Does Privilege Really Have a Color?

Psst! The truth is that unconsciously (or even blatantly) rude, stupid, ignorant people come from everywhere, and are therefore, quite naturally, affiliated with every single so-called "race," color, sex, religion, anti-religion, and human tribe on Earth. Duh.

You see... I myself was born and raised in a state that (although it may not technically be part of "the South") WAS a slave holding state (from 1821 to 1865), and was, in fact, claimed by the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War of 1861-65.

Yet, perhaps conversely, I also know just exactly how nice, polite and friendly "hillbillies" and "rednecks" really can be in the American South. That's why, in most cases, I actually prefer American southerners to American northerners! Hands down. No matter what color their skin may in fact be. Because although northerners may of course fancy themselves "smart," they, often times, actually aren't really, truly any "smarter" than people anywhere else in the whole entire world. 'Cause, as usual, it really "just depends on the person," right?

Well... right? I mean, we all do believe that, don't we? I mean, we're all supposed to, right?

Either way, most importantly for yours truly, even when Southerners aren't particularly "smart," most were (when I was growing up anyway) at least raised to know how to be polite. And, in most cases, that's all I really care about. 'Cause I honestly don't care what color your skin happens to be. Likewise, I don't care what you look like, or where you're from. I could care even less what you do or don't believe in. Quite simply: I don't care. What I do expect you to be, however, is polite. But maybe that's just 'cause I was raised in southern Missouri, with good, old fashioned Southern style manners.

What's more, some of the Southern style folks from Missouri (who often have the same, or a very, very similar accent to the typical southern drawl that you'll find in abundance in states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, etc), actually are, quite often, extremely intelligent individuals -- despite the twangy, "uneducated" sounding, heavily discriminated against accent. Many, on the other hand... just plain aren't quite as "smart" as they really could be. But, hey! You find that everywhere, right? Well, don't you? You know, that old axiom about how "common sense isn't really common," and all that.

And it doesn't take long to figure out who is who if you live amongst... well, just about any old group of people. And believe me, I have lived with some very different groups of people over the years! But, to be fair, I've lived longer, much longer, in fact, in Missouri, than I've lived anywhere else in the world. Thus far, anyway.

Funny thing is though... I was under the distinct impression that people everywhere were like that! As in, some people (regardless of "race," color or tribal affiliation, etc, etc) are just plain smart, while a veritable crap ton of our other fellow human beings (regardless of so-called "race," color, tribal affiliation, etc, etc) just plain aren't quite as clever as we really would prefer them to be.

And how does one know when certain people aren't all that smart? Gosh... one would think that it's pretty obvious. You simply observe all the stupid things that a given group of people just plain tend to do. And come on! We already know just how stupid most people tend to be when they allow "the group" (any group) to dictate their actions. Don't we?

What's more, South Korea, China, and Taiwan (all places I have lived for long periods of time) all have more than their share of "hillbillies," because all three places (especially Taiwan - with some of the highest mountain peaks in the world - and Korea - which, topographically speaking, quite naturally IS very hilly and mountainous) are chock full of Asian rednecks. They just happen to be "yellow," rather than "white."

Duh.

I therefore assume.... No, actually, I know that the dreaded "N word" does actually refer to rude, ignorant, or otherwise not all that "smart" people. Well, I think that was the original intention anyway. The problem is, over the years, "the N word" has just plain completely and totally gotten, way, way, way out of hand!

So, I guess it's just that the particular people that are commonly targeted with that particular "racial" slur ("the N word"), just don't happen to be "yellow" or "white." In most cases (that they actually know of). Because, of course, given the dichotomy of the now long since defunct Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, most present day "African Americans" don't know their family lineage in any real detail anyway.

But perhaps most telling of all, is the fact that many of us "white" "crackers" really don't mind terms (aka, SLURS) like "redneck" or "hillbilly" all that much. Because, as they say, in a truly free and democratic society, with genuine free speech, it really should be okay to "call a spade a spade," after all. Shouldn't it? 'Cause, even if you're wrong, that's your opinion, right? And in a truly free society, you really should have the right to say what's really on your mind. Shouldn't you?

But... maybe all that fancy democracy has, in recent years, just become a reality for only some people, and definitely not for everybody. Yes, sadly, most definitely not for "all the people." Not anymore anyway. Apparently. Especially if you happen to come from a CULTure with some sort of "special" status. You know... a CULTure with a race card.

So, the only real difference that I can logically see, is that the terms "redneck" and "hillbilly" usually don't carry a shameless and quite pathetically obvious double standard when applied, suspiciously enough... only to white people. Therefore, "the N word" is only "the N word" because, in most cases, pretty much only one group of people are actually allowed to say it.

Not that I even WANT to say "the N word," mind you! In fact, having been raised in a Southern style state, "the N word" really upsets me a lot. A whole lot, in fact. But I think what upsets me most is when I am forced to hear "the N word" in all too typically violent, socially irresponsible Hip Hop music. And also... pretty much anytime that anybody (regardless of "race," color, sex, or tribal affiliation, etc) uses that awful, awful word that only some people are apparently able to say....

But maybe that's just another kind of "privilege." Maybe? Maybe... it's just not "white privilege." Hmm....

Crazy

Do you ever have those days when you get the distinct feeling that the whole human race is just plain bat shit crazy? Yep. Those are the days when you probably really are pretty close to right.

Personal Demons Beware

Be ever mindful of what, or even who, may serve as an unconscious surrogate punching bag in your life. Because a dog once abused by a man in uniform actually accomplishes nothing (but the recurring perpetuation of a crime) by attacking every postal carrier it encounters thereafter. After all, even a thousand wrongs can never make even a single right, much less punish demons long since past and no longer tangible, or even punishable beyond the scarred boundaries of a tortured mind.

Be who you really are

Sometimes, you just have to say (or show by example) what's on your mind, and then stand back and see how others react. And then you start to find out who everyone out there really is.

"Social" Media is actually just High School, all over again

Believe it or not, I've actually had to delete (and mark as SPAM) about 7 or 8 "friend" requests in just the past few hours today alone on Facebook. Come on, people, it's not a game to see just how many connections you can add to your "friend" list, you know. But then again, I guess it is for some folks.

However, in general, if a friend request appears to be someone that you definitely do not know, and have never laid eyes on before in your whole, entire life, you may want to think twice before accepting. Especially if you take a look at the person's Timeline and the content doesn't appear to go back very far.

Likewise, if there are any discrepancies whatsoever that you can readily see after even just a brief visit to the individual's page (such as the fact that their profile pic shows a hot young girl who just happens to be showing her more than ample cleavage in all her profile photos), etc., etc., then, well, you might not be a fool for approving that particular FB friend request, but then again, you might also want to be just a bit more careful.

Or maybe not.

After all, being a supposedly "social" network, Facebook is a lot like high school for a whole lot of people, I'm afraid. I mean, the more shameless socializing you can do to increase the chances of getting your face in the student paper or the yearbook, the better, right? Uh... not always. Although, come to think of it, in the past, I personally have sent a few (a very few) friend requests to authors I admire, and several other accomplished folks that did not previously know me from Adam, but when those individuals refuse to connect with me here on Facebook, it's all good.

So even if celebrities and the like do deign to connect with little old me on this or that social media platform, I try not to bug them. And if, over time, I see from their posts that they may actually have political views that I may not happen to agree with (or worse yet, they turn out to be anti-American shills, bogus, wannabe "celebrities," drug legalization advocates, or God forbid, even hardcore atheists who hate religion in general, etc., etc., etc.), then I eventually just come to the sobering conclusion that, even though I may have enjoyed one or two of their public works (liked the nifty little meme they shared, read their book, etc.), we probably wouldn't actually make the best of friends if we were to ever meet in person.

So, c'est la vie! Bon voyage. Live and let live. Or die. Whatever the case may in fact be. It's all the same to me.

The bottom line is that a lot of scammers and fake account holders send out friend requests hoping to get a closer look at the personal information of as many Facebook users as possible. Shady folks like that even tend to create a number of bogus accounts using fake profile photos swiped from real people. Worst of all, some of the unsuspecting victims who may end up falling prey to these scammers may actually be our real friends. Hence, the need to be very, very careful about whom you accept as a "friend."

Just something to think about, you know. ;)

Digging for dirt may actually only end up getting oneself well and truly "stoned"

The hard cold truth is that it really doesn't take all that much digging into just about anyone's personal history to find something mildly (or even [Gasp!] overtly) shady. Anything at all. So believe it or not, it's really not all that hard to unearth just enough good old fashioned terra firma to hold over someone's poor, hapless, unsuspecting little head.

But please, before we proceed, please do, kindly... think about it. Think it over really, really carefully before you find yourself seeking to engage in what may, in truth, amount to nothing more than shameless social blackmail. Seriously; is clandestine (or even bald-faced, overt, out in the open) social shaming really ever the right way to go? Even and especially nowadays, in the highfalutin era of "me too?"

I mean, as the Book of John so aptly puts it, "So when they continued asking him, he [Jesus Christ] lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7, King James Version)

At any rate, I think that one may safely be able to glean (at least partially, anyway) why Bob Dylan so curiously (but perhaps also quite adroitly) pointed out in one of his immortal classic songs, "Everybody must get stoned."

But then, I myself am a lifelong teetotaler, so I am most definitely not herein referencing but only one example of a timelessly classic Dylan tune because I actually think that that particular much celebrated artist might actually have been trying to suggest that just anyone should engage in casual drug abuse.

Well, sure, maybe a then much younger and as yet less worldly Dylan was indeed talking about dabbling with often harmful chemical substances. Because, after all, it really was the drugged up 1960s back when he first recorded that song, but I honestly think that he was actually suggesting, in a very, very clever way in fact, that, in this little Life of ours, no matter how good (or bad) one may appear to be, there will always be petty, spiteful people in our midst who may hate and/or envy others, even to their very own detriment.

And usually for all the wrong reasons.

Thus, sadly, all those pesky "gifted" others may, perchance, simply appear to be prettier, smarter, stronger, more talented, etc., etc. to such an extreme, that this or that jealous little person or other will actually nurse their misplaced ire to the point where they will inevitably stop at absolutely nothing to eliminate any and all presumably viable competition.

Although sure, there are any number of viable reasons why someone or other may seek to target any one of us at any given time, but in general, it's often for all the usual (mostly wrong) political, social, and/or personal reasons that often clearly dishonest, negligent, pathetically envious, or just plain mentally deviant people, may indeed end up working so very, very hard to get a bad old fashioned "leg up" on someone or other whom they've decided to target for summary elimination.

But hey, don't take it from me. Think on it. Think on all of this perhaps merely empty, or simply superfluous, philosophizing. Think it all over really, really carefully. Take as long as you need, in fact. Because as good old Dr. Zaius himself once put it (perhaps much, much more aptly than even the ever wise and inimitable Bob Dylan), "think well, before you act." (Beneath the Planet of the Apes, 1970)

And speaking of the once almighty witch hunt infamously known as the "MeToo Movement," and social blackmail in general, if you haven't already, take a look at just how low down and dirty some folks really can get when first they "practice to deceive."

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive.”

~ Marmion, by Walter Scott

And last but never least, whatever you do, take some solid advice from another one of my all time favorite singers, the John Mellencamp, and I guess, if ya can, go right ahead and "get a leg up." Just... please don't do it at someone else's expensive, huh? Or is that actually what the human social landscape is really all about to begin with? Hmm. But I sure do hope that that nasty old zero sum equation isn't in fact all there actually is to Life down here in the humble mud of Planet Earth.

That Little Spark of Celestial Fire Called Conscience

Conscience, and the genuine sense of humility that can only be taught by suffering, are really what makes the man (or woman), you know. Because it's actually when any one of us gets too big for our very own britches that we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture, and our true place in the grand scheme of things.

Because it is often at the very height of vanity that we tend to be surrounded by the usual coven of obligatorily attentive sycophants and yes-men, who may very well grin and bear our arbitrary outbursts of self-righteous rage, but lest we forget that it is then that the king may truly be bereft of clothes.

It is then that he becomes little more than a pauper, impoverished of even the benefit of simple truths that those of more humble stature tend to take for granted. In fact, our very first president was offered a crown on many an occasion. And yet, every single time, he refused it.

So perhaps it was actually the numerous setbacks and outright failures that George Washington suffered throughout his life, and specifically when he was often forced to retreat after being outgunned or outmaneuvered time and again by often better trained British forces, that eventually made him so very fit to become the true father and very first president of our great nation.

"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."

~ "110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation"