Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
Dr. Seuss
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.
Bertrand Russell
There is an old story of two thieves carrying out a heist. Something precious is found among the spoil that interests both of them equally. They start dividing the pillage but cannot decide about the one they both like. So, they start an argument that leads to a fight. While they are busy fighting, a third thief arrives and stills the whole loot. This story became an illustration for those who keep busy fighting over something, while a craftier person robs them off the whole ransack. The point of the story is distraction, and how two people or more are distracted fighting (that may be devised intentionally and by an organized system) in order to rob them off their belongings. The analogy can be extended to almost all governments. Leaders know how to create an environment that keeps people busy with some kind of phobia, while they use the opportunity to rob them off their freedom. This form of exploitation was once the policy of the British Empire in invading and subjugating people of other lands. While combating each other, they did not notice the common enemy, in this case the Empire. The aggressor would instigate a war, usually related to their beliefs, and would use the opportunity to extract their natural resources, while enslaving them. This policy, when performed cunningly, using anything that people in the society are most vulnerable to, hardly ever fails. When there is not anything that can divide a society up, they would create one. The best tools that can make division among people are religion, class, race, and gender.
Imagine two babies are born, one in Binga in Zimbabwe near Zambia, the other one in Neuchtel in Switzerland. There is a big chance that the first baby is born in a family who is struggling to feed their children performing minimal jobs here and there. If the head of the family for any reason perishes, there is a possibility that children would starve to death. There is also a big chance that the second baby is born in a family whose nutritional concerns of the parents is how to eat healthy. Finding food would most probably not be an issue. You can expand your imagination by mentally raising these two babies from childhood age through teen age and adulthood, and picture their future. This may be an extreme comparison, though we can see such wealth disparity in any big city. For example in the US, compare Watts in suburb of Los Angles with the median household income of $24,000, with Rolling Hills which is another suburb of Los Angeles with the median income of $111,000, almost five times (source is Wikipedia). Racial majority in Binga and Watts is black and in Neuchtel and Rolling Hills is white. It is not too hard to guess what factor creates economic base for each community.
According to Federal statistics on hate crimes in the year 2000, 10,308 hate crimes were committed. Out of this number 4,337 were racially motivated, 1,472 were religious, 1,299 were for sexual orientation, 1,164 were for ethnicity, and 36 were against disabled. In 2001 out of 11,722 hate crimes 4,367 were for race, 1,828 for religion, 1,393 for sexual orientation, 2,098 for ethnicity, and 35 were disability related. In 2009, out of 8,607 biased crimes 3,199 were racially motivated, 1,303 were biased against religion, 1,223 were committed because of sexual orientation, 777 were as a result of different ethnicity, and 96 were against disabled. It is interesting to note that in 2001hate crimes against religion and ethnicity suddenly jumps, as a result of the government sponsored campaign against Moslems considering the Islamic Terrorist hysteria and in the aftermath of September eleven events. This has definitely risen further in 2002, however the statistics were not available.
Using mass media to build a sense of fear among Americans by using “terror attack codes”, a collective fear was created among those who considered Middle Eastern people excluded from their own herd, using Russell’s characteristics. That made it much simpler to recruit unemployed and uneducated youngsters to be sent to faraway lands in order to kill those who did not belong to the herd. Cast system has changed its face in present days with the economical disparity that has been widening ever since 2008 mortgage debacle. Racism originated centuries ago by introducing slavery as a mean of creating free labor. A cast system separated emperors and their relatives from nobles, soldiers, religious figures, farmers, other free citizens, and slaves. Having a royal gene was established by emperors in order to prolong their dynasty. Nobles were coming from a gene that belonged only to nobles and no one was able to cross that path. When we study old empires, we notice that different classes were established, each had to stay within their class for generations. Noblemen, priests, courtesans, and royal family stood above other classes such as craftsmen and farmers. Slaves were working machines with no rights whatsoever. Since they had created such classes, and they had power and wealth to sustain it, it became a part of the fabric of the society. Classification of these groups changed forms through the years, but the result is the same. Such classification is evident in 21st century, when alumni of top universities buy seats for their own children. Intermarriage has always been a common tradition among small communities, and to this day, people tend to protect those who are genetically related. Of course, the less educated and less advanced a society is, the more this custom is prevalent. It is interesting that people in power (politically and economically) promote racism while race is not a factor as long as the profit is made or a constituent is added. For instance, it is obvious by now that Obama is a part of the ruling class in the US. As long as he is a part of the ruling class, his ethnicity is not an issue. The best democracy money can buy means that those on the top, economically and politically can buy seats for senators and congressmen through campaign contributions. Any person with any color of skin or gender can join them as long as they can benefit the ruling class. However, they create division between common people, whether they are Black, Latino, Native Americans, or other minority groups, to keep them constantly feuding among each other and forgetting who the common enemy is. When one of them gets educated and starts investigating race issues and becomes active, it is better to bring such persons into their own camp than creating another MLK. That is why people such as Obama become tools in the hands of corporations and their benefactors. If they do not oblige, then a scandal is created to quite them. Rupert Murdock is one of many of such black mailers.
United States was built on the graves of tortured and killed Native Americans. Accounts of Columbus and other “so called pioneers” reflect humanitarian and peaceful greetings of the inhabitants, who did not have the family structure as in the Europe, or the thirst for power and wealth as the new arrivals. They lived in communes and all the riches of the land were shared among them. In return for their hospitality to the new arrivals, they received torture, disease, wars, and death. Howard Zinn in “People’s History of the United States” chronicles Americans’ struggles against the rich and powerful who have been exploiting new immigrants and waging wars against other nations, through 21st century. According to Zinn’s book, genocide of Native Americans was the first order of the new government in search of free land for immigrants. From the time that colonies formed the present country, the government has been changing regimes (overt or covert) of other nations, to this day. This country has the largest military and almost the smallest social services budget in the world. Another book by Stephen Kinzer, “Overthrow”, details acts of regime change. Pentagon with a large budget for propaganda campaigns is constantly in the business of brain washing Americans, so the war machine can continue without any objections. The book starts with blatant attack on Hawaii in 1893, and demanding submission of the queen. Queen Lili'uokalani began studying music at an early age and would go on to write over 160 poetic melodies and chants, including one of the four Hawaiian National Anthems. In 1893, Queen Lili'uokalani was overthrown by local businessmen with the help of the U.S. Marines and was forced to surrender the Hawaiian kingdom to the United States. Philippines islands were another target of the US hegemony. Teddy Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, and others who wanted the US to become an imperialistic power, claimed that it was the duty of the "White race" to govern "inferior" peoples and bring them the joys of civilization. From 1899 to 1902 nation of Philippine fought for their independence and eventually submitted to the US. Most of the wars and annexations were open and blatant. Of course, the media has always been in CIA’s command to get public support for such actions. The first covert operation was in 1953, when Iran’s prime minister was overthrown and the US puppet king was reinstalled. Other operations were in Cuba in 1898, Puerto Rico in 1898, Nicaragua in 1912, Banana War in Honduras, Guatemala in 1954, famous war in Vietnam, 1973 Coup in Chile and massacre of Allende and his supporters, invasion of Grenada in 1983, and 1987 invasion of Panama, which continued with an attack on Iraq and followed in the 21st century by invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Some examples used in Kinzer’s book refer to American support for local rebels against the existing national governments that lead to a change in power. For example, in 1898, the United States helped overthrow the government of Cuba by supporting local rebels. In other circumstances, such as in Iran, Guatemala and Chile, the United States initiated, planned and orchestrated the regime change.
The Suffrage Movement’s struggle continued for decades before women were able to obtain the most basic rights. According to Wikipedia: “The movement's modern origins are attributed to late-18th century France. In 1893, the British colonyNew Zealand became the first self-governing nation to extend the right to vote to all adult women. Later women of the nearby colony of South Australia achieved the same right in 1895, but became the first to obtain also the right to stand (run) for Parliament (women did not win the right to run for the New Zealand legislature until 1919). The first European country to introduce women's suffrage was the Grand Principality of Finland and that country, then a part of the Russian Empire with autonomous powers, produced the world's first female members of parliament as a result of the 1907 parliamentary elections.” In the US, the right of women were denied for centuries. In 19th and early 20th centuries, some states granted limited rights to women. Finally, in 1920, the right to vote became a part of the US Constitution through the 19th amendment. One of the champion’s of women’s right, abolition of slavery, was Lucy Stone who achieved many rights not only for women but for human kind in general. According to Wikipedia: “Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 19, 1893) was a prominent American abolitionist and suffragist, and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery at a time when women were discouraged and prevented from public speaking. Stone was the first recorded American woman to retain her own last name after marriage. Stone's organizational activities for the cause of women's rights yielded tangible gains in the difficult political environment of the 19th century. Stone helped initiate the first National Women's Rights ConventionWoman's National Loyal League to help pass the Thirteenth Amendment and thereby abolish slavery, after which she helped form the largest group of like-minded women's rights reformers, the politically-moderate American Woman Suffrage Association, which worked for decades at the state level in favor of women's right to vote. Stone wrote extensively about a wide range of women's rights, publishing and distributing speeches by herself and others, and convention proceedings. In the long-running and influential and she supported and sustained it annually along with a number of other local, state and regional activist conventions. Stone spoke in front of a number of legislative bodies to promote laws giving more rights to women. She assisted in establishing the Woman's Journal, a weekly periodical that she established and promoted, Stone aired both her own and differing views about women's rights. Called "the orator" and "the morning star of the woman's rights movement", Stone delivered a speech which sparked Susan B. Anthony to take up the cause of women's suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote that ‘Lucy Stone was the first person by whom the heart of the American public was deeply stirred on the woman question.’ Together, Anthony, Stanton, and Stone have been called the 19th century "triumvirate" of women's suffrage and feminism.”
One of the pivotal figures of gay rights was Harvey Milk. Wikipedia has an account of his life that begins as follows: “Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Politics and gay activism were not his early interests; he was not open about his homosexuality and did not participate in civic matters until around the age of 40, after his experiences in the counterculture of the 1960s. Milk moved from New York City to settle in San Francisco in 1972 amid a migration of gay men to the Castro District. He took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his interests, and ran unsuccessfully for political office three times. His theatrical campaigns earned him increasing popularity, and Milk won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977, part of the broader social changes the city was experiencing. Milk served 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back. Milk's election was made possible by and was a key component of a shift in San Francisco politics. The assassinations and the ensuing events were the result of continuing ideological conflicts in the city.”
After the map of genome system was published, we realized that we shared 98% of our genetic signatures with the smallest developed animals such as worms. Therefore, it is clear that all races and genders are so similar that any advancement in knowledge or wisdom is as a result of one’s personal achievements, not their race or their gender or their sexual orientation. Those who think Arian or White or any specific gene is more advanced, they have not even moved up to the first step of human achievements that takes us from the pits of human degradation, where those worms are living, to the universe and ultraverse where the highest form of existence may be found.
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