This country so fond of idols and heroes, who will waste many years of caught in the anxious turmoil of athletic competition, and wager needed income of the result of a "symbolic battle" whose outcome might already be predetermined by a gambling house... This country, who values the "spot-light" and its illusion of beauty, control, and intrinsic worth... This country has simply made a slight rotation from its former stance of social interposition. For those, who enjoy sports terminology. This is simply a new series, with a slightly different arrangement of offensive players, but for many, the goal is the same.
The most humorous few days transpired a month or so ago. This next statement should be prefaced with a paraphrased disclaimer found in that old late 1980s popular radio tune, "Everyone's goal is ruling this world". This portion of the Mid-West, for better or worse, by historical coincidence is highly Germanic. During the coincidental occurrence of the "end" of the Second World War, which signaled liberation for some and for others a set-back in a battle that some still wage, plus a "milestone anniversary" of the American Black Panther Party, it seemed the everybody was wearing "black t-shirts". And, over the past decade every few years a new prognosticator would claim that the world is ending in 2013, 2015, and so on!
Well, for those within the local National Socialists party, someone with a "tricky trigger finger" must have pressed the red button. Certain members of this community started acting so incredibly nasty. They believed that the world had been conquered, they could treat any non-German any way that they chose, and this without any recourse! This parade of foolishness lasted for a rather short period!
Now, it is not my claim that the "Nazis" are coming! In fact, many groups vie for such a role! Control of this or that!
Yet, a residue of a philosophy prevalent during the turbulent years found in Europe and other parts of the world effected by the "vain, seductive notion" of a superior standing based on any "important criteria" when compared with every individual in another societal group is the false belief that the strongest survive. Such an understanding of the world is based in Darwinism and the notion of natural selection.
This is unfortunate! In that, we all can play and important role. Being a King David who slew Goliath is not necessarily the thought which should cross one's mind. Or, (Moses?) who, although elderly, held his arms high during a decisive battle, with assistance. Pardon this dramatization, this is not recorded in scripture... it might be the role of that annoying little sibling who kept begging if they could "tag-a-long" when an older brother was planning on sneaking out for a day and seeing some controversial Teacher speak...the younger sibling whom was promised that his flocks would be tended along with those of an older brother, in exchange for a few fishes and loaves "borrowed" from a cart headed for market.
This notion of "might, social pecking-order, and measured strength" pervades this "backward" region.
The most humorous example of this was a young woman who grew up on a farm in a neighboring region and had not learned mush about farm husbandry! This young woman most likely had been participating in the 4-H competitions hosted by County extension offices, yet still let young animals fight over feed! It is somewhat particular that modern adults who have worked on farms and breed husbandry for market would do such. It was recorded in the history of many groups, including the West European group from which she is primarily descendant, that the practice of partitioning the young in pens, based upon levels of aggressiveness produced the greatest yields in healthy animals for market. The overall average weight of cattle, swine, fowl, and such produced better returns. And, when used for feeding an immediate community, survival was easier, when the livestock was not fighting with each other for feed, survival! How this "common-sense" practice was lost is beyond fathoming! Most likely, someone well-educated and lettered individual who claimed that based upon the study of human societies, the might Roman Empire, it conquest and, such, blah, blah, blah, and years of research. blah, blah, blah,.. the strongest survive! This counters the teaching in scripture, but, who can argue with a doctorate from the most prestigious university in the region, state, world, or whatever.
And, the saddest show of strength along these lines was a male who stood about six foot eight, looked menacing in his brown Nationalist Socialist garb, especially when he was toting a rifle, and spun a fascination with photography, media, and audio-visuals with the "illegal" yet rarely prosecuted American industry of pornography. Standing nearly seven feet tall, he intimidated many elementary school students in the neighborhood of my youth! Pictures stemming from his years in a small townhouse across a street bordering the western edge of the neighborhood will be circulating this globe as long as those old photo of Clara Bowe from the early 1920s Hollywood. He was reported on numerous occasion. He might have been given a penalty; however, he was back in business in short order. He spent years working in the audio-visual department of a local college. And, as chance would have it, I was sent so I could clean his modest apartment by the local department of health and human services, while working one of my numerous part-time work assignments!
I can still see him in the distance across the way, just beyond the end of Charles Street in the 1980s. Many of the children in the neighborhood ask if I had met this person. A few hundred dollars sounded like a fortune for many of those young children, whose parents had the means of supplying such, but were wise enough that they would not hand a child under twelve four or five hundreds. And. most had not sat and determined that a summertime's worth of employment at a nearby grocer, fast-food restaurant,or auto parts store, could provide three times that.
When I finally met him, he had not changed...he spoke of his fascination with Nazi media from the 1930s and on! He had lost some of his physical stature. Most adults lose height as they age. And, I will never forget that day when he claimed that he had an unfortunate problem with his bowels. Some never change. It is simply how they are!
And truth be told, I have been reluctantly swabbing up much of the "unpleasantness" from those years in that neighborhood.
Life has shown children who have not reached the age of thirteen placed on steroids by "well-respected" members of the most prestigious athletic program in the region. The promise of fame and fortune can easily mislead a person who is so young. Although exploiting a child in this way might be illegal based upon certain local, state, and federal statutes, some individuals are above being held accountable for such activity and will most likely always be, based upon the priorities of the American public!
Life have shown, youth dreaming of a college education, possibly the first in their family line, and stable honest employment, being offered athletic scholarships, which ultimately required trafficking narcotics supplied by a portion of the collegiate coaches network. This is not a secret; it has been well-document in local newspapers.
Life has shown, young men dreaming of a career in professional sports, play for years on a ringers circuit, controlling the flow of games for gambling houses!
Physical Strength...Financial Strength...At all cost. What are the ultimate cost...
This ploy of the strongest survive and the seductive belief that certain classes of success connote "dominant strength". Life has taught that many of my classmates, with my same designation, "African American", could perform of levels well-above mine in many categories. Acing or nearly acing, the standardized exams given, such as the California Achievement Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and others, do not require much! Yet, the scores of many might not have been reported. faithfully. In all honesty, some students within this group did horribly, would happily be handed a top-score, and any free ride given. This is human nature and true of any group of humans.
Yet, only so many slots were allotted for successful African Americans in this public school system. Many were given "failing" grades for "superior" work during their early years in public education. And, the misguided use of psychology for undermining an educational cohort, with a goal of slowing the "alarming advance" of a segment of the American, also seen during the Reconstruction of the South, gave students the "reward" when the desired type of work was provided.
Sampling the "written" work of a few African-American collegiate students, showed the slow deterioration of English usage and stereotypical rants about "the White man got the Black man down" stated in the most simplistic and broken terms. meter, reasoning, received the "highest marks". This in various departments and among a range of institutions.
I can guarantee that many African American students are sufficiently bright enough that they could meet and exceed that admission requirements for the most select academic programs in this country and world. And, most of these, provided they keep their focus on the grindstone, could make top-marks, graduate, and realize dreams that most forgot when crushed by some small-minded instructor of school psychologist who said that a formal education was an impossibility for them.
In all honesty, any group, within any partitioning of humanity, could do the same. Meeting the standards of the highest academic curriculum is not the least bit difficult. It simply takes time and preparation. This does not say that any tangible value exists in it. It is attainable for many who have always been taught that such is an impossibility for them. Some of the greatest athletes in modern sports, for what that designation is worth, simply practiced free throws for hours each evening or set out rocks, bottles, and empty drink cup on the street and ran agility drills for years.
The real question is "Is one really interested in dealing with the "ugly-side" of the prize! And, many of those exist!"
Being an African-American educated in fields that allow participation by "few" of one's group, it is not uncommon, that an academic department, degree program, or corporate office place might allow only a single slot. When that second person is hired, it signals "position instability" for the long-standing member of the team. And, survival often means forming alliances, not with the new hire, which might ultimately result in a small triad or quarternion of similar professional, but with those very professionals who have the social clout within the existing environment who can help secure one's position.
Competition... The Strong Survive...and, We crumbles!
And, in all honesty, this dynamic has been witnessed in college jobs at fast-food restaurants, office cleaning positions, and other work roles that pay marginal wages.
It is sad, when management overlooks senior team members and forces a supervisory role on someone who does not want it! Simply so, they can create discord in a community, between an "overlooked" person supporting a family, that has been consistently denied educational opportunity, yet has all the prerequisite skills for success, and a fellow, who has acquired levels of learning that many envy yet hamper him from working in any "gainful" professional capacity, that many claim, whether "sincere or not" does not deserve another single work opportunity without considering why previous opportunities were lost. Discord, jealousy, special treatment, and the like simply should not be part of any healthy, productive work environment.
This is the nature of American academics and the workforce. Some individuals are basically guaranteed positions in various roles. They might not be substantial. Yet, they have them as long as wanted.
Life has shown. That often the "first loser" or second strongest is placed in the position of power. The NIH research apprentice who did his tour of duty before me at a local research facility while we were in high school was a more mature, serious, and capable student with a greater potential for success as a researcher in the biological sciences than me. Yet, I was the face on public relations media at that time. I do not know what the outcomes of his life and education are..Yet, his younger sibling said that he and I were much alike. I can guarantee that my "professional progress" in comparison with others outside my cultural cohort who have similar ability is truly "an oxymoron".
This has been evident during my short-stint in college athletics in the Southeastern Conference. The best candidate for this assignment from my high-school was not me. I was second runner-up. When, I arrived on campus, I was placed in direct competition for an athletic role against a "near cousin". Someone who I did not know was an extended family member until a reunion around 2010.
Ultimately, when I did not return during my second year, my athletic scholarship, that was never personally wanted, landed in the hands of a "walk-on" who was one of the family members of the school's founders. He eventually was given or earned that spot. And, this fellow, who was smaller than most high school athletes playing that position, might have been part of the coaching staff during the late-1990s. Some folks have what it takes and others do not. And, a surname is mostly it, in many instances. So, this "perfect example" of a successful "steroid-free" collegiate career stands among the many greats, descendants of the visionary who found riches from starting a "sea-faring jitney", who scampered before crowds for faithfuls, accomplishing such memorable feats, as passing for over three quarters of mile worth of successful completions in the early 1970s, against competition that only "egg-head" schools would play on homecoming.
Now, whether this school, who has become quite competitive in recent years, follows this practice of "steroid-free" play is a question that only recent athletes can answer.
My goal, if I played collegiate sports, was being steroid-free and playing a sport that my natural build could accommodate. Many men were dying prematurely and living for years with pins in their joints from the violent collisions occurring between men exceeding three hundred pounds. One of the greatest technicians of my "desired" position within the sport during the 1970s, before the advent of rampant steroid use, was about 78 inches in height and weight about 265 lbs. An athlete who played for a Division I Team in Virginia achieved this goal and was competitive against the defensive lineman, some exceeding three hundred pounds. Despite the fact that this sport was never honest nor the vocation of choir boys, by the 1990s, few, if any professional coach, would hire athletes who did not use this performance enhancing drug for rapid strength gain.
Yet, in retrospect, the coaches, administrators, and highest tiers of the NCAA administration are well-aware of the violations and illegal activities that occurs, plus the cost, in terms, of the life's of young men and women, with whom many parents have entrusted them. Some of the parents were fully aware of the potential dangers. Some were caught by surprise!
Strength..Power...Dominance..Control...Or, the illusion of such....
The most appropriate term for American Success is Pyrrhic Victories in a Trivial War...
The lives, communities, and futures destroyed for exalting family surnames, acquiring wealth that is not sustainable and frequently mishandled by corporate business units and personal accountants, and the perpetuation of the belief that a certain group "rules" the universe.
The number of Americans who become verbally and socially aggressive, if the mere hint of believe-ability that an African American has had any role in a modern field of endeavor that seems so mysterious and unsearchable crossed their minds, is astounding.
This is America...
My life's journey has blessed me with meeting the person who the increased storage capacity of hard disk drives by improving a technique called "sputtering". He is the only metallurgist that I have met. He is African-American and developed this approach during the late 1980s. Is he the one officially credited with such? It might depend upon the source one references. Yet, would you have destroyed you new personal computer in the early-1990s, if you had learned that such a person had a role in the technology used for increasing storage capacity!
I shared this unique experience with a man whom I met, recently, that also worked at the local Seagate Magnetics plant before it closed in the mid-1990s. He swore "up-and-down", "left-and-right", and "all-around" that it was someone else in the early 1990s. I did not argue. We had different viewpoints and had been told something the differed by person we each highly trusted and respected.
And, as said, when I often talk about the contributions of various different groups in the "seemingly positive" advances in this world, "Who really cares?"
While teaching briefly at a small "private school" led by a member of the South Asian community in a large Texan Metroplex, the students seemed rather disinterested in the curriculum preparing them for the mathematics section of the SAT. The apparent "deeply ingrained false belief arising from a predominantly Western education" had taught them that the great thought in mathematics stems from the Western world. Although, not a master of any Eastern language, history, or counting method, my limited reading could address the value of the system of numbering found in one particular Eastern culture and its advantages over the systems used in the Western world for the past few centuries.
It has been said that the some of the techniques for creating resilient weaves, based upon counting in base three or four, discovered by empirical investigation among "primitive human groups" who live very simplistic lives, has unique application in the solution of mathematical statements that make the eyes of laymen blur, and the minds of accomplished scholars boggle, and those who laugh at the silly pursuit of "intellectual purism" shrug their shoulders, raise their hands, and say, "Well, that is amazing!"
Those the statements might seem somewhat logically discordant. The lesson, which life has taught at nearly fifty, one that many children know who have take a car ride across country, the terrain, vegetation, and weather within a landscape transforms slowly as one drives along. This is more-so the case when one is walking. And, this country is stumbling drunken, confused, and near-sighted along an unworn trail...
Those is other regions of the world, most likely can say, the struggles between certain portions of its country's inhabitants are the same as they have been for at least the past few centuries. The faces of the conflict might appear different. They might appear like his own!
As stated yesterday, if you want some help at improving your personal situation or that of those for whom you are responsible of care, talk with Jonah. Because, I truly do not care!
Nothing I can say will change or effect anyone's opinion of personal behaviors! I have learned my lesson dealing with the ravenous swine and canines in my life! They value pearls found in the depth of the ocean and financial wisdom from the Wall Street Journal, more than any found in scripture.
In my early twenties, while working for a year in an information systems department, discarding over ten percent of my income within the local "sin trade" at the bars was a non-issue. Most said a young man must experience and enjoy life. When, I "got my head back in the game" in my late twenties, read scripture, and started giving the church a comparable portion and ceased supporting the local "sin economy", I was told that I could not afford doing such. Giving churches that amount, whether they misused it or not, was called foolish and I was told that I should save money and take care of myself first! No one said any such thing while I supported the Anheuser-Busch family. Rarely, would I be criticized for funding the Armani, Hugo Boss, or Perry Ellis family foundations!
As stated before, I simply cannot help!
In my late teens, I was told that I did not understand life, women, and such by my peers. The only lesson that I needed was seeing a young man who contracted a virulent form of HIV at sixteen and was covered with boils and sores only a few months later! It was dead within the year. That is better than that old film "Scared Straight"! My naive "little boy" viewpoint of manhood and success was finding one woman and building a life with her! Any adult man can tell you that such an achievement is quite a challenge!
For those who love, prize, and value your collection of souvenirs from sexual exploits, recordings and such! Hey, that is you! Be you! If you ever are interested in trying something "exotic" by American standards consult Jonah! And, be honest, American women are as bad as many of the men!
For every American who hears "a man should support himself by any means necessary!" and feels this is a license for robbery, rape, and pillage in the accumulation of a mountain of gold! Look, knock yourself out! I am not in it! That is your business! My tender childish ears hears this differently, but I am not as smart as most adults. I have been told this for years, and I have learned that arguing is futile!
Honestly, based upon what a physicians assistant shared last year, most middle schools students in this city, with the highest rate of certain common sexually transmitted diseases, have had more "intimate" partners than me. So, what do I know about life! Despite the full academic scholarships and the offers of education among the most elite of universities, campus life taught that my approach in life will never be successful, when submerged in a living environment among the general student population.
The most poignant, succinct, and accurate assessment of the modern American university or college was given by a woman, holding a doctorate, with whom I spoke around 2005. She said that a major regional university with an international ranking in the top ten for various disciplines, including psychology, had an insane asylum on campus. She said that had laundry facilities, a movie theater, a beautiful arboretum, and many more amenities for the mentally-infirmed! I eventually took an on-line tour of this university and simply could not find any reference about a state mental hospital ever being co-located with the campus! In fact, the nearest such of facility was quite a distance away! IT is my assumption that this was one of those subtle statement that only those who have attended an American college or university understand. This is much like that statement from a graduate student, whom I met shortly before college who said that he was planning on a short assistantship in a graduate program in Kentucky. He said that he had found housing in a "swinging singles" apartment near campus.
This might sound calloused, uncaring, and cold, but, if those who were raised in American churches and insisted that their children do the same, behave the way that they do and have done so over the span of my life, plus give the Word of God very little credence as shown by their actions and statements, simply talk with Jonah about it!
I said what I had said! I have walked more than an extra thousand miles with evil men! I have seen family member betray family member over pittances, within my extended family and the families of so many others! Look! America you have captured the prize! Yet, another "gold medal" in an Olympics of What-in-so-ever-matters in a Capitalistic society!
I have not met a thousand individuals in my life that have impressed upon me that they are truly sincere about the faith which they profess. Many know the speech, the sayings, and "sales" pitches needed for filling offering buckets and attracting sheep! But, once fleeced, they are discarded.
I stopped caring gradually. And, seeing that more men seek after a silly, simplistic computing utility on my associated weblog hoping that can quickly turn-it-over for a few dollars, than show any interest in improving the quality or integrity of their Christian walk from the experiences of a man's mistakes who most likely will not inherit a crown imperishable based upon strict interpretation of scripture, all that I can do is throw my hands up and say, "I am through with all of you!"
I will never forget why the flood came in Genesis. It was likely the result of the weariness He felt seeming the phony smiles, hollow kind-words, and rampant sin so many humans simply relished!
I am not the source of all of the answers, but do any of you care enough that you will pick up the scriptures and read? Do not try cramming on your death-bed! Or, late in your life!
This is simply an epidemic, human stupidity in America! It is evident in the school system! Forgive me for saying so! Most of the educators with whom I have worked while an adjunct at universities, colleges, and junior colleges have never had a problem with calling students "stupid" behind closed doors! My personal belief is that if one capitulates and calls someone stupid, then he has set a limit upon expected performance, which effects teaching effort, but, when all was said and done, I could not argue with those instructors. My conclusion was the same! And, when assessing the average adult in America, especially, concerning a faith walk. It is the same. We are a stupid nation, mired in stupid traditions, that hamper a corporate repentir! Stupid we live! Stupid we rise! And, Stupid we die!
And, trust me! Someone might feel comments made about academic dishonesty among well-respected professors at elite college stemming from my brief days at Vanderbilt or during any other period of learning in my life that could have resulted in "advances" that have netted prizes or wealth, is pathetic childish whimper for attention! In the words used by my cousin when addressing pesky telemarketers, "I do not want none of your prizes! Click!" Keep the trinkets, bobbles, and spoils of these endeavors! I do not want anyone's attention, any substantial wealth, or the associated nuisances or nonsense! Whether a person has been married for a lifetime and had a large family or not, in all honesty, one can only share that only He sticks closer than a brother!
The phony friends, praise, and societal access provided by a couple of summers of work on an NIH grant while in high-school coupled with possible athletic potential and the perceived future earnings was a glimmer of "an illusion" lived by few and sought by many! It is a surreal horror that I sincerely hope that I never experience again! If you have not been through it, you would not understand!
The best analogy one can give in the materialistic society is from the experiences of someone who might have owned "high-end" luxury cars during his career. He would likely say, the fuel, the maintenance, and those they attracted were costly. And, more modest vehicles could have served the same purpose and might have been the most "profitable", from a personal standpoint, in the long-run.
Many "well-respected" men and woman who have seen deeper hues of the limelight than I ever have, will say, it is not worth it, they would not want their children in it, and would advise those whom they care about that they should avoid it at all cost! A local one-minute human interest spot about a woolley-head almond hued me that was aired for the betterment of the public reputation and relations of a local research facility which had been the scene of workplace violence arising from a estranged relationship, derailed my career path beyond repair.
I have walked these streets for nearly four decades and friendly hellos, greetings, and smiles are not completely unheard of, but the rate at which I have received them during the past couple of years, coupled with the insults heard at a distance from many who passed a few moments early with wide, phony, and pastey-grins, is a bellwether for trouble!
When a person's value is based upon how one can exploit him in satisfying one's immediate perceived need and very little thought is given concerning a person's future potential, stupidity reigns in America!
When humans with a long history of quality performance are written off as being completely incapable based upon the assessment of a single person with this or the "lettered designation", America is stupid beyond repair!
It might be the case that, pardon the fuzzy-logic, but, it might be the case that Jonah will care enough that he will tolerate the insults, the shallow pursuit of material possessions, carnal conquests, the nonsense pervading modern American culture, and walk the length of an American town begging its inhabitants that they amend their dysfunctional ways!
As far as, this imbecile, by American standards, is concerned, if you enjoyed the frivolity the first time, do it until "your party-engine" stalls, jump-start that "bad-boy" with a Kenworth and do it again! Hey, be you! You cannot be anyone else!
As for me, this woolley-headed, almond-coloured, day-dreaming, delusional, struggling for a faith walk worthy of His acceptance author, simply let this misguided "brother be a brother", and simply be me! Stupid as I be!
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