May 21, 2008

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...

It's not news that the N-word has a lot of baggage. It reminds black folks of huge amounts of pain and cruelty. It reminds white folks that they caused it, and that it continues in milder ways. Bonnie Pannell may also be upset because I was implying that as a councilperson she would be voting to treat poor people in a way akin to the way her people were abused.

KCRA also scolded me, saying the N-word should not be used in everyday conversation, let alone politics. But I can't help noticing that controversy is apparently what it takes to get semi-equal candidate media coverage these days. And I can't help noticing that the people who got upset about me were failing to talk about the plentiful evidence that racism and other hypocrisies are thriving.

The facts I referred to on KCRA footage, that they cut out, are as follows:
1. We are all Africans, since that's where the human race began. Some left and some stayed. Those who stayed retained the highest degree of genetic diversity, giving them the best chances of adapting to evolutionary challenges.
2. When some Africans were kidnapped and shipped across the Atlantic stacked like logs, many died. The ones who arrived were on the average stronger and smarter.
3. After they arrived they were subjected to more challenges to survival over many generations. Guess what? Those who survived were on the average stronger and smarter.

But the time KCRA had to talk to me wasn't long enough to mention some of the implications of these facts. If blacks are failing to succeed as well as white folks, on the average, there must be something else going on. Bonnie accused me of being racist. I am certain our culture is substantially more racist than I may be. Racist people rarely stick up for Greyhound passengers.

Moreover, the litany of wrongs and abuses that our government and our soldiers have inflicted is a very long one. Just ask the Native Americans. The Haitians. The Iraqis. The poor residents of New Orleans. The Nicaraguans. Waco. And there are plenty more. Do I have to say we don't need any of them to be our new niggers for citizens to get upset enough about all these abuses to actually stop doing it? Then so be it.

But I think few even on the left appreciate the tragedy of the Civil War, where the freeing of the slaves was sabotaged by evil means, namely the same violence which imprisoned them. And the loss of state's rights has led us toward extreme and unsustainable centralization, a sort of governmental slavery. I believe sustainability requires true local control. What if Sacramento County were a state itself, since it is as big as some states back east? What if most of our taxes went to the county instead of to Washington DC?

Anyway, I also couldn't help noticing that actual Greyhound passengers were not consulted about the new location for the terminal, but instead treated like mushrooms. So I went down there to talk to some. Most of the dozen or so who were Sacramento residents thought the terminal is just fine where it is. There were 2 security guards there. The older one said he thought the city council had **** for brains. He said that the Greyhound location is completely irrelevant to crime, because society causes crime. He expects Greyhound's departure won't make the slightest difference in the crime rate downtown.

Lastly, as a Sacramento taxpayer, I can't help feeling abused. Why is the city paying to get Greyhound and Benvenuti out of their own contract that they both already want to get out of? Do we or do we not have a budget deficit? Does the city need financial counseling?

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