You've been hoodwinked. You've been had....

We all know those words to be those of the late, great Malcolm X, one of the 20th centuries' great phenoms. I am going to borrow them for a while, (with the expressed inferred consent from one freedom fighter to the next), for this blog entry. I awoke this morning from a quasi-bad dream. I dreamt that I was, once again, breaking up with Lexi's mother. We're not in a relationship, but in the dream I guess we were. And you know how stubborn people can be in bad relationships, well this dream was no different. I don't know why I had the dream, (maybe it's because Lexi's here with me for the weekend), but I had it. This is going to seem like a complete non sequitur, but the dream had absolutely nothing to do with the title of this blog, nor its subject matter. I just needed to get that dream off my chest. The anxiety associated with another break up was overwhelming-even in my dream. I awoke exhausted.

Yesterday, on the way to pick up my daughter, I was listening to listener-sponsored KPFK, a radio station that touts itself as the voice of the people. Obviously they've never heard what the people in Orange County, CA have to say, otherwise they would specify exactly whom they are the voice of. But I digress. There was a female M.C. being interviewed who goes by the moniker Medusa. At the very end, they played one of her tracks and I liked it. Very original, nothing canned and thrown together like what's out there already. The fact that they put the track at the end of the interview was her redeemer because I was going to completely write this chick off prior to hearing her music. The interviewer asked her a question that I don't quite remember, but I do recall her responding something like this, "It's time women shine and express our individuality and take our place at the very forefront." When I hear talk like this, it's like someone has taken their fingernails and scraped them against a chalk board. I just wanted to put my hand on her shoulder and tell this person, "Honey, those are words of death." What am I saying? Read on, I'll explain.

Like Malcolm X said, she's been hoodwinked. Individuality guarantees one thing, the death of the human species. Now, I know I'm not a scientist-and although I fancy myself a philosopher, we all know I'm not. But think about it, men and women truly need one another to survive. We've gotten so wrapped up in this individuality nonsense, we've forgotten that the very basis of our existence is the family-and some sort of communal living with other families. Yes, I said communal living. Sort of reminds you of the word communist or communism doesn't it? Well it should, they all are derived from the same root word. It is sad that that intellects allowed politicians to vilify the word communist. Without much investigation, the American population allowed themselves to be scared witless about a group of people who didn't really want to harm Americans, but protect themselves from American invasion. Anyway, it is communal living which is the very basis of human existence. We have a version of it here in the U.S., but it only mimics a true community in the close proximal living of its human inhabitants. How many of us have lived in a neighborhood where we didn't know our neighbors? That clearly cannot be considered a community.

Rugged individualism is not the true basis of a decent human existence. When you have a true community, everyone is connected to the success and failure of that community. This is what makes it so unique-everyone has a vested interest in its survival. But we don't even have that in the country that we're living in-it's a global community according to the powers that be-again, we've been hoodwinked. Most of us in this country know absolutely nothing about the residents of, say Uganda-so how is it that we're a global community if we know nothing about our community members? It's another attempt at divide and conquer and the Medusa's of the world are blindly leading the charge. What is it that any individual has to say or prove that is so important that it trumps the existence of the human species? What if Medusa and her time to shine feminist get their way, but the price to pay is the discontinuance of the human race, I wonder if they would think it was worth it? Ladies, look-I know that the feminist have told you that you got a raw deal and that all men are the devil, but such is not the case. First of all, speaking as a black man, in America, black men have never been in a position to systematically disenfranchise you, relegate you to a less than status, deny you employment, etc. So we should be removed from you list of devils. I bet you not one feminist has ever considered the statement I just made. But I can hear their response already, "Yeah, but given the opportunity".... Don't be so sure of that.

Individualism makes no sense. It would be synonymous to your engine, as an individual component being more important than say, your car tires. Now perhaps it's more expensive, but one flat tire can render the entire car inoperable-one tire. So how is it that an individual part can be more important than the sum of the whole? When you have a flat, your engine is fine and unaffected-and in all truthfulness, your car can still run, but in the most inefficient way imaginable. So one part can't be more important than another-but let one part fail, and the entire unit has now been affected. The same logic applies to we humans. Their are two main components to just about any life form-a male and a female. They make a unit, and when those two units are functioning properly, things run smoothly. But start to play with the dynamics of their interrelations and you begin to undermine the basis of their existence. I just don't think most of us look at it that way. Truthfully, their are no free moves in life. Our actions have consequences. And maybe those consequences don't manifest themselves right away-maybe they take some time, but you can rest assured that there will be a reaction to your action. And this game of one-upmanship we're playing is having dire consequences. Most American women don't even want to be mothers anymore. So now where will our future generations come from? I often hear women say that they don't want to be bogged down by some screaming brat. First of all, if you don't want a brat, don't raise one. Babies don't come out of the womb brats. they emerge, test the waters, and if there is no parental resistance, a brat is born. I am the father of four-none of whom were ever brats. They were and still are pretty obedient because they knew that, when I spoke, I meant business. I took my duties as their guardian seriously and I knew that there was no way that, with their lack of worldly experience, they should be allowed to behave as they saw fit. But maybe that's what a man brings to the table which is why a couple should raise a child-both have something to offer.

I so fear that I'm speaking into a vacuum and that no one hears me. But I've resolved myself to accept the fact that we may never get back to an existence where we are in harmony with one another, and with the universe. The ecosystem has a way of eliminating that which doesn't live within the rules of the universe. There was a time when we believed we could destroy the world-we've now realized that the only thing we have the power to do is make it uninhabitable for ourselves and species with similar survival mechanisms. Armed with that knowledge you'd think we'd stop with the nonsense-but we continue with self-destructive behavior. We all look at the drug addict, the alcoholic, the bulimic, and point out their obvious faults, but there are those of us who are being equally as damaging in our behavior, and on a grander scale-we're not just harming ourselves, but the entire human race. Yes, an individual has the power to do that (just like one tire, or a fuel pump, or a leaky hose has the ability to disable an entire automobile). Sadly, most of us don't know we wield that type of power. We are not only connected to one another, we're connected to the ecosystem and to the universe.

I don't know if we'll ever wake up and realize that there are no benefactors to the rise of individuality-it only creates animosity and fosters in-fighting. Not even the wealthy 1% of the population, who truly believe that the current system benefits them, are going to benefit in the long term. They don't hide the fact that they would like to see the world population diminish. And we could probably benefit from lessor people on the planet, but their agenda to enslave the rest of us while they live lives of luxury will only be short-termed. Eventually we will find a way to make this place eco-unfriendly and the masses will wonder how they allowed that wealthy 1% to convince them to discount one another and fail to see the necessity for unity and harmony, not only amongst ourselves, but with nature. Medusa, and those like her, may one day achieve individuality, but at what price?


TPOKW