Years ago, many of the BWE/Common Sense bloggers saw
that African-Americans (AAs) would one day become a permanent underclass in the
U.S. It’s been clear for the past couple of years that this day has arrived: The
majority of AAs have completed the process of entrenching themselves into
permanent underclass status.
Over the years I’ve also been watching for another “indicator.” An indicator showing that
the U.S. has reached the point of no return in terms of economic and political
decline. An indicator showing that the U.S. has morphed into the sort of
dystopia featured in the Cyberpunk and Post-Cyberpunk speculative fiction genres.
Several of these genres’ tropes have already become standard features of
modern-day America, such as Big Brother Is Watching, Everything Is Online, etc.
on the road to a Privately Owned Society.
A healthy, properly functioning nation state and
government immediately rebuilds a neighborhood, town or city after a disaster. Not
because a country’s rulers necessarily like or care about the inhabitants of
the stricken area. But because livable and functioning cities are
manifestations of a sovereign government’s power and authority. By contrast, a
declining/ collapsing/collapsed nation state “lets it go” when disaster strikes a neighborhood, town, or city
under its rule.
A national government’s willingness to “let it go” when a neighborhood, town or
city under its control is hit by disaster is a clear indicator of collapse.
I waited to see if the mishandling of New Orleans
during and after Katrina was a fluke. It’s more than ten years after Katrina,
and New Orleans *still* has not fully recovered.
Unfortunately, I see now that the mishandling of New
Orleans was not a fluke. The destruction of Flint, Michigan by way of a poisoned water system is the second time an American city has been destroyed by local politicians’
malfeasance and the national (federal) government has “let it go” (including your First
Black President Obama and your Second
Black Attorney General of the United States Loretta Lynch). And let the
politicians responsible for it slide.*
Make no mistake. Flint, Michigan has been destroyed.
As Michael Moore stated:
People’s Homes in Flint Are Now Worth Nothing Because They Cant Be Sold. Would you buy a house in Flint right now? Who would? So every homeowner in Flint is stuck with a house that’s now worth nothing. That’s a total home value of $2.4 billion down the economic drain. People in Flint, one of the poorest cities in the U.S., don’t have much to their name, and for many their only asset is their home. So, in addition to being poisoned, they have now a net worth of zero. (And as for employment, who is going to move jobs or start a company in Flint under these conditions? No one.) Has Flint’s future just been flushed down that river?
[*It’s an absolute outrage that none of the local
officials responsible for the destruction of Flint have been indicted. They
KNEW there was a problem with the water; they gave General Motors special
access to clean water; and then they continued poisoning the people of Flint.]
The message is clear to those Americans who’ve been
paying attention: We’re all on our own. And if you live in a depressed city,
you’re expendable. You’re totally disposable if you’re passive and complacent
enough to drink and feed your children tap water that you can see is yellow and
brown.
I'm saddened and appalled by this man-made crisis,
but I just don't understand some of these Black folks in Flint. As I said
during an email conversation with a friend:
“Why would any adult in their right mind touch, drink, bathe, brush their teeth and so on with yellow and brown tap water that is obviously filthy and toxic? Much less allow their children to have any physical contact whatsoever with that “water”?I mean, really now—WTH???!!?? I could see this happening if the water looked and smelled like normal water.
{rhetorical question} But wait . . . some of these Sheniquas actually fed and bathed their children in obviously toxic yellow and brown smelly tap water??!!?? The heifers that did that need their a$$es beat. Small children don't have any sense. They're depending on the adults in their lives to keep them safe and healthy. Again, these heifers need their rear ends kicked. There doesn't need to be any kind of so-called “conspiracy” when grown-a$$ individuals are THAT stupid and trifling. {seething at the thought}
I would scrimp in order to get bottled water. If it came to that, I'd just have to be funky and ‘wash up’ very sparingly every other day with the bottled water to make it stretch and last longer for more important tasks such as drinking, brushing teeth, and washing my children.”
I *know*
the American Black Underclass. I know how they “do.” Unlike the legions of Black
Armchair Revolutionaries, I spent more than a few years of my professional
career servicing the American Black Underclass. [Yes, I know that many White
folks and others in Flint also fed their children the
obviously tainted tap water. But I’m focused on the well-being of
African-American Black children. Not other folks’ kids.]
You can’t tell me that a lot of the mothers in Flint
who fed their children smelly yellow and brown tap water refrained from
spending money on getting their hair, nails and eyelashes done. Some of those mothers got their hair and nails done instead of
spending that money on bottled water for their children.
Another indicator of terminal collapse is when some government officials actually want to look after suffering citizens and still
can’t accomplish anything. I Tried To Save A Homeless Woman From Freezing &The City Couldn't Help Us.
The reality is that passive
and complacent Americans are going to “get
got” over and over again. And some of these “gotchas” will have fatal results.
I’m
not saying all of the above to scare you. I’m saying this to reiterate the core message of
my book and two blogs:
You
can thrive (and not just survive) during this time of collapse if you GET BACK
TO BASICS.
Meaning, leave newfangled, experimental lifestyles
and practices ALONE.
Meaning, get your lifestyle into alignment with the various
timetables and life strategies that have stood the test of time and carried other women through various crises. Such as:
Saving money. If you don’t have at least $1,000 set
aside as an emergency fund, I strongly urge you to get a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover book. Immediately.
HERE’S a detailed review of the book.
Avoiding/paying off consumer debt.
Creating extra income streams/getting a side hustle.
Preparedness is the next step after mastering Black
Women’s Empowerment (BWE) basics. Check out the YouTube channels mentioned
during THIS post.
