15 Jul 2020
A Nation In Rage & Fear
Below is an opinion piece by Chris D. Nebe as seen in The Business of Film. At Monarex, we recognize the progressive movements taking place against centuries of injustice are righteous and valid. The thoughts expressed here are open-ended and meant to spur healthy civic discussion about how to move forward.
The images of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis spread internationally by social media sparked the flame of the ongoing racial injustice in the USA and police brutality, of a small and significant percentage of the police force. However so-called political correctness is creating a raging inferno that threatens to escalate and divide the nation still further.
Marches, protests, boycotts, sit-ins are non-violent tactics and are a necessary form of a democracy encouraged and welcomed by society. Looting, vandalism, the destruction of public property, intimidation tactics aimed at eliminating anything that might cause offense to the establishment are tactics of mobs and bullies, which are wrong. In the short term, their perceived objectives of instituting change do not work.
Beheading statues of Christopher Columbus and other historic figures, toppling them and setting them afire is wrong. Renaming universities, streets, and plazas, because those forefathers of American history were involved in slavery is wrong. Traditional American food companies like Land O’Lakes, Aunt Jemima Pancake Syrup, Uncle Ben’s Rice, Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup, Cream of Wheat, etc. have announced plans to re-brand and re-name their products in an effort to avoid racial stereotypes. This political correctness is beyond absurd.
The 99-year-old Dreyer’s Ice Cream plans to rename its Eskimo Pie in order to appease the Eskimo people in the Arctic. Gone with the Wind, the Civil War epic that received 10 OSCARS and is widely considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time, was temporarily pulled from HBO’s streaming service in response to racial concerns. Tara’s Theme, the opening orchestral theme of Gone with the Wind, has been removed from the music repertoire of its marching band by the University of Georgia.
Orange County plans to rename John Wayne Airport, because the Hollywood Icon made racist remarks during an interview over 50 years ago.
What is the sum of all this political correctness?
None of these actions will fix the systemic social problems America has gone through, and is facing currently, and in the future.
What started as a movement to denounce racist police brutality has become a free-for-all movement to rid the country of any monument and anything, which may have at any time in history been associated with racism.
Toppling monuments and kowtowing to political correctness is NOT the answer to the racist problems that is a disease within the land of the Free and Home of Brave.
While protesters topple statues of people with a racist past who are long dead, unarmed People Of Color (POC) continue to be killed by police trained to shoot first and ask questions later.
Such actions only empower the Corporate Corridors of the State that tighten the control over WE THE PEOPLE even more.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The First Amendment is a steam valve. It allows WE THE PEOPLE to speak and air grievances. It contributes to a wider dialog that hopefully can and should result in a more just world.
Protest laws, free speech zones, bubble zones, trespass zones, antibullying legislation, zero tolerance policies, hate crime laws and a host of other legalistic rules and regulations have shown to be unsubstantive governmental window dressing.
These legislations dreamt up by unscrupulous politicians and prosecutors in the corridors of power have conspired to erode the core freedoms of The First Amendment – of – WE THE PEOPLE.
The brainwashing has lulled WE THE PEOPLE into believing that all is under control and WE THE PEOPLE are safe and free. In reality, WE THE PEOPLE are only as safe and free as Government Officials or corporate entities like APPLE, FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, YOUTUBE, TWITTER, and the MEDIA allow.
WE THE PEOPLE are in RAGE & FEAR because there is a sense of helplessness and mortal fear, because there is a system in place that does NOT ‘Serve and Protect’ but over time systematically controls and exploits.
We live in times of excessive corporate greed and corrupt political ambition on the part of people in power. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The majority of the US Government financial stimulus package went to big corporations, eliminating independent companies and retailers.
WE THE PEOPLE are divided, manipulated, and brainwashed into focusing anger on a broken system, rather than working hand in hand to defeat an exploitive elitist establishment.
The tragic combination with the CORONAVIRUS Pandemic and the resulting complete breakdown of the economy, which has and will drive millions of Americans into abject poverty, has focused a glaring light on the fact that the American SYSTEM is morally and financially bankrupt.
It will take courageous and strong political LEADERSHIP to attempt to create an honest system of equality and justice for all.
There are no quick solutions. WE THE PEOPLE must pull and work TOGETHER for a better future to ESTABLISH a NEW NORMAL for all.
Chris D. Nebe 2020 opinion piece as seen in BoF
