It is beyond all reckoning how a country could insist that a woman’s right to control her body is a compelling reason to keep abortion legal, and simultaneously prohibit her from ingesting plants of her choosing.
Abortion and Marijuana
African Immigrants – The Ben Carson Hysteria
Ben Carson said that black slaves in America were immigrants.
When I first heard about the story, I cast it aside. Didn’t bother to look into it. I didn’t see the point in wasting my time trying to confirm or repudiate the claims I was hearing. Ben Carson is a black guy. He might have said something dumb, but I’m pretty sure that he’s not a racist (at least not against black people).
But my interest was piqued when I heard that Barak Obama had also said that black slaves in America were immigrants. Could this be true? Now I had to find out what both of them had said. Here’s the quote from Obama:
Certainly it wasn’t easy for those of African heritage who had not come here voluntarily, and yet in their own way were immigrants themselves. There was discrimination and hardship and poverty. But, like you, they no doubt found inspiration in all those who had come before them. And they were able to muster faith that, here in America, they might build a better life and give their children something more.
And from Carson:
There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.
What Carson said is so similar in style and content to what Obama had said, it’s almost as if Carson took Obama’s speech and re-wrote it so he wouldn’t get caught by the teacher for plagiarizing. Reminds me of the Melania/Michelle situation, only Carson is a better cheater than Trump. But rather than point out that Carson is a plagiarist, the left decided to go bananas over the content of Carson’s speech. By “content”, of course, I mean “one single word in the speech”. How dare Carson refer to slaves as “immigrants”? They were slaves, and came involuntarily. That’s not an immigrant.
And the crazy thing is, once people started publishing Obama’s speech, the left just kinda shut up. I was expecting them to fight back. I thought that they would try to twist things around. But there are the quotes above – it would be a lot easier to call Carson’s words plagiarism than to try to claim that there was a morally distinct difference between what the two had said.
I think the left has conceded this one. They haven’t accused Obama of being a racist. They haven’t tried to differentiate the meanings. And they haven’t apologized for their error.
Of course, they can’t apologize for their hysteria. If they did, they might have to do a little more inward reflecting. And if they did that, they might come to realize that a whole lot of the accusations they make about racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and class warfare might be hysteria too. And if ever they became aware that their accusations are mostly hysteria, they might have to start considering alternatives to their preconceived notions and narrow world view. And the world might become a slightly better place. Wait, that doesn’t sound all bad…
Wealth Disparity – Time for Revolution
The disparity of wealth in the United States has grown substantially over the past 25 years. In 1989, the poorest 50% of the US held a combined $1 Trillion in assets. The top 10% held $20 Trillion. This means, on average the top 10% held 100 times more wealth than the average in the bottom 50%. In 2014, the bottom 50% still held $1 Trillion in assets, while the wealth of the top 10% had grown to $51 Trillion! This brings average wealthy person to 250 times the wealth of the average poor person. How can we address this travesty? The solution may require a genuine revolution.
In the 1980s, 50% of households had air conditioning (presumably mostly the wealthiest 50%). Today it is something like 85%. In the 1980s, a telephone was attached to the wall of your house, and you couldn’t afford to call anyone outside of the town you lived in. Now 92% of Americans own a smart phone, and don’t think twice about calling anywhere in the US. Let’s go back a little further in time. In 1964, a 21″ color TV cost $750. Adjusted for inflation, that was a whopping $5,800. For roughly half the real-dollar price ($369), we can get a 40″ 1080p Smart TV in 2017. We drive better cars, live in bigger houses, have more toys. All of us. If you compare the material goods owned by the bottom 50% of Americans in the 1980s to the material goods of the bottom 50% of Americans today, it’s no contest.
Yes, the rich have gotten richer. We could even say richerer – in dollar terms, the rich have grown richer faster than the poor have. Even so, the poor have gained a great deal more than the rich. Compare what the wealthy have to show for their gains, and what the poor have to show for their gains. The rich may have goldener toilets seats, and platinumer watches. In the 80s, the rich could afford air conditioning in their houses. Now the poor can, too. In the 80s, the rich could afford to talk long distance on the phone. Now the poor can too. The rich could always afford the best of whatever was available in the world. The poor will never be able to have the best of everything. Still, the poor today have luxuries today that even the rich of their grandparents generation could not have dream of.
For those who genuinely believe that we must eliminate wealth inequality, they might start by comparing their own personal wealth to the average Malawian wealth. Only 2% of Americans qualify as “poor” on the global scale. There are many countries around the world with large populations of people who have trouble getting enough food. People who don’t own a pair of shoes. People who don’t have TVs or air conditioning. Anyone who is concerned about wealth inequality can certainly see that the wealth disparity in the US is inconsequential when compared to the disparity between their own personal wealth and that of the entire population of the third world. Even the poor in America can afford to give some of what they have to the far poorer people in many foreign nations.
This is the revolution we need: to stop comparing the poor to the rich, to stop with the class warfare, to stop with the bitter jealousy. The rich get richer, and the poor get richer, too.
Join the revolution! Rejoice over the amazing advances in the economy that have made you wealthier than your forebears could have dreamed.
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