For a long time, I have been preaching that race is a social construct. It is used to keep people divided so that they are so consumed with said idiocy that they fail to realize the real enemy: an economic system dependent on the ignorance of the masses while the capitalists laugh all the way to the bank, regardless of their race.
Most consider our reigning thug-in-chief, President Donald Trump, a racist. Yet black celebrities Steve Harvey and Kanye West have no problem being in his presence. Have Oprah, Beyonce, or P. Diddy used their platform to effectively fight this thug-in-chief who is a clear and present danger to people of color? And no, four lines in a song don't count.
Many of my episodes of Politics Done Right have featured a phrase similar to the following:
When we unite the barrios, the ghettos, and Appalachia is when we, the poor and the middle-class, take what is rightfully ours: the economy of this great country. Until then, we are in the trap of the plutocracy.
It is a stereotypical statement but the message is clear. Regardless of race, the masses have just about everything in common. Yet, the plutocracy injects divisions via misinformation that has disparate groups fearing each other or blaming each other for their problems. Of course, their problems are a direct result of an extractive economy that just wants their indentured servitude. The Powell Manifesto was, in fact, very effective.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently proposed the Accountable Capitalism Act, which sent the titans of finance into a fit. The talking heads on CNBC were in a virtual panic as they attacked her.
One would think that one of the most wealthy black American capitalists, Robert L. Johnson, would remember that there was a time when people of color were not chosen to join that club (yes, the key word is chosen).
Anyone can be a free enterprise(r) based on their desire to work, create, and innovate. Joining the upper echelons of capitalism, however, requires being chosen by the titans of finance. It is not a democratic process based solely on skills, aptitude, and the best-developed product (i.e, there were many operating systems better than MS-DOS, Apple computers are nowhere close to being the best technology, etc.). It is important that all Americans understand these realities of capitalism lest they continue to make suboptimal choices or lose self-esteem when they see less-than-the-best get footholds in the economy.
Robert L. Johnson is the founder of BET, Black Entertainment Television. This capitalist used his station to exploit black people, unbeknownst to many. Just like reality TV exploits all Americans by creating an addictive product because of our natural curiosity and tendency to fixate on the depraved, BET was tailored to do that to black people. He should have used the platform to entertain, but with a more conscious and needed public service component for his base. I love the bump and grind like everyone else, but would have enjoyed a component that helped give more direction on upward mobility and navigating toward success. Suffice it to say, he made hundreds of millions of dollars with his exploitative process, finally selling BET to Viacom in 2000 for $2.3 billion in stock.
CNBC elicited capitalist Johnson's opinion on Sen. Warren's new bill, and he did not disappoint them. He came on and equated her bill as tantamount to Marxism. Does he not know that her bill is not all that dissimilar to what's done in Germany? The fact is, their CEOs and executives do not make inordinate salaries and hundreds of times more than their average workers as we do here, where unfettered capitalism reigns with a minimal safety net.
Senator Warren's bill has 'dangerous potential of channeling Karl Marx': BET founder from CNBC.
Our form of capitalism corrupts moral values. It creates a tunnel vision where one forgets their past struggles, and it can be blamed directly on the oppressive economic system they have been chosen to join. They are oblivious to the suffering of a large percentage of the masses.
It is in vogue now to concentrate on the racist segment of Trump supporters, but those are the ones we should be least concerned about. It is those who don't give a damn about race that should worry us most. They are willing to accept any character or morals in a leader—just as long as their personal economies benefit by orders of magnitude over everyone else.