The State of California needs a mental wellness check.

Reparations for blacks because of slavery that did not take place in California? // also a look ahead at my work-in-progress posts to be finished yet; Neoliberalism/oligarchy & MLM or direct marketing

A legislative proposal in the state of California would provide some reparations for black people or specific groups, because of the history of slavery in the US. News to know - the state of California had never allowed slavery. Slavery was never legal in California.

• California introduces first-in-nation slavery reparations package, by Lara Korte, Jan. 31, 2024, (Politico).

I spent too many years working in an Equal Opportunity Program to support any policies that are extremely biased and unequal. Yes, slavery was wrong, but so was genocide of Indigenous Americans - the First Peoples of the American continents are still living in poverty on reservations that were placed in deserts with no water. The people who deserve reparations for their stolen land and stolen heritage, from the state of California and the rest of the United States, are the First Peoples of the US and Canada. Canadian treatment of First Peoples was extremely bad too, and still is not good.

Bellyaching about slavery that took place over 150 years ago is playing the Blame Game - OH WHOA AS ME, MY LIFE IS MISERABLE TODAY AND I ONLY HAVE 150 YEAR OLD HISTORY TO BLAME FOR IT!

Tons of free services are available that assist with work skills, transportation, a cellphone, and other support may be available for food, housing and healthcare (buyer be wary of the ‘food’ and ‘healthcare’ though).

The real problem is not discrimination due to ethnicity - proven by Asian Americans who are among the upper earning groups in the US - the real problem is differences in basic skills and ability between ethnic groups. The blunt and unwelcome truth is that not everyone has equal skills and abilities, and therefore in a capitalist economy that rewards people based on their ability to gouge or manipulate others for a greater profit, not everyone is going to have an equal chance at getting the big rewards.

The other part of the problem is in unrealistic expectations about wealth - Beyonce, Oprah, and many black athletes or rappers are super wealthy, so therefore is is unfair that every other black person isn’t also super piggy rich? It is the super piggy richness that leaves many other people in poverty.

It seems like ‘Black Lives Matter’ more than any other lives. New quote from Demi Pietchell - “Unpsyoppable Lives Matter”. Creating racial division was a media ploy used to end the Occupy Wallstreet movement which truly was in support of fairness for all. They needed to have more central leadership and concrete goals for getting some leaders elected to state and federal offices.

If we are talking about fairness, why should all black people be super piggy rich anymore than all white people or all Asian people or all First Peoples? Fairness is about an equal opportunity to try - an equal opportunity to apply for the job or the college - BUT no one else deserves to have a doctor, lawyer, or rocket scientist who isn’t fully skilled at their job. Giving people A’s in class because they tried or showed up or have a certain skin color, would be passing through people who weren’t good at the actual skills needed for the job they were training for. When quality control standards are reduced, than quality of product or service is also in jeopardy of being poor or even dangerous.

There are people who believe that our nation’s collapse is going to be due to the slow decline in skills needed for maintaining infrastructure. When the bridges fall and trains derail and water and sewer systems aren’t maintained safely, then we all are worse off. Examples were seen with the lead poisoning of Flint, Michigan due to bureaucratic idiocy, (and likely illegal cover-up of the idiocy), and with the train derailment and then combustion of chemicals into an enormous biohazard due to bureaucratic idiocy, in Palestine, Ohio. When our bureaucrats are idiots or criminals, then we all suffer. And That Is Not Fair Either.

I am not sure what the better solutions are, but providing unequal support to those in need is simply unfair and would be like having an apartheid nation - some rules only apply for a few, but not all.

Why should the First People’s of the American continent be left without water or job opportunities while black people who may never have had slave ancestors are given more help? Irish Americans, Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans have all been treated kind of like slaves, or prisoners of war, during the early development of the United States. Farmland was stolen from Japanese Americans in California - have they returned that?

Pity parties are only fun for the pitiful. Why be pitiful?

Playing the victim card makes you a victim. Playing the Blame Game gets you nowhere other than Blame-ville.

photo op

Reminder that crazy people in positions of power are doing crazy things for weird goals and are getting compliance from the masses for the policy changes, through distracting and manipulative media. Keep us scared or in lust and we will be more likely to go along with whatever is suggested to us.

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*This was also not my work in progress long post - which is still too long - it is still two parts I think, one about my liver health and a discussion of what causes cancer, and one about the business of essential oils and a discussion of Multi-level marketing/direct marketing versus standard marketing.

Spoiler, yes, many MLM schemes gave direct marketing a bad reputation but others have retained happy customers.

The big risk of MLM/direct marketing is to the standard neoliberal corporate-profit-protecting market. Standard media tends to write negative articles about anything that competes with the oligarchic control of consumer’s purchasing.

The oligarchy that is the US now, makes it unfair for small businesses to survive or exist by setting regulations and licensing requirements that price small business people out of the market. Consumers are herded into buying the products of the big businesses that can afford to jump through the regulatory hoops.

An example of neoliberal type control of a market, which impacts black consumers and small business people, is the takeover of cornrow braiding. Braiding cornrows for someone is a time consuming skill and service typically provided by black people for black people - yet if the person being paid to braid hair isn’t a licensed hairstylist, then it now may be illegal for them to openly offer cornrow braiding for a fee. So do we need to create a black market for illegal cornrow hair braiding? Why should the Nanny State prevent someone from offering a service they are skilled at just because they don’t also have the training for and don’t also offer other haircutting services? Hair dye and permanents can cause damage so the consumer is being protected from potentially unsafe services but the cornrow braider was offering braiding services, not hair dyes or permanent curl treatments.

Direct marketing is simply word-of-mouth type sales - “I know a friend who does great cornrow braiding. She did my hair for $___ and she could do yours too. She was so gentle and it was pleasant to spend time with her.” Direct marketing can be very effective because their is trust in the friend’s recommendation. Oligarchy marketing hates that type of free market freedom. Oligarchy marketing wants to keep all the potential profit, all the consumer sales, captured for purchase of their corporate products. “Only go to the big box chain store hair stylist for corn row braiding! All other corn-row braiders are unlicensed dangerous outlaws who need to be avoided for your own safety!”

MLM businesses that I am familiar with tend to promote shifting your household purchases to products sold by the direct marketing company - get your shampoo, dishsoap, vitamins, protein drink mix or meal bars, etc, from us! Collect points, get free product! That places the MLM company in competition with chain stores like Walmart, Target, Kroger’s and Meijer’s.

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Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.