I see a lot of followers wanting and waiting to be saved instead of becoming and giving birth to the saviors. We should be constantly becoming and giving birth to the solution. If it isn't us, then we must create a better version of us, more educated, more talented, more advanced, more advantaged, more loved, healthier, happier, etc. As the saying goes, those who cannot do, teach. Program your children to excel and escape any poverty you might have lived in so that their children don't know that life, and their children can be millionaires and billionaires. Because we need them too. We them to have great credit and build schools, help fuel our banks, and do all the things that whites do in order to give their own the same advantages we should all want for our children.
This system is like a game we're all forced to play. The game is easy to some while others constantly throw the controller down, wanting to give up. But if you simply give up and your life changes nothing... then you doom your children to the same fate. So you can't give up. You have to try to make things better for your children so that they can play and they can win. And if you can't change the system you have to change yourself and your children so that they can adapt. How dare you not teach your children about finance and investment? How dare you not teach your children about money and debt? How dare you let them get credit cards under the belief that it's free money? How dare you let them go bankrupt? This is not a good game. At all. That doesn't mean you get to not play.
Driving last night, my girlfriend and my kids, one of the songs we played was "I believe I can fly" by R. Kelly. Powerful and inspiring song. Right after I turned the volume down and spoke to my 13 year old. I told her I believe she can fly. And I told her how smart she is and how a lot of kids limit themselves to the jobs they knew as children. They limit themselves to what they see. It would have been nice if I used more of the song lyrics (now that I think about it) to talk about how height affects our vision of what we can see and still looking up to aim higher. Maybe I'll remember that for the next talk. But also, I feel like if my kids didn't see success from me than my encouragement would be more hollow. Like how are you going to tell me to do something you weren't even close to doing? And how can you help me reach higher when you couldn't help yourself at all? That's why it has to start with us.
The answer to capitalism isn't communism or socialism. The answer is balance. How quickly you achieve anything is a measure of how much energy/work you put in. I mean... to some degree, it's physics. It takes energy to do things. The people at the top have more leverage. If the people at the bottom want to change the system they have gain more leverage; getting to the top if they have to. But once you get there... once you eat that fruit... do you even still want it to change? Or are you so comfortable that you simply find it easier to accept until you remember what it was like before and what it is like for other people you know? The more we care about each other the more "liberal" ideas we have; even for those who have money. They have enough that they want the government to use more funds for better housing and schools and healthcare, not necessarily for them because they can afford it; but in order to change the system to be more fair to others.
My father grew up in the country, in St. Thomas Jamaica. He believed in education. He would have made Marcus Garvey and H.I.M both proud. He truly was a man who did well and was successful in life, not because he became rich or famous because he didn't. But it's because he invested himself and gained power for both himself, his family, his church, and his community. He wasn't outspoken on anything. He simply raised a loudmouth who is. And I wouldn't be anything today if it wasn't for him being who he was. I am an upgraded version of him and I hope my children will be an upgrade version of me. But this system allowed my father to do this because it was able to provide opportunities that he was able to take advantage of. Many people don't even know what opportunities exist. They don't see them so they don't exist in their world. There is a PROBLEM when ALL you see is "Babylon" and you distrust even the very thing meant to save your very life; whether it's education provided by the government, or healthcare. Babylon still has many problems. Big problems. But is constantly changing. And we are all part of it. If you choose not to vote, not to turn those gears and pull those levers, you deserve whatever you get. Because the power the system gave you to change it, you rejected. If you don't like the system why would you do that? Why would you give up and reject that power to have any voice or any say? You just want to chant down Babylon from afar? That doesn't work. You can't move a mountain by breathing on it. Individually we can't do much. That's why we have to work together for the changes we want. Many countries have already found areas of life in which to bring in more ideas from socialism to try and bring their capitalism further into balance. It's not enough but it's a start to ease people's pain and suffering.
And then you have to "rise up".... wise up and rise up. Become the judges. Become the politicians. Become the police officers. Become all these things so that you can fundamentally change and make them better. In black America we are not just entertainers. We are doctors and lawyers. We are janitors and barbers. We are senators and presidents. We are anchormen and journalists. We are producers and agents. We are police officers and tax preparers. We are mechanics and engineers. We fight fires. We drive trucks. We build buildings and bridges. There's no limit to what we can be. But we must continue to rise.
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