050, a Black President was never a pipe dream far into the future. It's a great achievement and President - Elect Barack Obama has empowered the present for black men in a way only a few have before him.

The Death of Black Nationalism

The manufactured controversy surrounding Barack Obama was predicted by his own staff. The now famous pastor Wright was , according to media reports, not allowed to be present when he announced his candidacy.
It is reasonable to assume that someone long ago noticed that Barack Hussein Obama was black and that would substantially impact his race for the American presidency. Knowing that, it is logical to assume that he would be attacked by association which is standard political practice. The majority of white Americans have a ... unrealistic understanding of their black fellow citizens so the senator is particularly vulnerable to having the race card played against him. His enemies, wily and cunning, know that attacking him directly for his race would never work so they turn to the target rich black community. Black men are boogey men to many and an out of context soundbite is a well worn political weapon.
In the end it is not pastor Wright that is personally important because any black boogey man will do.
What I find most interesting, and indicative of democratic party infighting / election year politics, is that when Dr. Kambon made his now forgotten speech only the right wing media carried the story. With Wright the entire establishment has jumped into the fray.
Obama gave a great speech in response.

First Black President

My gut tells me that Toni Morrison regrets her famous qoute about Bill Clinton.

intensely competitive

The above is how one of Obama's aides characterized a "possible" McCain/Obama general election. It was in response to remarks by talk show host Bill Cunningham showcasing Obama's middle name and liberal leanings.
I think it's an understatement.

Black President

The contrarian view might be that Obama is being manipulated into running for president.
A much more realistic view is that, somehow, if you are black the only reason you are voting for Obama is because he is black.
Would Obama be the first black president? Was Bill Clinton?
No on both counts.
To answer the question we must define "black" politically.
A Black president must have a black base of support, an infrastructure. More importantly a "Black President" would have a black political agenda (what that agenda might be we will leave to further/previous posts.)
Obama ,apparently, has neither.
It is ironic that the primary reason for not voting for him is that he might.

Obama and Clinton

Please correct me if I am in error, but the black economist's understanding of history is that black men gained the vote before white women.

Blackle

Search the web a greener way. Check out google sponsored http://www.blackle.com/ or read the FAQ here.
According to the website; a black screen uses less energy than a white one.

Race Fatigue

Sorry all , I have not been posting lately because the black economist has come down with a severe case of race fatigue.
Maybe it was all those crabs in a barrel I ate, the profound stupidity of Michael Vick or the utterly depressing state of hip hop.

Where Wealth Lives

Selected quotes from the BET Jazz Documentary on the African American wealth experience:

"Owning personal property or land is a sign of freedom"

John Hope Franklin

"....but also because they had a stream of income independent of the white folks"

Tom Hanchett on the success of funeral home owners

Emmitt Smith on Capitalism

"People ask me what my sport is these days, and I tell them as far as I'm concerned I'm in the ultimate arena of competition, It's called free enterprise, and it's the most competitive thing I've ever attempted."

Emmitt Smith

Glover and Chavez

The Venuzuelan congress has invested somewhere between 18 and 20 million dollars with Danny Glover to produce films on the lives of Simon Bolivar and Toussaint L'Ouverture.
The press release is available here in spanish or translated into english by google here.

What happened to BlackLiberty?

Black Liberty has been down the past few weeks as i try to transfer it to its own domain, www.blackliberty.com.

Believe it or not there is no one to call for help on blogger and GoDaddy support is not getting the job done.

Still, I know all my loyal readers are eager for commentary. I hope to have the technical issues resolved soon.

Until I will no longer forward this address and focus on writing.

Thank you for your support.

Gore's Revenge

Tipper Gore's and C. Delores Tuckers revenge actually. Their efforts to censor and limit the expression of artists such as Tupac Shakur led to a public condemnation against their assault on the first amendment. It would seem they lost that battle but not the war.
The Rutgers 10 struck a chord that said you may be like that but I'm not like that. Imus crime was showing that he was influenced by popular culture and no longer a leader of it.
As previously mentioned his present value was high but his future value was quite low.
The gumbo of sex and race is too irresistible for many so Ann Coulter says Imus could have called her a flaxen-haired ho and Michelle Malkin points the finger at the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Chart.
In fact, if there is a smoking gun it is rap music as more and more columnists are saying.
So now an already embattled music industry is receiving renewed attention to the point where Russell Simmons and Snoop Dogg are issuing statements.

Blacks and Globalization Part 2

The line between consumer and professional goods has become blurred as competition has spurred innovation and falling prices. Technology has allowed anyone with a computer, software, and a camera or microphone to become a dj, journalist, musician or what have have you. That alone would not seriously challange traditional media if not for the new means of distribution that the internet offers.
Traditional media outlets have lost market share as consumers have used the internet to seek out products that are more customized to their preferences.
This Long Tail as its called is the reason for the fall in sales of the large record companies. When Michael Jackson had 'Thriller' it was the only game in town. Now musicians, authors, etc. can produce and distribute without the consent of a minority.
This will inevitably lead to a change in consciousness of black media as artists use the new outlets to express themselves.
In particular the 'tone' of hip-hop and R & B should change as more artists find that they do not have to make concessions to record companies to enjoy success.

Digging a Ditch

If Imus first remarks were not bad enough these are certainly food for thought.

"that phrase originated in the black community. ... I may be a white man, but I know that these young women and young black women all through that society are demeaned and degraded by their own black men and that they are called that name."

What do you think?

Calling the Kettle Black

He's one to talk about nappy hair.

Nappy Headed Hos

Referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as a bunch of hos on a nationally syndicated media program is low down and dirty.
A casual glance at their website affirms they are anything but Hos.
They beat out a number of good programs to reach the Final Four (ECU, LSU, Duke, Arizona, Michigan State) and came up just short of a championship. They are competitive and that is encouraged in our society.
I know, I know... will Imus be fired?

Well the ratings might just justify it. Imus is not drawing as many listeners and viewers as he once did due to the continuing fragmentaion and specialization of media. Studio execs or Imus himself may see this as an opprotunity to make a change. Grumpy old men appeal to a narrow demographic.

If Rutgers University calls for his resignation (which they have not publicly done from what I see) he's out.

Criminalizing Success

Recent stories concerning PacMan Jones and other NFL players demonstrate a surprising degree of racism.
I am not saying the players did not commit any crimes, but as mentioned previously, NFL players would have to commit many more to rank dead even with the general population.
What seems to be at work is a backlash against the Black Athelete. Their success makes them popular targets of ire & envy amongst the general.
"They must be punished" we read and yet most of them (over 99%) are law abiding citizens.
At its root is that successful African-Americans are viewed as threatening and worse yet as undeserving of what they get.

John Mcmillan

John Mcmillan was an economist. His claim to fame was organizing the market for spectrum for the FCC.
I read his book Reinventing the Bazaar. What I took away from it (along with other things) was that wealth can be created. That markets are created and regulated and that the players in these markets are awarded their positions by the political elite.
African-Americans have far more political power than we might know. We should use it to ensure our participation when these markets are created.

The NFL and Crime

This well written thoughtful blog post points out that NFL players are actually less likely to be involved with the law than the general population.
It would seem that the criminal athelete is all smoke and no fire.

Obama vs. Australia

Prime Minister of Australia John Howard says the terrorists are praying for a Obama win in 2008.
Obama says send more troops or shut up.

The Economist magazine

According to the economist magazine 1.1 million black people make more than $100,000 a year. In the article concerning Black Power they go on to note that ,"The era of affirmative action, or preferential treatment for blacks, seems to be drawing to a close."
Do tell? I was unsure that it had begun, most likely because of my age.
The economist has some wonderful articles but its strengths are also its weaknesses.
Being a foreign publication often allows it to speak with startling clarity concerning US domestic issues but it just as often misses the mark because they do not understand America.

Genarlow Wilson

Genarlow Wilson is doing the right thing and being denied his liberty. In this article by ABC news we find that of the group of men charged with sex crimes he was the only one not to have a previous criminal record.
The article suggests that if the prosecutor had not brought charges or if he had taken a plea agreement he would not have spent the last 23 months in jail.
Perhaps a third option should have been jury nullification. Any jury in the US can decide not to convict, regardless of what the law says. This incidentally, is why and how convictions were never brought in cases involving white defendants and black victims, such as rapes and lynchings. The jury simply nullified the charges.
Lately it has been a suggested strategy in the war on drugs.

Black Bowled

Congratulations to coaches Smith and Dungy for making the Superbowl. They are fine examples of managerial and organizational expertise.
On the surface their accomplishment says that race is no barrier to greatness nor is it an indicator of future success.
They represent the American dream of anything being possible through hard work and perseverance.
The danger is of their accomplishment being viewed not as superficial (it is sport after all) but as a 'given'.
True, social conditions had to change to allow them into the arena, but it is their abilities not preference or affirmative action that effects their successes.

Black Paranoia in America

Unsurprisingly, as government bureaucracy works slowly, we are just now seeing some of the post 9/11 security policies being enacted. New requirements that all who enter and leave the country have a passport and federal standards for drivers license put this post on Black Paranoia in Britain in new context.
Ironically, the biggest problem for blacks isn't what the government keeps in its database but getting into it. Provisions keeping parolees, deadbeat dads and convicted felons from gaining access to passports and licenses will affect blacks.

Information and the Digital Divide

Some economists say that the main problem in economics is information. Needed so that markets can clear and be efficient.
The number one concern filed by minorities in worker discrimination complaints is that their coworkers were "withholding information."
Is information power?
It would seem so. In today's modern world blacks should stress gaining access to information and deciding how to use it. The Internet places vast information at the fingertips for a relatively low cost.
If the mind boggles when considering black people were once killed for knowing how to read and white people were killed for teaching them, it totally breaks down when considering the "Digital Divide."

The End of Black Liberty?

Black Economics is a worthy subject matter. To be thorough though requires a not quite as blacknificent worldview. After all, as it is put so eloquently in Ecclesiastes, we all share the same breath. So in the future there will be more but of a different nature.

Drug Legalization and Black Liberty

A report entitled "Marijuana Production in the United States" points out that Marijuana is the biggest cash crop in the country despite years of arrests, forfeitures, shattered lives and homes as a result of the war on drugs.
Black men and women more than any other segment of society would stand to benefit from drug legalization, yet our voices are almost absent in the discussion.
The price we have paid in the war on drugs has been socially devastating and turned every black man into a suspect.
Furthermore the war on drugs has done more to erode the bill of rights than the patriot act.
What do you think? Should black people support drug legalization?

The State of American Civilization

Is there any greater social indicator of the true state of America than Miss America going into rehab?

Kwame Jackson

Two years on from the apprentice Kwame Jackson is still going strong and speaking knowingly about blacks and the economy.

Envisioning Economic Collapse Part 2

A recent Boston Globe article on the declining dollar suggests that a currency collapse is imminent. While well reasoned the author ignores that it is in very few countries interest to see that happen. There would be, the author suggests, a run on the dollar into the euro.
What money manager would see the european union as being more stable than America? Why?
Still, the article is noteworthy because confidence in currency is critical to maintaining social order. Counterfeiting and money order fraud have grown to such proportions that the demise of physical currency is what is imminent.

His Panic or Yours?

Harvard professor Samuel P Huntington, populary known for his book, "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" chillingly writes of possible futures for America in his latest book , "Who are We."
He says the greatest surprise would be if America is the same country in 2025 that it is today. He even predicts it could be different countries.
He writes, "...various forces challenging the core American culture and Creed could generate a move by native white Americans to revive the discarded and discredited racial and ethnic concepts of American identity and to create an America that would exclude, expel, or suppress people of other racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Historical and contemporary experience suggest that this is a highly probable reaction from a once dominant ethnic-racial group that feels threatened by the rise of other groups. It could produce a racially intolerant country with high levels of intergroup conflict."

Negrodamus

The effort to ban the use of the N word by Jesse Jackson has ,like the cristal boycott, merit. Paul Mooney dropping the word is a bombshell given his proclivity for it and his efforts to publicize it.
As long as there remains potential for someone to make money off of it the word will be in use in mainstream media.

Toxic World

This article on surviving your toxic enviroment is pretty good. While it is entitled how the world shaves years off your life it could just as easily been named, "How the world adds years to your life."
Be sure to check out the part on PM-10 which has got to be the most important health concern you have never heard of.

The Ultimate Resource

The ultimate resource is people.
Human ingenuity and creativity has almost limitless potential to enhance human life.
One idea can change the world.

Ghost of the Soup Nazi / Race Riot @ the Laugh Factory

Michael Richards is a haunted man. Like so many comedians his life contains little humour. Like so many human beings his thoughts tend toward the mundane, the vulgar.
His Kramer was a physical comedian. George, Elaine and Jerry handled the cerebral stuff. He was more of an athlete. Taking falls and fouls, yet scoring points.
Forced to make his money as a slave to the blank faced masses who stare at his image. More than once he has probaly said to himself, "At least the show is funny."
A jester, a clown, a funnyman beholden to funnymen.
Seinfeld was long ago; as well as the fame and the other riches that came with it.
So there he was, a washed up comic, begging for laughs when someone pointed out that the emperor wears no clothes.
Whoever said that was going to get it. The roulette ball came up black and Michael Richards lost the game.
He said he might need to do some personal stuff but let's face it.... he wasn't high on anything but rage and maybe a bong hit or two of self-loathing. Teaching an old dog new tricks is a long shot, there won't be any rehab for him.
The Soup Nazi is in all of us, fighting and tearing to get out. It can't be the medias fault. All that rage and violence and hatred and bigotry in American life is ...what it is. It's in us. There long before television or radio (or ipods and camera phones).
History shows but doesn't teach. If the enviroment can't change neither can the genes.
The words can make you angry but the hecklers left without further incident. Good for them.
Starting a race riot at the Laugh Factory would have been no laughing matter, well maybe but only in the strictest of terms.
What it shows is that Race is "one hell of a drug" and we need to stop our addiction.

Kramer the Nazi

By now you have seen the video of Michael Richards anti black tirade.
My first impression is at least Mel Gibson was drunk.
I watched his interview on Letterman and my impression of that is he doesn't care and his apology (if you can call it that) was very insincere. Like the Rodney King tape he said we didn't see it all.
Seinfeld said it sickened him. His defense of Richards is what is sickening. He said he loves him and he is his friend and that that's the way he does his routine.
Worse yet you can tell Richards has been this way for a loooong time, as the words slipped so freely from his tongue.
You have to applaud the hecklers for they showed constraint in a very difficult situation.

A few words on Friedman

Milton Friedman was (like Abraham, Marx, Einstein & Freud) a Jew with some big ideas. At first blush a supporter of Goldwater, Nixon, and Reagan may not seem like the type to inspire Black Liberty but he most certainly was.
What I most remember is a passage in the Free Market Reader where he states that , "a furniture maker cares not whether he gets his wood from a negro or a Jew, so long as he gets wood" or something to that effect.
For the black economist it was a turning point in his understanding of social studies.
Later, when presented with a copy of ,"The road to Serfdom" (written by Hayek, not Friedman)the idea crystallized that whilst we can do little regarding color prejudice it matters not overmuch if we are paid and able to purchase what we please.
In Friedman's view, "better a negro woman pays a few dollars more for rent than not being able to rent at all."
It may on the surface seem callous (as admittedly much economic thinking is) but it is best overall.
The black economists view is that African-Americans need not paternalism but markets. Should anyone think that liberals cannot be racist I encourage them to tell one blacks don't need assistance but access and observe what happens.
A large part of white racism is a deep rooted insecurity.
In Friedman you had the best type of man. One who did not need to put down others to boost himself up. A white man who was not afraid of "the other" because he was confident in himself and who he was.
In fairness, I should mention that other writings of his did refer to Africans as savages, or uncivilized or somesuch.
The point though is like the Jew or Asian prejudice should not be allowed to hold back our material progress and like the Jew or the Asian LIBERTY will not come until we recognize that the freedom to think and learn is what we have and the key to our continuing success.

The Audacity of Obama

I haven't read his book, spoken to him, or seen him on television too many times but I continue to read of Barack Obama and the presidency.
The problem is that he did not have a groundswell of support that brought him into office. It was a scandal plagued republican challenger that gave him his boost. Now after 2 years in a position he would not have won had he been challenged by anyone who could pass a smell test he talks of the presidency.
If he engineered the defeat of his opponent he can talk legitimately, if it was by circumstance he (and anyone who believes his presidential ambitions) is being taken for a ride.
A friend mentioned that he thinks he is merely positioning himself for a run in 2016.

Black Paranoia in Britain

Eugenics is rearing its ugly head in Britain.
Apparently in Britain and Wales the police have established a database that contains the DNA of 60-75% their black male citizens.
This has led to concerns of a surveillance state "in which some ethnic groups are monitored more closely than others."

Black Radical Congress

No, not THE Black Radical Congress but that's what conservatives will call it if the democrats take the house in the upcoming elections.
Should the democrats take the house three of the most powerful committees in Congress would be chaired by black men.
They are John Conyers (Judiciary), Alcee Hastings (Intelligence) and Charles Rangel (Ways and Means).
That would, presumably, mean the issue of Reparations would be studied by the government.
This would not be the first time blacks have held high office in America.
It would be the first time in over 100 years however.

The Black Millionaire Next Door

Tavis Smiley interviewed the authors of this report but I cannot locate it anywhere on the net. Their research shows there were 116 thousand black millionaires in 2003 (out of 2.5 million overall). 80-85% owned their own business. About one thousand were athletes.

Ten Richest In Hip-Hop

1. P. Diddy, $346 Million
2. Jay-Z, $340 Million
3. Russell Simmons, $325 Million
4. Damon Dash, $200 Million
5. Neptunes, $155 Million
6. Dr. Dre, $150 Million
7. Ice Cube, $145 Million
8. Eminem, $110 Million
9. 50 Cent, $100 Million
10. (Tied) Nelly, $60 Million
10. (Tied) Jermaine Dupri, $60 Million

Wikipedia article on black billionaires

The Blade of the IRS

If you can believe it, Wesley Snipes actually filed a tax return requesting an Administrative Law Judge review his request for a 7.363236 million dollar refund.
More fantastic is the indictment showing him falling in with the Guiding Light of God ministries who convinced him not to pay taxes.

Supreme Mathematics

The 5% album by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian was inevitable. Its' like a black wax crest sealing the scroll of hip-hop.
It is also a wake-up call and challange to listeners. He plainly says don't spend your money on gangsta that does nothing for the mind, body or soul.
The 90 page booklet included with the disc was much appreciated. After all, how often does a rapper include the printed word with their music? It focuses on the history of the 5% , or the Nation of Gods and Earths, and its influence on hip-hop.
Interestingly, while they have appropiated many Islamic words and phrases five percenters insist they are not Islamic. The words are but keys to the philosphy which bears a strange resemblance to the esoteric knowledge of old.

Black Economics

Black economics is the study of the means by which black people (Afikans if you will) maintain their material integrity. This includes land, resources, commodities, physical health, and of course their Liberty.
It follows then that there would be a political element; because on a large scale these decisions would be made by a body politic. For Afrikans that body politic suffers severe distortions because we do not exercise total control over our material integrity.
You have heard it all before, we don't own land, produce crops or for the most part teach our children. We rely on the white people for those things. For in America they own the land, multinational corporations and occupy every seat of public and private authority.
The challange of the black economist then is to formulate and research means by which Afrikans can maximize their wealth, health and knowledge of self.

25 million reasons to be alive

Suicide is no laughing matter. There are more suicides than murders in the United States. Black male suicide , in particular, has been on the increase over the past two decades.
Suddenly a very serious subject (two if you count allergic reactions to medication) has been trivialized (not deliberately) by the prototypical narcissistic sports star who could not possibly commit suicide because he has 25 million reasons to be alive according to his publicist.
Does this mean impoverished black men are justified in killing themselves?

Africans, Islam and Terror

The "Arc of instability" not to be confused with the "ark of the covenant" is a imaginary band that surrounds the middle of the earth. The countries that fall within it are clinically referred to as the non-integrated gap. The countries that fall outside are called the functioning core. So named by Thomas P.M. Barnett.
Notice that the continent of Africa falls almost completely within the non integrated zone. According to African journalists this is because the countries are resource rich.
According to western policy analysts it is because of the continent's potential as a terrorist breeding ground.

FreeMasonry and the Wu-tang

Masonry is said to have it roots in the mystery systems of ancient Egypt, which in turn received them from the disputed civilizations of Atlantis and Mu.
The mystery systems themselves are said to have focused on the "rebirth" of the initiate into a being at one with themselves and the universe around them or some such variant. In some systems the initiated become either "like-god" or "with-god." In other mystery schools initiates merely become fully human for the first time, meaning that that are free to think for themselves and act upon those thoughts .
All involve the dissemination of secret or hidden knowledge. There is ample evidence to suggest that humans have a strong genetic need to be initiated into social systems.
Anyway, the most common reason the knowledge was occult or esoteric was because the general populace could never be trusted with it and to profit the owners of it. Throughout Western history we see emperors, kings, queens, priests, scientists, merchants and the like working to see that the masses were indoctrinated in one way while they themselves practiced or sought after different philosophical ideals.
Many times these same ideals they sought in private they would lampoon in public.
The founding fathers of America saw things differently. They believed that the minds of the masses could be loosed. As time has progressed however the same old rigid structures of society have again been rebuilt in America. Some would say it is inevitable because the great masses of men are content to run the treadmill of life and peacefully go away while only one in a thousand is truly interested in acquiring knowledge and acting on it.
In other words only 5% percent know or seek the truth.

A Dangerous Game

Telling American citizens they are safer with less liberty is a dangerous political game.
Saying the current tactics of the "war on terror" are working simply because there have been no reported incidents in five years is also very dangerous.
It was nine years between original bombing and the second attack on the world trade. Would you work in the pentagon now?

The Way to Wealth

The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin is an accesible book for anyone interested in that subject. So is Working with the Hands by Booker T Washington. In both cases hard work or industry as they referred to it brought a man wealth of all kinds.
For wealth is not measured in money alone, if at all, as money is only a means to an end.
Health is the most realistic metric of wealth. No wonder the healthcare industry is booming.

Last Days on Earth

This program , produced by 20/20 (no pun intended), tells of the seven greatest threats facing not just mankind but the planet. Iraq is not one of them.
Today the president gave a speech wherein his only focus was the so-called war on terror. This he asserted was the challange of our times.
"Despite their differences, these groups form the outline of a single movement, a worldwide network of radicals that use terror to kill those who stand in the way of their totalitarian ideology." To whom is he refering? His staff?
After watching two hours of how Western technology has created diseases, nuclear weapons and enough waste to drastically alter the climate one is left to wonder just who are the terrorists.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gores playlist on itunes includes "Umi Says" by Mos Def from the album Black on Both Sides. I guess he took that election loss pretty hard.

Black Liberty Radio!

Well not Blackliberty radio really, but close enough.

Underground Scrolls

The X Clan mixtape "Underground Scrolls" comes 20 years after the release of "To the East Blackwards." Brother J's lyrical skills have not faltered. The music is still funky and to hear a black artist rap Marcus Garvey or Harriet Tubman instead of dro, crunk or hyp is welcome. "Do it Again" stands out with its old skool funk beat and Brother J's tirade against those haters ("How can I be considered 3/5th a man, my DNA is the master plan.")
X Clan (like Jeru, KRS1) attacks ignorance head on.
There are snippets of Professor X and at the end J acknowledges his "great life."
The black economists rating?
Vainglorious

Up from Slavery

"In all things that are purely social we can be separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress."
Booker T Washington

"Nothing about us, without us"
Overheard at a seminar.

The "pre-9/11 mindset"

The Iranian president also mentioned the 11th of september attacks in his letter.
"All governments have a duty to protect the lives, property and good standing of their citizens.
Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems
– and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it
be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services – or
their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various
aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their
responsibilities? And, why aren’t those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put
on trial?"
The black economist has long wondered why the first president with an MBA fired no one. He seems awfully hard on everyone else.
In the days since the infamous terror attacks the current administration has shamelessly exploited them for political gain. The threat of terror has been used to erode civil liberties, obfuscate politcal discourse and cover-up fraudelent elections at home and abroad. Most importantly it has served as a cover to ignore more pressing domestic needs.
Such is the clash of civilazations.

Dear Mr. President

The black economist was taught that you always have to read what others are saying about you. It is common sense I suppose. So he dutifully read the president of Irans' letter to President Bush.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comments concerning Africans:
"The people of Africa are hardworking, creative and talented. They can play an important and
valuable role in providing for the needs of humanity and contribute to its material and
spiritual progress. Poverty and hardship in large parts of Africa are preventing this from
happening. Don’t they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth – including minerals –
is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others?"

Bear in mind that many, many Africans would reply that Arabs have and are taking part in that looting. One need only look at the situation in oil rich Sudan.

Blacks, Islam & Terror

Shortly after the Million Man March the black economist recalls reading in the Washington Post a quote from Alexander Lebed , a Russian general. He said (to the best of my recollection), "People in Washington are sure to be concerned about joining Islam with the genetic imprint of slavery."
At the time what caught my attention were the words, "genetic imprint of slavery." I have since come across other references to that line of thinking from some black Hollywood actors but no concrete work on the concept.
As the war on terror has progressed more and more black Americans have been arrested on terror related charges. Louis Farrakhan, the most prominent black Muslim in America, has been a no show in the public eye for years now.
The implication is explicit.
The government has long known that the greatest threat to domestic security is its black population (think COINTELPRO). At this point in history that threat is even greater because a large domestic disturbance would prevent America from projecting it's power overseas and drastically increase security costs which in turn would send the economy into a tailspin.
The black economists predicts this issue will burst into the public eye spectacularly at some point in the near future.

Creating Black Wealth

Frederick Douglas and Booker T Washington (pictured with the National Negro Business League) both espoused the necessity of African-Americans building sustainable communities through ownership. So did Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad. In fact it's difficult to find a black leader who does not promote such ideas.
Why then have they not been realized? There are no black owned Fortune 500 companies or multinational corporations for instance.
admittedly, the barriers to entry in such markets are high. Many would argue that a minority group has no chance. Yet these firms are not owned collectively. Each one is held and run by a very small group of people. A "minority group" if you will.
The black economist brought this issue up to a real estate professional who promptly answered that, "We have to create the market." Meaning that we have to establish value for ourselves.
Bear in mind that cash is useless unless someone agrees to accept it. It's value is agreed upon. The art market is a prime example of this. Why pay millions for a Monet? Because it will keep it's value.
The secret to creating Black Wealth is to create value. As it stands black people are the ones being valued (your wages) or exploited (if you believe that profits are unpaid wages).

Media Doublespeak

The airwaves have been filled with commentators "discussing" the need to bring peace to Iraq and how it was immoral for the US to allow Saddam to threaten his neighbors. The black economist wonders if any of these commentators or politicians thought it was immoral to allow fellow citizens to be threatened by street gangs across the country. The cost of clearing up these problems would be much less and they are far closer to home.

The Ancient Future of the Near East

Creationism dates the genesis of the world as we know it at 4004 BC. The first man and woman were said to have lived in a garden of Eden located somewhere between the mighty Nile and Euphrates rivers. A cursory review of the histories (Old Testament, Akkadian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian etc. etc.) available from that period onward show that conflict was a way of life. Whether it be the bloody story of Cane and Abel or the necessity of the code of Hammurabi humanity has constantly been unsettled in that region. How could it not be so?
The Near East or the Middle East as it is now called, has for millennia greatly influenced world culture and events. Whether it be the library of Alexandria, the gardens of Babylon or more recently the oil riches of the Arabian peninsula, there is no doubt that control of the region is a great cultural and material prize.
No wonder then that the contemporary politics of the region are so explosive and involve such myriad and disparate players.
It is likely to remain that way for many years to come.
But will Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan, & Syria lead to World War III? How likely is America to pull out?
Observing Joe Lieberman might help us to best answer those questions.
If Lieberman is willing to lose his senate seat for the sake of the war it is unlikely America has any intentions of drawing down it's forces anyime soon. In fact it is likely that the current administration will only expand the military presence in the region.

Bling: Consequences and Repercussions Part 2

Diamonds and Oil are not essential to human existence. Water is life on the other hand. Yet a glassfull of water costs much less than a glassfull of diamonds. A glassfull of oil costs marginally more than a glassfull of water but still much less than the glassfull of diamonds.
The reason for that, as the theory of marginal utility puts it, is that while water has the greater overall utility value oil and diamonds have a larger marginal utility value. Put another way, water is not considered to be as scarce as oil and diamonds though it is much more essential.
That marginal utility of oil and diamonds is quite impressive. It shows that once the basic needs are fulfilled that men and women are still driven to consume. Since goods are scarce , however, that drive to consume breeds conflict and competition.
Take the NFL for example. No one needs a superbowl ring, but men sacrifice their bodies and time to get it. More importantly, only one team gets it. The rest leave empty-handed.

Malcolm and Morpheus

Separated at birth?

Malcolm X on Economic Philosophy

"My personal economic philosophy is also Black Nationalism, which means that the black man should have a hand in controlling the economy of the so called, "Negro Community." He should be developing the type of knowledge that would enable him to own and operate the businesses and thereby be able to create employment for his own people, for his own kind."
Malcolm X interviewed in 1964

Bling: Consequences and Repercussions

This documentary on conflict diamonds focuses on the savage nature of the diamond trade. It connects the dots, or rather it shows the disconnect between rappers' promotion of "Ice" and war in Africa (specifically Sierra Leone).
It is worth the 11 minutes it takes to watch.
Diamonds aren't the only good that has a bloody economic history of course. We could just as easily speak of "conflict oil" or perhaps "conflict sugar and rum."
A fundamental economic tenet is that the existence of scarcity implies conflict. A scarce good (economic good) such as diamonds require a sacrifice or cost in order to obtain them.
As the documentary shows this cost is more than money.

The Rich and The Super Rich

Written in 1968 by Ferdinand Lundberg and subtitled, "A Study in the Power of Money Today" the Rich and the Super Rich does make one or two observations concerning Negroes.

When discussing the system of private clubs which the elite use to mark themselves off more precisely from the rest of society the author contributes. "It would be erroneous to say Negroes are barred. They are simply not noticed."

"...Negroes not only lack titles to property...but no one of them seems to be within 250 years of ever having them in any significant proportions. Who would a Negro be likely to inherit from?"

"As large," think Bush, Kennedy, Turner "property holdings are now mainly inherited and hard even for an occasional white nonproprietor to come by, it would seem that Negroes are forever circumstantially barred from becoming considerable American property owners."

Can this be true?

to understand and protect our home planet

The black economist cannot claim to have known that part of NASA's official mission statement was, "to understand and protect our home planet."
That mission statement was changed for political reasons because data from NASA satellites apparently fall on the wrong side of the argument concerning whether western civilization affects the earth (the home planet in question) adversely.
The Black economist can envision a scenario wherein the question was raised as to whether they had to eliminate "understand" being that they are scientists and all.
Jokes aside, this reshuffling of euphemisms is a side argument in a much larger debate concerning not particularly natural resources but mostly markets and their shape. If there is strong evidence that present levels of carbon emissions are leading to the extinction of the human race then a reasonable mind could conclude they must be stopped.
Another ,equally reasonable mind, could conclude that humanity has always adapted to an uncertain world, that speculation is imprecise and that no change is needed.
Both minds, especially if they were politicians, would agree that Americans would vote them out of office if they dared even suggest they reduce consumption levels. That's why our president recommended Americans shop rather than sacrifice after 9/11.
So prices rise. Wars are fought. The present lurches toward the inevitable shock.