Desirous & Marvin,
I spoke on the Page 7, not only of the need to vote . . but of much larger issues. The issue, as I see it, is being stuck in poverty and getting "in trouble with the law" in a disporportionate amount as other races.
The powers that hold wealth, I think, don't really mind a day/week of a little rioting. The blacks/inner city are destroying their own neighborhood, furthering their poverty, and adding to the the picture that they are just mere thungs. Some rioting blows off their steam & frustration, and in a few days it will return to normal. They will be in poverty and the leaders (whether elitists or with money), will have to rule over/lead them becuase they are unruly. Manageable riotiing is encouraged becuase it keeps the masses impoverished (and they remain in power).
The real issue is poverty. President Clinton's top economic advisor identified the things that lead to poverty: 1) Not graduating from high school, 2) having a baby before one is 20 years old, or 3) single (usually mom) parents. Look at the absolute rise in these things from the black/inner city community. It's hard for a group of people to admit that they are going in the wrong direction. For a while, the strength of the "Million Man March" led me to hope. And, shows like MTV's "Teen Mom" is hopeful. But, the fact is over these past decades the numbers of black (and even whites) who are failing at #1, #2, and #3 has alot to do with the issue of frustration and loss of hope.
The other issue is technology. We have strong manufacturing, but it's not manual labor. It's being done by machines. Machinists, skilled labor, are in demand. The jobs for someone who has little set of job skills is restaurant and retail. Both, don't pay. Manual manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. The countries that take our jobs have no rules, give us bum products back (Chinese drywall, plastic in baby formula . . . ) and we can't sue them and our government is too woosy to put an import tax on it to help fix the issues the products cause. The US borrows a crapload of money from China, to dole out as welfare to the people being shafted by the powerful
The stuff that is manual, like pig factories, are being staffed by illegals (who may soon become citizens by President Obama's penstrike). The companies (like Smithfield Farms), advertise for workers in billboards in Central America. They come to the US, illegally, work, and send much of their money back to their families. And, our own government rounds up a few of the illegals, but is rare to round up the executives. Why won't companies, like Smithfield, hire more black people, who are legal? Nope, the powers that be are about to fix all that with legalizing millions of Central Americans, all for their vote. I find it absolutely frustrating. And, the blacks/inner city will riot for a few days over a case of two people, but fail to see the bigger picture, fail to vote, continue to perpetuate the stereotype, and not come together as a mass of people to change the inner city culture that has spiraled down the wrong path.
