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Title of Course: Philosophy 101: "Black Race Matters" Instructor: Mba Mbulu
Textbook: Essays by Mba Mbulu are provided online.
Read the following Essay. Think about the questions below
and explore them more fully.
(1) What does the author mean when he speaks of the "real"
meanings of terms? Do you think the author's point is a worthy
one?
(2) The author speaks of poverty, privilege, rich and poor. Do
you think the distinctions he is making are valid?
(3) The author makes the following statement: "Every government
serves the vested interests of those whose energy created it,
and every government discriminates against those who do not belong
to the vested interest group." What are the implications
of that statement for Black People in the United States?
(4) Of the terms poverty and privilege, which would you apply
to Black People in the United States? Why?
Class #1 "Key To Poverty and Privilege"
A fundamental understanding of terms and processes helps
individuals build the foundation they need to make intelligent
decisions. That is one of Our, Black People's, major shortcomings;
We do not understand the real meanings of terms, particularly
power based terms. Therefore, We do not understand the implications
of critical statements and developments. We must improve in that
regard.
There has been a lot of talk about rich and poor, as in "the
rich get richer and the poor get poorer." We hear so much
about rich and poor that Our minds are deluged with images whenever
either term is used. But, do We actually understand the meanings
of those terms?
Think about this. The key to understanding rich and poor is knowing
the difference between privilege and poverty. Without an understanding
of privilege and poverty, rich and poor are functionally sterile
terms. What characterizes privilege? At the deepest level, we
find the quest for power and control. At the secondary level,
we find self-interest, organization, focus and perseverance. And
at the tertiary level, the one most visible to most individuals,
we find authority, wealth and access. On the other hand, what
characterizes poverty? At the deepest level, we find clouded thought
patterns and disarrangement. At the secondary level, we find self-interest,
dillydallying and vacillation. And at the tertiary level we find
a subsistence mentality, erratic resistance to authority and capricious
consumption. Rich people, then, are those who absorb the characteristics
of privilege, while poor people are those who absorb the characteristics
of poverty.
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I'm certain many of Us have thought about that already, but have
We recognized how it works in the day to day affairs of human
beings? In case We haven't, I will take a recent development in
Europe and show how privilege will function to bring about certain
results, while poverty will fail to function and end up at the
mercy of privilege.
A new word has been added to European vocabularies and it is dominating
the headlines. That word is "euro", the name of the
new money that is supposed to replace every other European currency.
Can the euro work to the advantage of the citizens of Europe?
Certainly. Is that why there is a rush to get it incorporated?
Certainly not. Can the euro work to the advantage of European
commercial interests? Certainly. Is that why there is a rush to
get it incorporated?. You'd better believe it.
Europe is a continent of more than 30 countries, and each country
has its own language, culture and currency (money). Needless to
say, these differences are unsettling to international travellers
and business persons because of communications problems and the
numerous currency exchange evaluations. Nearly fifty years ago,
a political solution to this problem was suggested that involved
the creation of a United States of Europe. Little has been heard
of that since, but in the last ten years the rush for a single
currency has burst forward in full force.
This push toward a single currency involves two major parties
and two major players. The two major parties are big business
and the citizens of the European countries. The two major players
are big business and the governments of the European countries.
Take note of that: the European citizens, one of the major parties
in this issue, is not a major player. Why? Because European citizens
are disarranged to the point where they cannot vigorously present
an independent platform, even though they are smart enough to
realize the advantages of a single currency. The people of Europe
need to incorporate the euro under the auspices of citizen-centric
bodies, but they are unable to do so. Meanwhile, the other major
party, big business, is doing what is necessary to get the euro
incorporated under the auspices of commercial interests.
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This is a clear example of privilege (big business) doing
its thing and of poverty (European citizens) doing its thing.
Big business will be able to manipulate the euro to its benefit
at the expense of Europe's people. Europe's people, on the other
hand, will have to rely on deviant governments to control the
financial exploits of big business. Since the welfare of citizens
is not a primary concern of Europe's governments, the interests
of Europe's citizens will be poor-ly represented.
Every government serves the vested interests of those whose energy
created it, and every government discriminates against those who
do not belong to the vested interest group. Sometimes it clearly
discriminates, against races, sexes, or religions for example,
but it discriminates just as consistently and effectively, yet
almost invisibly, against the citizens of a country. This "invisible"
discrimination is a major source of the citizens' poverty because
the citizens don't realize they are being discriminated against.
They must overcome this handicap, however, and the only way to
do so is by eliminating the present government and creating a
new government. Unfortunately, the citizens of Europe are too
disarranged to make such a move; their poverty characteristics
have convinced them that such is an impossible task.
When privilege looks at a monumental task, privilege asks, "How
can we get this done?" When poverty looks at a monumental
task, poverty says, "We can not do anything on that big a
scale."
Rich and poor are not money-related terms, they are power-related
terms. Poor people are not poor because they lack money but because
they are disarranged and fail to seriously seek the reins of power.
Additionally, poor people don't understand self-interest in the
proper context. Rather than use their resources to invest in power
building, they purchase consumer items, thus giving more strength
to the very vested interests groups that abuse them. That formula
will not get the people the power they need.
Can every individual be rich? No. Can every individual be privileged?
Of course. The latter, my friend, is what Black Nationalism must
rest on.