(Written in 7/19, updated 11/20)
The House of Representatives is currently discussing “reparations,” that is, the idea that the government (that is, European Americans) should formally apologize for slavery, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination. Then the government should pay African American citizens a just compensation for all the sufferings of their ancestors and the “residue” of the history of slavery and discrimination that remains today in the lives of African Americans. This residue is, of course, the cause of all racial inequality today.
Fair enough. Let’s have the discussion.
This idea is espoused by mainly black cons, progressive cons and their allies (including the Hispanic cons and the feminist cons).
(These “cons” can be defined as a group of dysfunctional beliefs that are held by over 25% of the people in these groups, as well as the people who believe in these dysfunctional thought patterns. Thus the individual believing in these dysfunctional ideas is also called a “con.” For example, I contend that over 25% of the African American population believe in the serious dysfunctional ideas which I label the “black con” and over 25% of the Euro-American (white) population believe in serious dysfunctional ideas which I label the “white con.”)
An interesting anti-thesis to the idea of reparations is the idea enunciated by black conservatives, who incorporate the ideas of gratitude and duty into the discussion, two words that are taboo, and even considered racist, in the lexicon of the black con and their allies. These African American conservatives seem like a light in the darkness, like enlightened thinkers amidst the darkness of the progressive inquisition.
So, maybe we should also bring the words of gratitude and duty into the conversation.
Granted that African Americans suffered, and continue to suffer, from white racism, discrimination, and the residue of slavery and discrimination. But what have whites given blacks in the form of reparations? What have blacks received in return for all their suffering?
Existence
Let’s take existence for starters. Hardly one African American would exist today if it had not been for slavery. The African Americans living today wouldn’t even live in Africa today. They wouldn’t even live!
DNA
Let’s look at genetic inheritance. Around 25% of African American genes come from Europeans. Of course, this genetic inheritance is denigrated by the black con as having come from the rape of black women by white men – as if women have never been attracted to men with social wealth, power, and status, as if black men have never had sex with white women.
In fact, today one can clearly see the higher status among African Americans – including the higher sexual and romantic status — of lighter skin African Americans. Those individuals with a higher percentage of African genetic heritage, for example, Clarence Thomas and Joe Frazier, are often looked down upon by other blacks.
We can see this genetic drift in the near disappearance of the 100% African genes among the African-American population in the last 50 years, as they choose to “marry light.”
There is a taboo against perceiving a relationship between genetic inheritance and various forms of talent. This taboo largely comes from Hitler believing in genetic inheritance, and therefore any perception of the influence of genetic inheritance is considered as being a Nazi. However, we can see a genetic drift in the make-up of the talented people in various activities.
Because of this taboo, we aren’t allowed to see that the Chinese population as more talented in math and the African-American population more talented in language (for example, rap), music, basketball, boxing, and football.
Jewish people
We can see that the Jewish genetic group (tribe) as having more talent in damn near everything (except basketball, boxing, and football). This talent among Jewish people – the chosen people – didn’t come free. It came as a result of 3,000 years of persecution.
Consider this: what kind of Jewish person survived in the historical constant threat of annihilation – which survives even today among some Islamic nations? (Currently, there are six million Israelis surrounded by almost a billion Muslims, many who want to drive the Jews into the sea.) And what kind of man did a Jewish woman choose to fall in love with, as she considered the quality of her life and the survival of her children? She probably had often chosen a smart, competent man, one who genetically helped her to have smart, competent, and hard working kids.
Lock her up
This taboo against perception of genetic inheritance and genetic contribution to talent is nothing less than the taboo against seeing biological reality. The Progressive con states that anyone who sees reality clearly should be locked up: “Lock her up, lock her up.”
Western civilization
Now let’s look at Western civilization. The quality of life that Americans experience today didn’t come free. There is no free lunch in history. Just a cursory look at Western history tells a story that is “red of tooth and claw.” There was great suffering, constant warfare and constant oppression of the lower classes. There was 3,000 years of pain, hard work and sacrifice. Not to mention the great plagues that came and gone. Gone, largely due to medical advances made by white scientists.
The quality of life in contemporary Europe and America are two examples of the gifts their citizens experience on a daily basis. And these gifts were handed to African Americans. Granted, they had to pay for these gifts – and pay dearly — for 250 years. But European Americans had to pay for 3,000 years.
Let’s name some of these gifts that both whites and blacks experience on a daily basis:
The English language. This is now the universal language, the language of international education and business.
Modern technology: This includes the car, the computer, the cell phone, TV, electricity, air conditioning, heat from oil and gas, and building materials.
The American passport: Regardless of how oppressive and racist the American society is, with an American passport, African Americans can go – and eventually relocate — to virtually any other country in the world, including any African country. The reason that there is virtually no emigration to other countries is that blacks have it better in the U.S. than they would have it in virtually any other country.
Modern agriculture: This feeds most Americans with hardly any work of their own. We can ask: how many hours of hourly wages does it take to feed an American family compared to past centuries? And many Americans do no work at all in exchange for all the food they eat. Over 95% of all food that blacks consume on a daily basis is grown and produced by whites.
Modern medicine: This has eliminated many of the major diseases (including diseases in Africa, like smallpox, sleeping sickness, and malaria). This evolution of medicine has expanded the longevity of the lives of the average American and African of over 25 years.
With Medicaid, millions of African Americans get these medical services free, along with the belief than there is no duty to express gratitude or contribute something back: free health care is a right.
Intellectual history: This includes math, economics, science, philosophy, and political philosophy (which gave us the basic theories of equality and freedom). The theory of free enterprise, which started by Adam Smith, is the source of modern wealth and it continues to be developed. The theories of the rights of man — made concrete by Montesquieu, John Stuart Mill, Montagne, Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine — is the philosophical foundation upon all the demands for rights are based.
Many members of the black con are opposed to appreciating, learning, or accepting the fruits of this evolution of intellectual thought, arguing that “it is only the ideas of dead white men.” They demand instead to learn only Afro-centric ideas, as well as to demand that Afro-centric ideas must result in the same economic and quality-of-life outcomes as Euro-centric ideas. Anything else is racist.
Religion: Over 80% of Americans believe in the teachings of Jesus, who was Jewish and came from a tradition of 1,000 years of Judaism. The early (white) Christians suffered greatly during the first 300 years of Christianity, and we probably wouldn’t have the religion without their sacrifice.
Music: This includes all musical instruments except the drum. Italians, themselves, invented the piano, the violin, and the orchestra. Music that whites contributed to civilization includes musical notation – the language of music. All modern music is built upon the advances made in Western musical tradition — just as soul, blues, hip-hop, and jazz is built upon the synthesis of the following spirits: the pathos of African American slavery, Christianity, African spirituality, and the Mississippi blues.
Math: This is the foundational language of all science, economics, and business.
Architecture: Virtually every house and building in which African Americans live and work was designed and built by white people.
Political power: Because the U.S. is one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world – largely due to white persons’ work and sacrifice – the American voters, including black voters, have much more political power and importance than voters in virtually any other country.
Elitism: Even though there is a racial economic gap between whites and blacks in this country, African Americans – when including the benefits as well as the income – are in the top 10% of the world’s population in terms of wealth, and perhaps in the top 1% of the African population. This is largely due to the contribution by whites to the economic development of this country.
Opportunity
Even with the “oppression” of blacks, the discrimination, and the white racism, African Americans have more opportunity to reach their goals than over 95% of the world’s population. This includes, often, free college tuition, affirmative action programs, and the cultural attitude of America that encourages achievement. This hypothesis can be given compelling proof by the fact that virtually no African Americans leave the States to pursue their dreams in other countries, and Africans and other people of color are dying to come to the States to fulfill their ambitions.
(These international people of color often out-compete African Americans because the African Americans often have internalized the dysfunctional beliefs of the black con, for example, the taboo against contribution; the taboo against subordinating to authentic white authority; the taboo against hard work; and the opposition to Western Civilization.)
Gratitude
One response to these great gifts could be a simple acknowledgment of them and some expression of gratitude.
The black activist’s taboo against this gratitude is one problem with the whole concept of reparations: “Hey ho, Western Civ has got to go.” This taboo, along with the exaltation of Afro-centric philosophy, develops in the individual black con personality an attitude of ingratitude.
Some spiritual leaders — for example, Ignatius of Antioch and Fodor Dostoyevsky — have said that Ingratitude is the greatest of sins. The basis of this belief is that the ignoring and lacking of appreciation for all the gifts God (“life” if you are an agnostic) gives us on a daily basis, is the source of all other sins. In fact, ingratitude may be a greater “sin” than either black or white racism.
This basic personality pattern of ingratitude – found in many contemporary people, especially among the youth and the black con – can result in a distorted perception of reality, which in turn leads to dysfunctional political policies and attitudes. Ingratitude can also morph into the taboo against contribution and duty.
This attitude and philosophy of ingratitude can also lead to the dysfunctional belief that “the world owes me a living.” This belief in turn can have the consequence of a taboo against work: “Why should I work when the world owes me a living?”
The attitude of ingratitude can also lead to disastrous effects on the ingrate’s personal relationships, including romantic relationships and parental relationships: “My wife (husband) and my parents owe me a living” and “The world owes my kids a living, so I don’t have to work and to sacrifice for them.”
One problem with the personal philosophy of ingratitude is that others (the victims) don’t believe in it. This disbelief is held by many white taxpayer victims (except those with a hole in their thinking) who have the belief that: “I don’t owe you a living. You have the same duty as every other adult human being in the world to support yourself and your family.” (The black con considers this a racist belief.)
The anti-thesis to this philosophy of the white victim has been written about by Hillary Clinton, a partially Progressive con: “It takes a village (government) to raise a child — not necessarily a father.”
Thus, two-income families must have the same income as one-family incomes, and the children two-parent families must have the same educational and financial outcomes as the children of one-parent families. Children need a father like a fish needs a bicycle.
Any financial or career disparity between one and two-parent families is considered immoral racial inequality and a manifestation of white racism. Around 70% of black families have one parent, 25% of white families, and 10% of Asian families. Is there any relationship between the absence of a responsible, loving father and the outcomes of the children in these different families?
The victim disagrees
It doesn’t take rocket science to see the conflicts between the individual and society with this belief of ingratitude. Many of these conflicts are misinterpreted as racial conflicts, when they are the basic conflicts in beliefs concerning ingratitude: The con states, “You owe me a living” and the victim states, “No I don’t.”
We can see this conflict in the racial voting patterns in the 2016 elections. The majority of whites, including white women, voted for Donald Trump and the majority of blacks voted for Hillary Clinton. We can see these results through a racist paradigm: “Whites are racists, so they voted for the racist. Blacks are morally superior, so they voted for the person who would bring us all together.”
On the other hand, we can look at the voting results through a racial/economic paradigm: Whites voted for Trump because they believed they would have to give less money (taxes) to blacks. Blacks voted for Clinton because they believed they would get more money (benefits) from whites.
(We saw the same phenomenon in the 2020 Presidential election. Despite all of Trump’s dysfunction, he still got the majority of white votes.)
Duty
Like “gratitude” the word “duty” is seldom entered into the conversation. If fact, like “responsibility,” “duty” is often seen as a racist word: “How dare you state that I have the same duties as everyone else, after all I’ve been through! As a person of color, I am offended.”
However, in reality, every right has an equivalent duty. They are two sides to the same coin. For example, all the rights that the black con and the progressive con demand have equivalent duties.
The right to health care implies the duty to take care of your health so that other people don’t have to pay for your nutritional abuse. It also implies the duty of everyone to help pay for “Medicare for all.”
The right to equal justice in the criminal justice system implies the duty to obey the laws and comply with reasonable requests of cops.
The right to immigrate to the U,S. and claim amnesty implies the duty to obey American laws.
The right to fornicate implies the duty to support your children and the duty to practice safe sex.
The right to marry the person you love implies the duty to practice fidelity.
The right to financial security implies the duty to contribute to the economy at least much as much as you consume.
The right to go into a Starbucks restaurant to do your professional work and use their bathroom implies the duty to buy a cup of coffee.
The right to an education implies the duty to work, to study and to learn, along with the duty to pay something for the education.
And on and on.
However, as we can see on almost a daily basis, the black con and their allies, make neurotic (that is, dysfunctional) demands for neurotic rights along with leaving out the word “duty”: “I have no duties since I have been treated so badly by the dominant, white majority.” And, “Don’t talk to me about gratitude, duties, or contribution. I demand equal racial outcomes — that is, racial equality — whether I want to do my duties or not.”
Conclusion
As Senator Booker says, let’s have a discussion about reparations: about the white debt to blacks and about all the horrible things whites did to blacks, and what they continue to do. Then let’s have some apologies from whites, including some real cash.
But then let’s also discuss all the contributions whites made to blacks that they experience on a daily basis, in fact, on an hourly basis. And let’s discuss African American debt to Western civilization, which was developed for over 3,000 years, mostly by white’s work, sacrifice, and suffering. So, let’s also discuss what blacks owe whites.
As we discuss all the crimes that whites did to blacks, and continue to do, we can also discuss all the crimes that blacks did to whites, and continue to do, like three times the rate of assault, rape, theft, and murder. And why not, while we are at it, discuss all the crimes blacks do to other blacks?
While we discuss and analyze the great sin of whites — white racism – we can also discuss and analyze the common sins found among the black con in the black culture: theft, assault, murder, taboo against contribution, ingratitude, taboo against work, taboo against authentic education, black racism, self-contempt, denigration of women, illegal drug use, drug dealing, welfare fraud, hatred, rage, irresponsible fornication, the spread of STDs, illegitimacy, abortion, the taboo against obeying the laws, resisting arrest, and so on.
We can even discuss this hypothesis: “Even taking in the effects of white racism, whites treat blacks better than blacks treat blacks.”
The anti-thesis of the hypothesis of black moral responsibility is the moral blank check often given to the African-American population: “Because of the history of slavery and discrimination, you don’t have the same moral obligations as every other person on earth.” This anti-thesis contains a denigration of the black personality: “You aren’t capable of making a free-will moral decision, regardless of your personal history or what environment you are in.”
To be an equal opportunity critic, we can also discuss similar sins found in white con culture: white racism; greed; the national debt (“screw the grandchildren” economics); manipulating the free-enterprise system to benefit mainly the top 1%; and the contempt for animals and the environment, not to mention the contempt for the whole the human race, as we destroy the earth’s environment to satisfy our neurotic need for infinite consumption.
So, let’s have a discussion about reparations and rights, but let’s also discuss gratitude and duty. As we project all of black sins onto the white scapegoat (“White people made me do it.”), let’s discuss some of the black sins for which they are responsible. Let’s have an authentic discussion.
And let’s have this discussion with freedom of thought and without calling each other denigrating names.
Leave a Reply