Is Image Everything?

The Law of Privilege?

Like everything else in the Universe - we are governed by laws.
While common in today's society - 'Privilege' is not one of these laws.
In fact, I'm not even sure such a thing exists to begin with.

Many people believe that the whole of their existence comes down to one thing - race.
In reality, race is no more (or less) of a determining factor in the outcome in ones life than any number of other factors.
It is only when race is accepted by oneself as being of such great importance that it even matters at all.
Placing ones value in only ones race carries more power and influence than others' thinking.
Given - we are a society which places great value on what others think of us - but why?

While we are a planet of gradients - how do we even define 'race'?
If we could break down ones 'race' to those who possess certain phenotypical or genotypical traits - where would one race begin and where would another end?
Objects at the furthest points of the spectrum lead into one another anyway.
Could 'race' be thought of in the same way?

SeeNew pointed out that there is no reason to try to break the speed of light.
That it is a law under which we function.
He stated that the real trick is to sidestep the speed of light so that it has no effect.
Maybe Malcolm X was thinking the same thing when he (and other political and social leaders) proposed that we should create our own institutions, media and memes.
But leaders like Malcolm (And those like Christ before him) appealed to the most disenfranchised of individuals.
His appeal was greatest to those who had the least invested in the institutions and beliefs of his time.

Maybe this is why Hip-Hop succeeds where 'education' fails in creating wealth.
Maybe those to whom Hip-Hop appeals are less vested in traditional thinking.
Maybe those of the Hip-Hop generation opted out of the traditional route in favor of one in which we could create their own trends, dialect and values.
(*Hip-Hop - like all usurpers - was later brought into the fold of the establishment in an effort to keep any new usurpers from gaining power. In taking ownership of  Hip-Hop - Hip-Hop became a tool which could be used to subjugate those it was intended to free.)
Maybe the old Hip-Hop model sidestepped the Law of Privilege in an effort to creating it's own laws.

If the easiest way to win this game is not to play at all - why do so many still believe in the Law of Privilege?

...And...?

 Who really cares what Sarah Palin has to say about the current election cycle?

Who cares that she thinks Allen West would be a good choice as V-POTUS?
It's an odd endorsement though. It's seems that Mr. West would be a fine choice - just so long as he knows his place.
But didn't Ms Palin think that she would make a fine Vice President as well?
(And we all know how that went.)

Delaware or Notre Dame

 I'm no UConn fan but at least their players look like women.

 The players for the Baylor women's basketball team look as though they'd be more at home blocking for or catching passes from RGIII.
(Don Imus seems to have used his comment about rough looking women in NCAA Basketball a few years too soon.)

 Since I'm no UConn fan (And that the primary players representing the West Coast and Standford are just as rough looking as those at Baylor), I'm rooting for Delaware and Elena Delle Donne to win it all.

That is until they meet Skylar Diggins and Notre Dame in the Final Four.
To win it all? Skylar and ND of course.

Privilege?

 Is there really such a thing as "White Privilege'?
If so - how does it manifest itself?
Whenever I hear Blacks at my bar complaining that some mysterious White Man is to blame for their own misfortune, "What can he do for you?", I ask.
"And what can he do to you?", I continue.
"Then why do you even care?", I conclude.

If being white was all it took to do well in America today - the Klan -ridden town located just five miles from my own would not even exist.
Is having an all-white trailer park (even if it's the deluxe model) really what most people want anyway?

Do whites really understand and practice brotherly love any better than any other race or nationality?
("Squeal like a pig"!!!)

 So what, some belong to groups which limit their membership predicated on one race or ancestry.

 Some are associated with a specific drug use.

 Some are entrepreneurs on the lowest levels.

 Others believe in their Constitutional right to practice whichever religion one chooses.

 Down here in the South - many whites eat some fairly strange foods which most people in other regions of the country would view as being scraps fit only for their dogs to eat.

 Just look at any local or national newspaper - just the front page - and count the negative news stories.
How many are caused by whites acting poorly?
If being white was synonymous with being superior, these stories would not exist?
So my question is; What is White Privilege and how do whites benefit from it?

A Social Experiment

I hate running nightclubs - I'm just good at it.

The one aspect I do like is seeing whether I can manipulate individuals and groups of people at my own club (Kind of like being in a Petri Dish.).
A further experiment is trying to see whether I can manipulate or influence the behaviors of other club owners and their business models (Real World behaviors.).

Everything Is Cyclical...

...and derivative
From the economic theories of Adam Jones to those favoring the beliefs of John Nash to Ayn Rand's recent popularity - it seems that all thinking is discounted one moment and highly esteemed the next.

ONE Good Thing About Texas

In many states - it is illegal to collect rainwater.
http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html
A recent Texas Supreme Court ruling states that landowners own the water (and water rights) beneath their land.

(Since I have a well in my back yard, at least I won't die of thirst if things get really bad.)

What's the Point of Fiction?

Besides callipygian women, of course...

 Fiction (Or Science Fiction) puts forth ideas which can be imagined but may not yet be possible.

 Who could have imagined a phone which required no land line?

Who would have thought that the products imagined as being futuristic in Wim Wedder's Until the End of the World would today be commonplace?

What Every Boy Should Know.

My whole day was ruined, all appointments were missed, all plans were canceled but a kid needed help.

As I walked to the curb to check my mail, "Mr. John, can you help me?", a kid from the neighborhood asked.
The kid had taken his little brother's Green Machine (Better than a Big Wheel. Big Wheels always get a hole in the plastic front tire and this makes the toy almost impossible to pedal.) apart to change a flat tire but he got stuck trying to put it back together.

Apparently, many parents are too busy working to buy their kids toys but few take the time to show them how to repair them.
Within an hour I had a bike repair shop in my garage an across my driveway.
Some mothers were upset that their boys (and a couple of girls) had gotten dirty.
I guess they just assumed that I would fix the bikes as their children gossiped and watched me work.
But what's the good in this?
Isn't it better to teach these kids to do the work themselves?

Which Makes More Sense?

One consumes resources while the other is a resource.

So What ?

As the Dow flirts with 13,000 - are you any better off than when it was around 6,500 three years ago?
The value of the market seems to have doubled from it's low - has your wealth doubled as well?
THE STOCK MARKET IS NOT A TRUE INDICATION OF YOUR WEALTH.
Forget being concerned with the unsustainable Ponzi scheme that is the debt driven stock market and invest in your personal stability instead.

Classism

I don't get it.

Why do so many imagine Good Times as real while they imagine The Cosby Show as fantasy? 

As my club is doing better and better and I get more media coverage - my credibility with those I try to help his been diminished.

Every suggestion I make is dismissed because others think that I had an easy time of getting to where I wanted to be.

Every resource is rejected because it requires one to make changes or sacrifices.

Every contact is rejected because the one requiring help says things like, "He don't know me.".

Every reason for failure is turned into an excuse which was caused by someone else.

Every cultural (LEARNED) issue is turned into a racial (IMAGINED or minor) issue.

 "Bullshit!", I say to those who have taken advantage of all aid (without positive and lasting results) and now complain because I am cutting them loose while they complain "I never had any help.".

I warned them that this day was coming and that they should make the changes required over the past fourteen years of my covering their mistakes.

I warned them that they could not afford their lifestyle without having built a solid debt free financial foundation first.

I warned them not to buy every new gadget they didn't need (or even really want) just because Pookie-an-dem had it.

I warned them to teach their kids to build/create/work rather than to consume because one can help to create assets while the other creates debt.

I warned them that they should focus on the stability of their families and not on their popularity with others. 

From now on, unless it's a kid or an elderly person - I'm not babysitting a group of people who are unwilling to do the work they expect me to do.

I DON'T Like Tyler Perry

I don't know the guy personally - I've never met him.
Sure, he's successful and I can't knock his hustle but I just don't like that so many men find it easy to identify with him.
I don't care whether he's gay - that's his business.
When I first saw a Tyler perry play, I walked out.
It wasn't for me.
"Homeboy is gay and he was probably raised by his grandmother.", I said to the girl who asked me to take her to the play.
The woman was upset that I could not identify with neither a Black playwright nor his characters.
To her, these characters represented to the vast majority what it is to be Black in America today.
To me these characters represented what it would be like to be raised in a society without a positive influence of dominant males in ones life - I just didn't get the appeal.

Recently, one of my cousins called me to help him change the tire on his daughter's car.
It's was a quick fix but the guy didn't want to get his manicure messed up nor his clothes dirty.
"Dude, I'm wearing Armani.. .", I said to the guy as I changed his daughter's tire while teaching her to do the same.
The guy works at a refinery and makes a very good living.
At this point in his life, he thinks that he has 'made it'.
Really? When did grown-ass Black men begin acting like spoiled little girls?
...smh...