PrairieNihilist's blog: "Ah...the duality of man."

I'd like to take a moment to run something by you if you're following the Colin Kaepernick story...regardless of how you feel about it. He has now been joined by Megan Rapinoe, who agrees that there needs to be a serious discussion about inequality of all kinds in America...which is what this is all about...

Now...I hear you loud and clear...don't disrespect our anthem, flag, or country, because these are things that we love and hold dear. That's all fine and good, and I'm glad that you have pride in your nation, but did it ever dawn on you that just because your country hasn't shafted you, that it doesn't mean that it hasn't shafted others? Not everyone is equal in America...that's not an allegation...that's a fact. If they were, then we wouldn't have any adversity whatsoever when it comes to accommodating skin color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, class, or any other difference in character or physiology.  Even you, as a straight, white, working class man or woman, are a second class human being in the eyes of the super rich elite.  I'll explain why later in this, but you have a huge decision to make in where you stand, so here's some info to help you make that choice.

If things were truly equal, then we wouldn't be opposed to freely helping people who are empirically and undeniably proven to be disadvantaged. We wouldn't bitch about people asking for the things that we have, and believe that we have earned, but have actually always had much more access to than others. We would all be willing to stand up and demand equality for everyone, instead of griping about how disadvantaged groups are always looking for a handout, and raising a fuss over nothing. If things were truly equal, then we wouldn't look down on anyone. We would help everyone up instead of judging and scrutinizing the legitimacy of their claims, looking for reasons to downplay or dismiss them.

Which brings me to Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe. Here are two people with a combination of status, wealth, privilege that is atypical of most of their backgrounds, and a platform to speak out for what's right, and draw attention to the inequality in America. Colin Kaepernick, makes oodles of money, and is not treated like your average black man in America. He, like myself, is half white and has grown up in an environment where he, like I, have enjoyed all of the privileges and advantages of being white and growing up essentially as white kids. However, in having that privilege, we are not immune to bigotry, because we are still visibly not white, and we do meet ignorant people who treat us as lesser human beings. That's a reality. Megan, as a non-heterosexual white woman, faces a different, but equal fate as we do, despite the advantages and celebrity that she enjoys. Those are facts.

Yes, Colin and Megan, are luckier than you or I, in that they enjoy financial security and status that we do not. However, the fact that they are willing to stand up, despite not facing nearly the level of inequality and disadvantage that others do, and fight for an end to inequality, is to be admired, not despised. Colin has no real reason to stick up for the average poor black kid. He's well off, and is living the dream. However, he recognizes that there is inequality, and understands that the right thing to do, is to push for change...not for himself, but for everyone who is treated unfairly. That's called being selfless, and caring about your fellow human being, and it's something that we as a species, have lost sight of.

We've become a selfish, greedy, inconsiderate, judgmental mess, and it's high time that we right the ship...lest the inequality, animosity, and injustice, should culminate in the destruction of humanity as we know it. People talk about a race war starting a lot these days. The truth is that it has been happening all along...it's just been so lopsided in favor of the white male for so long that we've forgotten that it was happening over the years. However, times are changing, and the other side is starting to get stronger and gain ground. The individual armies that were no match for the mighty machine of oppression, have begun to join forces and fight together.

It's not white versus brown, Christian versus Muslim, man versus woman. It's super rich, white elitist, versus women of all color, class, and religion, and men of all color, class, and religion. There are only two sides to this battle, and unless you are completely self-hating, it behooves you to join the side that is battling back. If you are white and working class, and are getting fucked over on your bills and taxes, while not making enough to live and dealing with awful working conditions, then you are one of us. If you are white, live in abject poverty, and can't get ahead, no matter what you do, then you are one of us. White with student debt that is overwhelming, and a job that doesn't even begin to dent it? You're one of us. White and injured or ill, and unable to get quality care because of price? One of us. Wounded vet getting fucked over by the country that you served...definitely one of us.

People like Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe, and Nick Hanauer...among others, are aware of the need to stomp out inequality, and despite it doing little to nothing to change or better their wealth and status, are willing to try to do the right thing for everyone...simply because it's the right thing to do. Does fighting for equal rights for LGBTQ people benefit me directly? No, but it benefits people that I love and care about, who are being mistreated. Does fighting for a living minimum wage benefit me directly? No, but it benefits people that I know, who can't get ahead no matter how hard they work. Does fighting for equal pay or bodily autonomy for women benefit me directly? Not at all, but I still do, because everyone should have that right. 

Here's the thing though, even though these things don't benefit me directly, they end up benefiting everyone in the end. The more people make, the more they spend. The more they spend, the more demand is created, and the more there is a need for workers to meet this demand. The more workers there are making good wages, the more money there is to go into tax coffers. The more money in tax coffers, the more we can afford to spend on infrastructure, education, social programs, and the like...which also creates more jobs, and lessens the need for welfare and food stamps. The less poverty there is, the less people will have to resort to crime to survive. This means less victims of crime, less strain on the legal system, thereby freeing up more resources and time to devote to making things better for everyone.

This benefits us all...regardless of how much pigment we have in our skin, who we have sex with, what god we worship, or what genitalia we have. The day that we stop pretending that skin color, gender, religion or sexuality, is a reason to think less of each other, is the day that we stop focusing on stupid petty differences, and free up thought to focus on making our world better, and leaving a healthy, beautiful, and prosperous planet for future generations. It all starts with each of us saying “you know...I really don't have it that bad, but that guy/gal over there is in a rough spot. Maybe I should help him/her out.” You don't have to have money, influence, fame, or anything else. All you need, is compassion and a willingness to learn, understand, and change. If everyone learns to do it, then we will all rise and thrive, and we will all be better off.

What I'm proposing to you, is to stop seeing Colin Kaepernick as a black guy trying to create division and disrespecting his country, and start seeing him as a friend, who wants things to be better for all of us, because that's what he really is. This isn't about skin color. It's about inequality as a whole, and the need to rise up against it. While the main topic of his protest, is police brutality and the killing of unarmed people, he also points out other inequalities that are happening, and did not specify anything about race in what he said. You may read it as him talking about brutality against black people, and there has been a lot more talk of black people than white to this end, but he did not specify black people in what he said. 

So now...are you still interested in fighting for the wealthy elite, or do you want to fight for all of humanity? If the former, then carry on with your hateful dialogue and self-hatred. If not, then stand...err...sit or take a knee with Colin and Megan, demand equality for all human beings, and try to understand the struggles of others. I know that life isn't easy for white, straight, working class men and women like yourselves either, but it's going to keep getting worse for you and everyone else if you don't join us and fight it. If you agree with what I've said, then welcome aboard, and we have a fuckload of work to do, so let's get after it.

You might hate this, but it's time to let go of it for the sake of advancing as both a nation and as human beings.  This is the flag of the rebel army that committed treason against the United States of America by starting a civil war, fought only because confederate states, didn't want slavery abolished.  Yes...that is the key reason why the Civil War was fought...because they wanted to keep their slaves, and Lincoln(A Republican, by the way), wanted to free them.  I get it...I do.  It's a cool flag, and the General Lee, and Bo and Luke, were my favorites.  I loved Dimebag Darrel's Confederate flag Washburn and Dean guitars, and they were symbolic of a Southern boy, makin' it big without conforming to the boring, monkey suit, business world.  It's an iconic symbol in rock 'n' roll, metal, and country music, and has always been a beloved symbol of marching to the beat of your own drum, and being a little different...a rebel.

But...all of that, still doesn't erase the original reason that it flew, and the terrible ideals that it represented.  When the Nazis...whose ideals, in many instances aside from the genocidal, Jew hating thing, were progressive and positive...were defeated, the nazi flag, which was not the German national flag, much like the Confederate army flag, is not the flag of an official country, was banned, and made illegal.  Why?  For the exact same reasons that people are demanding that the Confederate flag be lowered...because it's representative of an oppressive and traiterous chapter in American history, and is frequently used alongside the Nazi flag, as a symbol of hatred.  I know that y'all are enamored with the illusion of it being representative of a better time, but it really wasn't.  America was divided, and friends became enemies...all over the decision to try to become a better country, by ending oppression and exploitation.

After that defeat, the flag, was put in mothballs, and on display in museums, as a reminder of a not so happy past.  It was mostly forgotten and left as a historical conversation piece...until the 1950s and 1960s, when the civil rights movement, brought about  desegregation, which led many of the Southern states to pull her out and fly her high as a symbol of defiance, and to once again spit in the face of black people, and remind them that they were not the same, were not welcome or liked, and were not considered equal to everyone else.  These, are convenient tidbits, that are omitted in history lessons, because acknowledging that we still have serious issues as pertains to bigotry, is inconvenient, and makes us look bad.  The flag, has not been flying for 150 years, as so many falsely believe.  It's only been flying for about 50-70 years since its latest rebirth.  the fact that it is still so popular, denotes that we've learned nothing, and have done nothing to change the meaning of the flag, despite all of the talk about how far we've come.

Look at it like this hypothetically for a moment...supposing ISIS invaded, and managed to convert a big part of the nation into their messed up, distorted version of Islamic ideology(which is very different from real Islamic ideology, for the record), while killing and enslaving the rest of us for not being one of them, and started an uprising, the likes of which we've never seen, after the new progressive government, decided that killing and oppressing us was wrong, and set out to free us from this persecution.  When the smoke clears, the new order prevails, and ISIS concedes defeat, agreeing to the new order's terms...but ISIS supporters continue to fly that gawdy awful black flag, despite the restoration of Ol' Glory and the Republic for which she stands.  Don't you think that you'd be just a tad bitter and pissed off, if the government allowed them to fly that flag that caused you and your friends and family so much pain?

Maybe you know and love a veteran who has been wounded or killed in service in the Middle East, fighting these extremist assholes  How would it make you feel to see a family down the street flying an ISIS flag?  Wouldn't that piss you right off?  Wouldn't that hurt?  That, my friends, is exactly what black people in America, have been living every time that this flag is flown.  That flag, to them, represents an unwillingness for America to move forward, embrace change, and truly embrace the idea that all men are created equal.  It represents an unwillingness to do the things that need to be done to help black people become all of the things that white people are, and wish that they would be, while fighting the kinds of societal changes that would enable them to rise and be able to conform to those expectations. 

If we can't do something as simple as let go of the obsolete flag of a long defeated treasonous uprising that represented oppression and torture to them, then how can we expect them to take our talk of trying to be a better country seriously?  America, has made huge strides towards eliminating racism, but there is still a lot of work to be done, and it can't happen until everyone is willing to stop and think about how and why certain things hurt minorities, and are counterproductive to true national unity, and then take steps to eliminate those things that impede the unity that America needs to be a truly great nation.  It's time to put the confederate army flag away.  She can stay on display in museums and historical exhibits, to remind us of how far we've come, but she's a part of the past, and shouldn't stay in our present, nor come with us into the future.  The future, is the stars and stripes, one nation united, indivisible, and with freedom and justice for all.  Let's make it happen, folks.  It's long overdue.

We've all seen them on TV, in movies, and on the news...most recently, Ryan Dunn and his fiery alcohol fueled deathrace(I'll touch on that in another blog).  We're amazed, shocked, and entertained by them.  They fascinate us to no end.  We're like cats in the window watching a bird hop across the lawn.  We slow down and stare, trying to catch a glimpse of blood, bodies, guts and other carnage.  Yet, when it happens to us, or someone that we know, we're horrified.  We cry, we mourn, we call the hospitals and next-of-kin frantically, trying to make sure that our friend, co-worker, or relative is okay.  We talk about how awful it is, and how disgusting it is to watch people stare at the accident scene as they drive by(if we're there).  We cry about how much we/our loved ones are hurting, or how horrible the injuries that killed them were.  We often say that we wouldn't wish any of it on anyone...but is that really true?

What is it that draws our attention to crashes when they don't involve people that we care about?  Why is it suddenly entertainment, when it's not us or someone that we know?  We laugh and make jokes if the circumstances of the accident are funny.  We show the victims the same disrespect that, were the shoe on the other foot, we'd be upset by.  Personally, I make it a point to avoid passing through the scene of an accident acting like this.  I don't want to stare at the carnage.  It saddens me to think that someone may have been injured or killed in an accident.  Besides, the news will fill me in on all of the details, and if the accident is alcohol related, then the individual drinking, is not worthy of my respect or sympathy. 

I drove by a horrible crash once on an icy highway West of Regina, Saskatchewan.  The police were on scene and so there was no need for me to get involved, so I carried on as normal, hoping that nobody was seriously injured or killed.  A few days later, I got the awful news that one of the two victims killed, was a great guy that I went to high school with.  Imagine how terrible I'd have felt had I gawked and made quips about the icy roads and going too fast.  He was killed when an 18-wheeler lost control, slid into the ditch, and hit him while he and a DOH(DOT to you American folks) snowplow operator were trying to help friends of his who had hit the ditch.  They died trying to help others, and many would just gawk, make a quip about slowing down, and carry on.

So next time you see a crash, think about how you'd feel if it were somebody that you knew, or yourself.  How would you feel about others being entertained by your misfortune?  What about the traffic backup that you create by driving at a crawl to gawk?  People have places to go, and it's tough for emergency workers to get things done when they have a pile of cars crawling through in their way.  Best to just read it in the news the next day...or if you're ever so unfortunate(God forbid)...to get a call from the police.  That's just me though.  Maybe I'm wrong.