But, it's legal days may be numbered. Brother Dr. Zizwe Poe, one of my initial mentors within the Pan-African work that we do, did a lot of work around 1990 with the rapper KRS-1 and his group; Boogie Down Productions (BDP). You can see some of the results of Brother Z's work on BDP's classic "Edutainment" album where Z arranged to have snippets from Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) speeches recorded between songs on that album. During those years, organizers like Z within the All African People's Revolutionary Party did a lot of work in the hip/hop community. The A-APRP name was displayed on several leading albums from artists of the day like BDP, Public Enemy, Sistah Souljah, X-Clan, etc. At that time, we felt this was a great vehicle to spread revolutionary ideas among the youth, but, some 25 years later, when many of us directly involved in Pan-Africanist work have strayed away from it, I'm reminded of some of the excellent phraseology that Brother Z expressed during those years. One of the phrases he was fond of using was "common sense deficiency syndrome" or CSDS. During lectures, meetings, and other A-APRP related events, Brother Z would use that phrase to illustrate the dilemma present in this society where African people, and the rest of society, function daily without understanding how to utilize basic reasoning skills to negotiate a reality that works systematically against our interests. Z would always generate a positive response when he expressed that the biggest threat to African people wasn't HIV or AIDs, but CSDS.
I'm thinking of CSDS today because of it's continued relevance. Of course we understand that common sense is a idealistic concept since what is common to you and what is common to me is subjective based on our experiences. Still, I always felt that the point of CSDS is to underscore that people in this society don't think, but instead "react to stimuli" as Kwame Ture was always fond of saying. I always felt this was the reality because of how the capitalist system functions. What I mean is individualism is dominant in capitalism. Meaning, in this system, what you think and feel as a disconnected individual is all that is supposed to matter to you at all times. And, since we are led to believe what we think and feel is only ever developed through our individual capabilities, then we don't realize that pretty much everything we believe has been programmed into us by the capitalist system. Otherwise, how can people routinely say things like "I've taken care of myself my entire life." Clearly, that could never be true because if any of us was left alone for days as a baby, we would die, but yet this type of individualist thought is dominant today. If you don't believe that, how do you explain how it is that people you have never met, who live in places you've never been, who have never been where you are, eat the same foods you eat, talk the same way you do, like the same movies and things on television that you do, dress the same way you do, listen to the same music, and have the basic same world view that you have? So, there's no question we don't really know how to think, but instead are trained to react to stimuli. "Terrorism! Ebola! Racism! Islam! Communism! Socialism! Anarchism!" Buzz words that everyone has an immediate reaction to. Fidel Castro! Robert Mugabe! Muammar Qaddafi! Raul Castro! Hugo Chavez!" Names that we also have an immediate reaction to, but those terms and names most of us have never read anything about and can't even provide a comprehensive definition about. So, where do we get our reactions from? That's the point of interest for me. Especially since I know that even if you have the desire to study up on concepts in this society, everything is organized in a way so that doing so is virtually impossible for you unless you are connected to a process that facilitates a way for you to do it. What do I mean? Well, yesterday I spent time in a very popular independent book store in town. I observed large sections in that store on "Africa" and "Latin America." What was astounding was that so-called "Africa" section was dominated by books by Europeans. So, instead of having books with critical analysis about political strife in Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, etc., what we have available to us is subjective accounts by white people who lived in those areas during periods of unrest. Other books, regardless of the ethnicity of the authors, were rubber stamps for imperialism and all the books were written by either academics or journalists. None by revolutionaries or even reform activists. Of course, those authors are published by "objective" sources like the Rockefeller Foundation, etc. In fact, there was not one book to be found about Libya that wasn't a hit piece on Qaddafi. The same for Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Same for the Castro brothers in Cuba, etc. Since I belong to an independent revolutionary organization that has one of those processes to challenge the misinformation that I previously mentioned, I have a pretty strong idea what that critical perspective should look like so I challenge anyone to go to that book store, check it out, and prove what I'm saying isn't accurate. So much for the idea that a democracy with free ideas exists. And people here actually have the nerve to criticize a perceived lack of democracy in other places. This is how misinformation is systematic in a so-called information based society.
So, what's the point? Well, you better start realizing that what we are witnessing today are the exact same conditions that Adolf Hitler discussed so eloquently in "Mein Kauf." The conditions he used in the Third Reich to almost successfully take over all of Europe in the 1940s. Using fear as an organizing mechanism. Squashing legitimate debate in the name of so-called security. Pointing fingers at the dispossessed while ignoring the blatant terrorism of the rich and powerful. In deed, blaming the victims for the actions of the exploiters.
I'm no pessimist. I could never have lived as long as I have being one of those. I don't speak the language of what we can't do and the moment I sense you do, I'm not listening to you any longer. So, I don't think destruction is inevitable. I don't believe capitalism is indestructible. I know capitalism will be defeated and I have complete faith that the people will decide that socialism is a better system. I believe many people have already decided this, whether they know it or not. I have the skills to decipher that when people demand access to health care, what they really want is free universal health care, despite capitalism's desperate efforts to give them bureaucratic reforms like the Affordable Care Act instead. I know that when students demand a stop to college debt, what they are really demanding is free education. I know that when people oppose war they are really calling for resources to be pointed in the direction of solving the many social problems that besiege this society. I know that the 87 million people who are choosing credit unions in this society over private banks are expressing loud and clear their preference for cooperative financial organization over institutions for private profit. And for those who have the natural reaction to react and disagree I say doing so isn't necessary. All each of us have to do is do our work, whatever we believe that work to be. If we are working sincerely and with determination, than the masses of people will make the decision on what way they want to go, what society they want to build. But, we do have the responsibility to make sure real information is available and being utilized. We are obligated to encourage people to study, learn to think for ourselves, challenge the existing power structure, and have discussions about creating different paradigms in this world. So, that's the work and hopefully that helps people understand the message here. There's no time for passivity. False arrogance and modesty is very harmful. Everyone has to be involved on some level. Everyone who has an opinion needs to be making concrete contributions or else your opinions, no matter how strong you believe in them, are worthless. So, think of this. If all you can do is disagree with people like me, than the message to you is that you are a major part of what's wrong with this world today. Besides getting mad at me, what are you going to do to change that?
I'm thinking of CSDS today because of it's continued relevance. Of course we understand that common sense is a idealistic concept since what is common to you and what is common to me is subjective based on our experiences. Still, I always felt that the point of CSDS is to underscore that people in this society don't think, but instead "react to stimuli" as Kwame Ture was always fond of saying. I always felt this was the reality because of how the capitalist system functions. What I mean is individualism is dominant in capitalism. Meaning, in this system, what you think and feel as a disconnected individual is all that is supposed to matter to you at all times. And, since we are led to believe what we think and feel is only ever developed through our individual capabilities, then we don't realize that pretty much everything we believe has been programmed into us by the capitalist system. Otherwise, how can people routinely say things like "I've taken care of myself my entire life." Clearly, that could never be true because if any of us was left alone for days as a baby, we would die, but yet this type of individualist thought is dominant today. If you don't believe that, how do you explain how it is that people you have never met, who live in places you've never been, who have never been where you are, eat the same foods you eat, talk the same way you do, like the same movies and things on television that you do, dress the same way you do, listen to the same music, and have the basic same world view that you have? So, there's no question we don't really know how to think, but instead are trained to react to stimuli. "Terrorism! Ebola! Racism! Islam! Communism! Socialism! Anarchism!" Buzz words that everyone has an immediate reaction to. Fidel Castro! Robert Mugabe! Muammar Qaddafi! Raul Castro! Hugo Chavez!" Names that we also have an immediate reaction to, but those terms and names most of us have never read anything about and can't even provide a comprehensive definition about. So, where do we get our reactions from? That's the point of interest for me. Especially since I know that even if you have the desire to study up on concepts in this society, everything is organized in a way so that doing so is virtually impossible for you unless you are connected to a process that facilitates a way for you to do it. What do I mean? Well, yesterday I spent time in a very popular independent book store in town. I observed large sections in that store on "Africa" and "Latin America." What was astounding was that so-called "Africa" section was dominated by books by Europeans. So, instead of having books with critical analysis about political strife in Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, etc., what we have available to us is subjective accounts by white people who lived in those areas during periods of unrest. Other books, regardless of the ethnicity of the authors, were rubber stamps for imperialism and all the books were written by either academics or journalists. None by revolutionaries or even reform activists. Of course, those authors are published by "objective" sources like the Rockefeller Foundation, etc. In fact, there was not one book to be found about Libya that wasn't a hit piece on Qaddafi. The same for Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Same for the Castro brothers in Cuba, etc. Since I belong to an independent revolutionary organization that has one of those processes to challenge the misinformation that I previously mentioned, I have a pretty strong idea what that critical perspective should look like so I challenge anyone to go to that book store, check it out, and prove what I'm saying isn't accurate. So much for the idea that a democracy with free ideas exists. And people here actually have the nerve to criticize a perceived lack of democracy in other places. This is how misinformation is systematic in a so-called information based society.
So, what's the point? Well, you better start realizing that what we are witnessing today are the exact same conditions that Adolf Hitler discussed so eloquently in "Mein Kauf." The conditions he used in the Third Reich to almost successfully take over all of Europe in the 1940s. Using fear as an organizing mechanism. Squashing legitimate debate in the name of so-called security. Pointing fingers at the dispossessed while ignoring the blatant terrorism of the rich and powerful. In deed, blaming the victims for the actions of the exploiters.
I'm no pessimist. I could never have lived as long as I have being one of those. I don't speak the language of what we can't do and the moment I sense you do, I'm not listening to you any longer. So, I don't think destruction is inevitable. I don't believe capitalism is indestructible. I know capitalism will be defeated and I have complete faith that the people will decide that socialism is a better system. I believe many people have already decided this, whether they know it or not. I have the skills to decipher that when people demand access to health care, what they really want is free universal health care, despite capitalism's desperate efforts to give them bureaucratic reforms like the Affordable Care Act instead. I know that when students demand a stop to college debt, what they are really demanding is free education. I know that when people oppose war they are really calling for resources to be pointed in the direction of solving the many social problems that besiege this society. I know that the 87 million people who are choosing credit unions in this society over private banks are expressing loud and clear their preference for cooperative financial organization over institutions for private profit. And for those who have the natural reaction to react and disagree I say doing so isn't necessary. All each of us have to do is do our work, whatever we believe that work to be. If we are working sincerely and with determination, than the masses of people will make the decision on what way they want to go, what society they want to build. But, we do have the responsibility to make sure real information is available and being utilized. We are obligated to encourage people to study, learn to think for ourselves, challenge the existing power structure, and have discussions about creating different paradigms in this world. So, that's the work and hopefully that helps people understand the message here. There's no time for passivity. False arrogance and modesty is very harmful. Everyone has to be involved on some level. Everyone who has an opinion needs to be making concrete contributions or else your opinions, no matter how strong you believe in them, are worthless. So, think of this. If all you can do is disagree with people like me, than the message to you is that you are a major part of what's wrong with this world today. Besides getting mad at me, what are you going to do to change that?
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