I heard three news stories on the radio today and knew I would write another gagablog about them. The connecting message is The Truth. Things are "more true" when they are proven that way in the future. This was originally going to be called Telling the Truth about the Past and Future. And, long ago, the "next gagablog" was going to be about "Sexxx Dreams." But I will take my time and write this one, just for today, just for today's stories, and try to be quick about it.
All the stories came from NPR news. The first one was about systematic racism in the justice system. You can probably look up the report and if you don't know our justice system is racist then you should probably look it up and more. Let's skip ahead to those who know it is racist. Apparently, there was a law passed about 40 years ago to correct some of the racism, to prevent lawyers from striking jurors based upon their race. But lawyers immediately found their ways around the law in order to continue selecting juries using racial bias. It's not as if the lawyers have to be the "more racist" kind of lawyers to do this: NPR played training videos that tell lawyers outright that they don't want black jurors. There is so much of this, I feel silly pointing out any one part - the reason it is in the news is because the Supreme Court heard arguments on a case today. A black man in Georgia was sentenced to life in prison by an all-white jury and the way the prosecutors struck all the black jurors is obviously the exact racism that the law was made to prevent. It's the case they are hearing about, but this relates to millions of cases, it's the way the entire system is being run. it's a completely racist Injustice System, it mostly exists to support injustice in society. As Morrissey sings in "Ganglord": "they say to protect and to serve, but what they really mean to say is get back to the ghetto." When he played that song and showed a lot of police brutality videos at his concert here and my brother, who is huskier than I, went quickly to the bathroom, in the direction of a police officer, he said the cop was visibly scared. Because, even if he's a good guy, there's guilt in the badge and it's obvious with all the footage. Not all cops are personally racist but the institutions are racist, they are sworn to protect each other which amounts to protecting the whole racist system. As long as they keep saying "only a few bad apples" with out aggressively identifying and removing those apples, as long as they keep trying to justify abuse of power, which has No justification, the whole industry is suspect. Cops are "scared to do their jobs" - scared of cell phones because they can't control their own violence - and cops are being killed more and more. The solution is Self-control, or having some control enforced upon you. Lawyers and Judges operate with the same level of impunity and maintain the racism in the system.
So I have an idea, a new law. Any lawyer or judge who is determined to have allowed racism to influence a case should receive the punishment they got for the "suspect" they victimized. Do this, and we will get rid of racism. Simple. So all the lawyers who supported this decision, and all the Judges who upheld it, should be imprisoned for at least 30 years. That would motivate them to find the actual truth so that the wrongfully convicted, and they, don't have to spend "too long" in jail.
Larry Wilbourne did a piece on a lady who is serving life in prison for being a coke mule and being arrested with no evidence but convicted on dealer's plea-bargained testimony. He mentioned that 6,000 inmates were released from federal jail this week, a story I heard about earlier. But she wasn't one of them. And there are millions of people in jail who should not be, with cases as obviously unjust as hers. I want to say 6,000 is at least a drop-in-the-bucket start, but at least that means someone got the bucket out. Without getting too sidetracked, the story I heard the other day was about the 2,000 inmates who will be deported to Mexico. The reporter asked the federal official what the plan was for assimilating them back into Mexico. She said it was just to put them on busses and drop them off somewhere, no coordination with the Mexican government, then mentioned that the number was so large, what could they be expected to do? Mexico couldn't possibly be expected to prepare for 2,000 people being dropped off, but it seems like our government's attitude is "oh well, their problem now." The whole justice system is a sham, a mockery, modern slavery and institutional abuse. It's playing games with peoples' lives and this is no different. I almost cynically expect that they did this specifically to show what a disaster it is to deport 2,000 people in one mass like that, expecting "problems" to arise, and use it as an example to show how stupid Trump's plan to deport 11 million people is.
The whole idea of eliminating black people from juries in the first place is that it is hard to get convictions from black folk, apparently. This isn't really surprising when you think about how black people have been oppressed and can therefore be more sympathetic, understanding, and considerate, and especially more considerate and hesitant to put someone into the Criminal Justice System, because they know that so-called "justice" is actually criminal. Anyone else who demonstrates sensibilities would be struck, as well. It's a system that can only be fixed with some consequences for those who abuse it. But it's taking them 40 years to even admit that it's being abused, and that "decision" still isn't expected until later. Who can deny it? The conservative justices may try, based on the nature of Evil, institutional stupidity. But they will be "wrong" if they do and we will just have to do it all again, with another case, but without waiting 40 years. Or just revolt and tear the whole entire system down. I don't think people realize that these are the actual options. And they should be scared of Justice, because in the end the Good Guys, us, will win.
The other news story was about suicide and changes in the culture of mental health providers. They said that the old way that suicide was understood, caregivers were taught there was not much they could do about it. Only recently, apparently, has there been a shift in culture. Now, at least in some places, they have a belief that they can prevent suicide. Of course, as it seems like anyone could anticipate, believing they could make a difference had a huge impact on the difference they were actually able to make. A lady suffering with depression and suicidal thoughts spoke to some of her experiences and it was obvious that the new approach saved her life. Statistics indicated they saved many others, too. They reached a Zero out of 100,000 rate of suicide - again, look up the story for details, they are impressive and inspire hope. They asked one of the experts if Zero Suicide was possible, long-term, and he said "Well, anything is possible, right?" It was a hopeful, dreamy statement, but I totally believe in it. And that's what it takes, believing in the best and going for it instead of fearing the worst and killing people.
By the time I heard both of these stories this morning, I was ready to write this. I was going to tie it into my ideas of Prophecy / Honesty: telling the truth in the past and future. I want to connect the idea of acting evilly, with a Supremely Violent system protecting you, is the same problem with the Settlers in Palestine - the most significant source of the strife in the Middle East - along with ISIS, of course, which is also an American Frankenstein. But I will do that next time. I'm being more patient with these, now that Gaga is doing TV instead of music for a while.
I was too sleepy to write this morning, so I slept and on my way to get my friend from work I heard the third story, which tied the other two together, along with my "telling the truth" theme, even better. It was about death rates in developed countries. The "rule" is, as standard of living and education improve, death rates go down. This has been the trend in America and other countries. But some people looked closer and found that while death rates on average are decreasing and have been for 14 years at a rate of 2% a year, I think, in the "White, Middle-class" demographic the death rate has been going up by 0.5% each year over that same time period. They were "alarmed." There were two causes of death that stood out as responsible for this trend, suicide and overdosing on drugs and alcohol. One theory for why middle-class whites were experiencing higher suicide rates was because "black and Hispanic families aren't used to things being good so when their kids grow up they are less disappointed." That's not exactly what the expert said, but it was something like that, that seemed totally racist but was really just a reflection of racist reality of our system and some generalized stereotyping. Army suicides, due to involvement in evil wars that never should have happened and getting no care afterwards, just being used as a political pawn, at least accounts for why twice as many veterans from these wars have committed suicide as died from combat. And of course the increasing gun sales due to NRA fearmongering has given more and more people the easiest means of carrying out suicidal thoughts.
I had another theory, that some communities have more exposure and cautionary examples of hard drug use, in the community, but when white folks from "good neighborhoods" get hooked on prescriptions and move to heroin, or just try drugs out for fun, they don't have the same cultural exposure to the dangers to be careful. They say weed is a gateway drug but my experience is that weed is sufficient and gives people some experience altering their mindset and maybe even safer contexts to explore other dugs, at least among stoner peers, a social context to look out for each other. Personally, this experience and exposure to some hard drugs gave me enough respect for them to avoid them almost entirely, being wary of their dangers, and knowing some friends who dies from them. Weed has been wonderful to me, but an alcohol habit, instead, would have made me much more likely to use hard drugs, from lowering inhibitions to being a destructive substance you build a tolerance to, leaving you wanting something more. A doctor even said that we, as Americans, no longer have "any" psychological barrier against heroin use. That seemed a little too much like a dealer's fantasy but I see his point that there is "less" taboo about heroin in the mainstream culture. We are fools if we can't blame the pharmaceutical companies pushing narcotics and opiates as the beginning stages of heroin addiction, since heroin is so much cheaper once the patients get hooked. Everyone agrees that heroin addiction and overdose has reached epidemic proportions, but if we aren't willing to face the realities causing it how can we expect this to change? One piece of the puzzle is the pharmaceutical companies, and they are responsible for a Lot of evil in the world so this is juts the tip of the iceberg. But another one is the US government itself, and the army.
This is where "telling the truth" comes in. We can all kind of sense how American policies and actions are the root causes of all the strife in the Middle East and the consequent threat of World War Three. But we can explain it specifically, as I will do next edition, if we are willing to confront these things with the mind to change them. If not, we won't even let ourselves talk honestly about it. Well, here is a chance to be honest, to come clean, and make up for some of the evil you caused, America. I was tipped off to this by the propagandist nature of the news report on the heroin epidemic. They kept calling it "Mexican heroin" because it comes through cartels in Mexico, supposedly. I'm not saying they don't get a cut, but I am saying they don't grow poppies in Mexico. Calling it "Mexican" is an echo of demonizing Mexico, and weed, since that is how they racismed America into fear of weed, with stories of Mexican Rapists coming across the border - sound awfully, recently familiar? The main reason they call it "Mexican heroin" is to divert attention from the otherwise all-too-obvious truth. I was always suspicious of Bush's war with Afghanistan, and will get into all the why's next time. But at the time, I was fully aware that Afghanistan grew 90% of the worlds' poppy crop, that 90% of the world's heroin came from Afghanistan. It was simple, to me: If heroin becomes more rare, more expensive, we are probably "doing something" decent in Afghanistan. But, if it gets more plentiful, stronger, and cheaper, well, the only reason for that is that, whatever "other" reason they have, one major reason we invaded Afghanistan was to secure the heroin supply for ourselves. At the time I said it was probably just the CIA enforcing kickbacks that the Afghan smugglers had tried to avoid.
If we are controlling the world's heroin supply, how can we act "shocked" that it has become an epidemic when we didn't take it over to shut it down, we took it over to sell it. If we don't admit that and face it, correct it, well, we deserve what we get.
If cops don't calm the fuck down and start policing themselves, they will get what they deserve. If the politicians and lawyers and judges keep supporting this racist system instead of reforming it, we will destroy it entirely. If you enjoy spending money, start spending some right. Otherwise, we won't even keep it around for fun. This is a promise. Police need to be afraid of abusing people because abuse and murder are wrong. If it takes cell phones to get justice, don't complain about it, act justly. Wearing body cameras are part of a good solution if you can't actually be trusted. Can lawyers and judges be forced to wear cameras, too? Or who will prosecute their wrongs instead of protecting their peers? In the future we won't need "deciders" and judges to tell us things because so much will be recorded it will be obvious. In fact, we can have that now except for these people holding on to their jobs. And why? Because it takes a human racist to be racist, to maintain a racist system. And they all are, by being part of it and not calling it out. And the rest of us are, too, as long as we're complacent about it.
I read an article by David Brooks about Lady Gaga and her passion. It was really good, like you could tell Gaga, from an awards ceremony or charity dinner, had a profound effect on him. He was talking like he "got it", that passion is what it is all about. I see Gaga as the Goddess, of course, and always felt she is a source of life, inspiration, and a reminder of how good things can be, helping us escape the bad things. It catches on, belief, just like the belief in Zero Suicides catches on with every person who it helps out of these awful spells and every caregiver who feels the pride of that success. I believe we can have an actual impartial, just, and kind Justice System. I model mine on Oz, of course, from "The Patchwork Girl of Oz." Passion, love, is what turns us on, what takes us to the future, to paradise. Judgment, fear, hatred and racism are all darksided, turning us off and smashing us into bullet-casings, firing us into hell. We just don't need it. It might "feel good", in a way, to feel like you are in a privileged class but it's really bad for your soul. I won't say it is good for anyone, or anyone's soul, to be oppressed, it's not. But you inherit the righteousness that oppressors shed by taking advantage of you. Ultimately that will be rewarded because we're coming to understand the world more spiritually. But it's not like the Christian promise that your reward comes in Heaven, though I hope that is true, too, for those who like it. It more like we can make this world paradise if we believe in it. And we can make it hell, and destroy ourselves, too, if we progress like that's the only option, like we have to fight each other until there is one winner. We can destroy ourselves. Maybe if we believed that more, or even saw more examples of it, we would be motivated to avoid it. But I truly believe we've seen enough evil, and we can focus on the positive enough to convince each other that Everything Is Possible, especially and essentially all the best things we can possibly imagine, then more as more of our best dreams come true.
Thanks, Gaga and all loving people who help move us into the true future, the only future, Paradise! Everyone else, you have no power here, begone! Before somebody drops a House on You, Too! Because it's coming down, to be replaced by a good one with space enough for everyone. Ultimately, there is only One Good Side. We're all on it, but some have stood out against it with a False Reality. The more that cracks, as all fake things do, the more we see through it to what we can be, what we will be. Those of us who can see it are going for it and the rest can help or at least stop hindering progress. All the petty concerns of power and privilege will be steamrolled by justice - just don't try to hold on to power "over" others, but instead empower yourself and others, and everything will be good!
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