Sunday, June 8, 2014

Things don't change

I guess it isn't too shocking given that my book is entitled The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years to have a topic that says things don't change.  The book talks about how the same debates that have been going on for centuries are still occurring but people don't realize that on the small scale, things don't change either.

I recently went to dinner with my 31-year-old former roommate who is dating a 24-year-old woman.  There is nothing wrong with this whatsoever.  I feel that once both parties are past college graduation, age doesn't really matter.  When my former roommate left however, I asked the girl about him.  She said, "well I like dating someone much older than me because they are more mature."  I told her, "Men don't mature past the age of 12" and pointed to where her boyfriend used to be sitting and said, "Case in point."
Her response, "Yea true"

Women have this belief that older men are more mature.  I believe the opposite is true, men are more mature than women, but that is something I've written about before. It seems though that the mistakes we make as children, we repeat in adulthood.  High school girls like assholes and they get burned time and time again and in adulthood they end up marrying an abusive man who beats her.  They never like the nice guy.  it is never like the movies.  The nice, respectful man finishes last and that's just as true at 14 as it is at 35 or even 45.  It doesn't matter how old you are or how often you get burned, you will never learn that the man who you're attracted to because he doesn't give a shit about anything also doesn't give a shit about you.

Now, let's talk about the dorky guy, that keeps to himself, actually does his own thing despite criticism from everyone else.  He is the true person that's secure with himself and the real mature one. But, he's not innocent.  Just as how he was a pussy in high school with making a move on girls, he doesn't learn in adulthood.  Sure, he can turn down sluts because he doesn't need hook ups to feel better about himself but when he likes a girl, he does nothing just like when he was in high school.

I am one of these dorky guys.  I have an affinity for redheads.  I often wonder where it came from.  I think the best explanation for it is I keep chasing my 1st girlfriend.  We'll call her Kera.  I dated Kera in 8th grade.  I actually dated her twice, totaling five months.  Not exactly a lasting relationship. During this whole time, I never kissed her.  I asked her out over e-mail the 1st time and over the phone the 2nd time.  I was so much of a loser, I didn't realize I had won.  I had gotten the girl. She said yes, I don't have to use any tricks, I can just kiss her.  I wanted to try to "fake French" her.  In that I put my arm around her, cover her mouth with my hand and kiss my hand but since my head is blocking it, it looks like we're making out. I was planning on moving my hand at the last second. She refused.  Simply because, she just wanted me to kiss her, which I never did.  It's been 16 years since this time.  I've had more years since this occurrence than I had life on Earth prior, yet I often wonder what it would have been like to kiss Kera.  As you may have guessed, Kera had red hair.  In college I fell in love with another redhead. This one I did get to kiss a few times but I never got her to say yes to me when I asked her out.  She wanted a casual friends-with-benefits, I wanted more.  Her and I are still friends to this day and I have no regrets with her as we are not compatible.  But, kissing her didn't make the regret with Kera go away.

I have  been asexual for the last nine years.  I often wonder if the two redheads in my life, the college one that married and had children with another man and Kera are the sole reasons for it.  I say it's because I lost my virginity and hated it so it ended my desire to try it again. I still think that's the reason but I'm not entirely convinced the two redheads didn't have something to do with it.  I haven't seen Kera since my junior year of high school.  One day I was telling a high school friend about Kera, and he told me to call her.  I actually remembered her home number from 8th grade.  I called it and her mom picked up and told me she was at work and then told me exactly where she worked.  Now, mothers of girls always liked me and Kera's mom was no exception.  Throughout my childhood I would hear, "You're the first guy I ever trusted my daughter with."  and now that I'm old, "You're the only guy I trust my wife/girlfriend/fiancee with."  I showed up to Kera's work and acted like it was random.  She saw right through it and she was actually getting off work five minutes after I showed up.  She stormed out of work and made a bee line for her car and drove away, she wanted nothing to do with me.  I never saw her again but I took that as a sign that I will never get a chance to make up for my idiotic prudeness as an 8th grader.

Fast forward to now.  I still am hesitant to make a move on a girl.  I feel awkward going in for a kiss.  The odd thing is, if she makes the move, I'm turned off as I think guys should make the first move.  But, when I'm too shy to make it, then what choice do I give her?  I hung out with a couple girls last year.  I got the urge to make a move but I never did.  Basically, the little 8th grade boy that I've imagined going back in time and smacking is still me.  One of the girls was adamant that she wasn't flirting with me and wouldn't want me to hit on her but she said yes when i asked her out.  Given that I spent the next 12 days trying to convince her that I actually liked her and it wasn't pity, then I called her damaged causing her to dump me to my relief.  During these 12 days, she invited me to her house.  She lived in Maryland, I live in New York.  I told her I had plans to go to Atlantic City, she dumped me after the weekend was over.  That was fine, I was happy about it actually.  But here's the point.  She probably wanted to hook up  but I blew her off.  This is Kera all over again, Kera wanted me to kiss her but I never did.  So, I've decided that just like the girl who never learns not to fall for assholes, I will never learn to just go for it.

autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years  can be bought at the bottom of this page.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Donald Sterling vs. Magic Johnson

I think Donald Sterling's attacks on Magic Johnson  are fueled by jealousy because his girlfriend admired Johnson more than him.  With that said, Magic did nothing to disprove what Sterling said.  Johnson just said, "I wish he knew the facts"  Well, Sterling said you haven't done much for minorities whereas Sterling has given millions of dollars to helping minority programs.  So much so, the NAACP was going to give him an award, then this whole scandal happened.  Has the NAACP ever offered Johnson an award for his efforts with minorities?  Sterling's comment, Jews make money and then help other Jews but minorities who make money don't do that is completely accurate from a broad perspective.  As a Greek, I wish Greeks helped Greeks the way Jews help Jews and I'm not even a minority.  What has Magic done?  Nobody answered that question.  Then again, maybe Johnson felt that he had no reason to respond or to explain; the record speaks for itself.  A simple google search may solve this problem but to be honest, I don't really care what Magic has done for minorities.  I have no idea why Sterling keeps dragging Magic into this.  Even on the tape, Sterling said, "You should admire Johnson."  I'd now ask Sterling the question, "If you say he isn't a role model, why did you say he should be admired on the tape?"  Sterling is contradicting himself.  Nowhere on Sportscenter or the guy who interviewed Sterling, did they defend Magic by saying what he has done.  The only thing the interviewer took issue with is when Sterling said, "Magic got AIDS" the interviewer responded, "No, it was just HIV, it wasn't full blown AIDS."  He felt the need to clarify that point but not one thing Magic has done to refute Sterling?  This is odd.  It is, however, irrelevant.  This is not a Magic Johnson issue, Sterling should keep his attacks focused on the real villain, the monopolistic, anti-American, tyrannical nature of the NBA trying to grab his property from him.  Rest assured that behind closed doors, the owners are thinking that if they do it to Sterling, could they do it to me if say, I chastise an NBA referee or if I eat meat?  Remember this secular-progressive movement is taken over just like the French Revolution.  Robespierre started the French Revolution and later was killed by the revolutionaries for saying they were taking it too far.  First it's racist comments, what's next?  Eating at McDonalds?  Smoking cigarettes in public?  With the way the public is today, nothing would surprise me. Given that nobody has come forth with an actual example of how Johnson has helped the minority communities, it begs the question; Was Sterling right?

Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years" can  be bought at the bottom of this page.  

Sterling's fight

It is true I piled on to the Donald Sterling attacks.  I knew if I waited long enough, the media would stray from my feelings, and here we are.  I personally have no idea what the NBA constitution says but I do know that if a contract is signed and agreed upon but counteracts the US constitution, it is not enforceable in a court of law.  You can read the widely popular 50 shades of Gray to see examples of that.  As in all things, I look to logic to make sense of things because I believe truth exists outside of human interpretation and a majority opinion.  Logic is the closest way we can get to these forms or objective truths.  Here it is, the objectivist reaction to Donald Sterling devoid of emotion, the only way I know how.

If you read my previous posts, Donald Sterling's comments made to his girlfriend were indefensible.  Hell, even Sterling isn't defending them.  The closest he came was, "She always referred to people as blacks and she wanted to bring blacks she found attractive to my game so I said don't bring blacks to my game because I was jealous."   "Blacks" meant her attractive African-American friends and he said they can't come because he was jealous she found them attractive.   I know they investigated if the tape was doctored.  I know that I listened to the tape and she never claimed she was going to bring blacks to the game.  I don't know if the investigation indicated if the tape was doctored or not so I can't say if Sterling's explanation is valid factually.  All I know, is that they did indeed believe it to be the voice of Donald Sterling.  Again, these are not refutable.  Now for the punishment by Adam Silver.

Adam Silver did what most people have to do.  You have to give into the mob, the NBA seemed to be ready to revolt if his punishment wasn't severe and they all applauded him for banning him for life, fining him the NBA maximum allowed, 2.5 million dollars, and suggesting the owners take away the team from him. I wasn't surprised that they threw the book at him but it is kind of redundant.  Banning him for life I was okay with, the NBA is Adam Silver's organization and he can decide who comes and who doesn't to his shows.  Interestingly though, why can't Donald Sterling do the same thing with his team?  If he didn't want blacks to come to his game, that's his prerogative.  I believe in private property and I've always been against others telling you who you can and can't have in your place of business.  If you want to lose out on the revenue by blacks coming to the game, then I believe that to be a stupid business decision, but it's your business so be it. Just how I have no problem with Adam Silver banning Sterling from any sanctioned event.  That makes more sense because Silver's not going to lose out on any business doing that.  
          Secondly, the $2.5 million I found asinine.  Why would you pay that?  He's already banned for life.  What can they possibly do to him?  I had a problem with this because White man guilt was playing it's card and he would have to pay just because nothing has changed and the public still likes watching pounds of flesh being taken.  Hell if you hung Donald Sterling in the public square, I'm sure a crowd would gather just as it did in the Middle Ages.  Sterling, however, saw the situation for what it was; pointless.  His reputation is destroyed, he's got nothing to lose, so fight!  Not only did he refuse to pay the fine, he sued the NBA for their right to do so.   Good for him.  Society keeps running their mouth that people are entitled to their opinion, but the second someone has an opinion the majority of people don't like, they crucify him.  It takes more courage to say the things Margie Schott did than it does for Michael Sam to come out.  I don't say Sterling because he made his comments in, what he believed to be, confidence.  
          Thirdly, they want to take the team away from him.  Mark Cuban was the only guy to publicly say what I feel about this. He was worried about a slippery slope if we let the commissioner  steal a team from you.  Most people are like, "Well he's going to get paid" but that's not the point.  Sales should not be made at the end of a gun barrel.  A forced sale is anti-capitalistic and immoral.  Just as I consider what Ben Roethlisberger did as rape when he locked himself in a bathroom with a woman as his offensive line stood guard.  The woman told him "no" repeatedly, he just repeated back "It's okay."  They then had sex.  I don't count that as consensual; I count that as rape.  If someone gives Sterling the millions he deserves for the Clippers, that is not a consensual transactions, therefore an invalid trade.  With all that said, I saw the punishment as redundant.  If the NBA has a little patience, they won't need an owner vote, Sterling would have to sell as a smart business decision.  He's already lost sponsors.  His players probably will boycott playing for him.  Again, as a pro-capitalist, I'm anti-forced labor.  If the players decide they don't want to accept his money to play for him, that is their right.  I think Sterling will have trouble finding scab laborers.  Basically, you need to find players that are really good at basketball and don't mind the public ridicule, vehement attacks and vitriolic hatred they will receive from playing for Sterling.  This goes for players of any race.  Good luck with that one.  So, Sterling probably will have a team with no players. At best, they will be mediocre players who weren't good enough to make it to the NBA on their own so exchange the public hatred and endanger their lives, for their only shot to play in the NBA.  Clippers will be the worst they have ever been and, given their history, that's saying something.  The Clippers team would lose value, he will be funding it for no apparent reason and either he sells the team for a much lower price than he would get now, or he just pays millions of dollars for absolutely nothing.  Those are Sterling's options.  As for Shelly Sterling, I see no reason she shouldn't get the team. She didn't do anything.  Why is everyone so mad at her?  The only caveat to this is if the NBA is set up like a food chain.  You can manage a McDonalds but you don't own McDonalds.  I think the CEO of McDonalds could fire a manager if need be, so if teams work like individual franchises of a chain, then Adam Silver could kick him out but as that hasn't come up, I don't think that's the case.

One last thing about Shelly Sterling, I applaud her for filing to divorce her husband.  I was bothered that the issue of Donald Sterling having a girlfriend when he has a wife never came out.  It was Sterling the racist, not Sterling the adulterer.  I will say Sterling the racist bigoted adulterer.  



Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years can be bought at the bottom of this page.  

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

You do you; I'll do me

Much has been written about Jesus' golden rule.  His rule was "Treat others as you would like to be treated." Variations include Confucius, "Do not do on to others as you would not want them to do to you."  Even in modern terms, "Turn about is fair play" seems to be referencing this age old rule.  To me, though, the golden rule doesn't encompass everything.  It assumes that everyone has the same likes and dislikes.  For instance, I want to be left alone.  Most people like to constantly have people around.  These people, following the golden rule, will see someone sitting by themselves and come over to talk to them so they have company.  If we believe they are following the golden rule, they do this because they would want someone to do it for them.  Me, if I'm alone, I don't want a complete stranger to come up to me so that person is now bothering me even though he followed the golden rule.

Here is my creed, "You do you, I'll do me."  Unlike the golden rule, I need to explain it.  I have noticed that those I considered my closest friends are obsessed, and I'm using that term to the fullest power, with telling me how to live my life.  Most notably, the way I dress, it's always the same motto to sell out to the corporate world because you'll be homeless if you don't.  Yes, I dress up to go to work, but I'm not going to get fired if I'm dressed casually outside of work.  They, in a sense, are trying to break me.  When I was younger, this was amusing bordering on cute, then I got into my 20s and it started getting annoying, now it's just trite.  The thing is, unlike drugs, the more you say no, they louder and more obsessed they become.  How is this like drugs?  Well, in high school when people would offer me drugs, I'd say no.  They then harassed me and after a while they would use the phrase, "Come on, I want to be the first one to get Larry to do drugs."  It's amazing how many people begged me for that privilege.  They all failed however.  In college and beyond when people offered me drugs and I said "no" they responded, "Cool, more for me."  I like that creed MUCH better!  I don't mind if people do drugs around me, I just won't partake.  I didn't realize it, but I was living by, "You do you and I do me."  If you want to do drugs, I'm not going to stop you but I will not do them with you."

My last example is sex.  My closest friends are obsessed with me having sex and hate that I'm asexual.  Two of them planned a trip to Amsterdam and offered to buy me a prostitute just so I could have sex.  I went to Amsterdam and declined.  A year or two later, another person, who doesn't associate with the first two, decided to have an overnight layover in Amsterdam on our way to Berlin.  She didn't tell me this till after the trip but the overnight layover was not to save money but she wanted to buy me a prostitute.  Due to her missing the flight, she never got the chance.  That makes three people who spent hundreds of dollars to go to Amsterdam specifically to get me to have sex.  I can't grasp this mentality.  Now that I'm in my 30s, the persistence has reached a yelling, fever pitch.  To which, I finally had to ask, "Why do you care?" Most of the time the answer is, "Because I want you to see how great it can be."  When I press it further, they can't elaborate.  I am not telling them not to have sex, I just don't want to.  They have been adamant that they would not have sex with me, so they're not propositioning me.  Why does something that objectively doesn't affect them at all mean so much to them?  The only thing I can think of is, they really are trying to break me.  In which case, I need to evaluate who I consider my closest friends.

As I had gone through a gauntlet with these friends, I had lunch with a friend of mine.  We are not extremely close, she will readily admit she merely tolerates me, which is fine by me.  We were discussing marriage and my desire not to get married.  We then talked hypothetically about if I were to get married, what type of person would I want.  One of the first things I said was, "Well, you're not going to like this, but she would have to be Greek."
     She interrupted, "Why would I care about that?"
      "Well because you may think I'm being elitist"
      "No, if you said that I could only marry Greek, I'd be like 'whoa, you have no right to tell me that."
      I glared at her because it makes absolutely no sense to me why I would ever say that to her.  The reason I would want to marry Greek is because being Greek is such a large part of who I am and you would have to be Greek to understand me fully.   Since she is not Greek, this is irrelevant to her in choosing her mate.  Then it dawned on me what she was actually saying.  "With regard to marriage, you marry who you want, and I'll marry who I want, as your choice doesn't affect me at all."   Damn, if only my closest friends were as understanding as the people that merely tolerate me.

After all this, it has occurred to me that if you're ever around someone that is loudly and obsessively pleading for you to live your life to do something that has absolutely no affect on them whatsoever, then that person is merely looking at you as a strong willed person and looking to break you since they are broken themselves and can't stand someone with the audacity to do what they want, even if society is against them.  These are people that you certainly shouldn't consider your closest friends.  When your being yelled at, just ask, "Why do they care?" if you can't think of a reason; run


Autographed copies of my book the World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years can be bought at the bottom of this page.  

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Donald Sterling

Well, let's pile on shall we.  I like to be the voice of reason when people cry racism.  I do believe the racism card is played way too often and America is the least racist country in the world.  That is why they have to grasp on to non-racist quotes and twist them to be racist.  Like Rush Limbaugh when he made the comment that the media wouldn't care about Donovan McNabb if he was white.  That's an anti-media comment, not an anti-black comment.  That is why when I saw on the ticker while watching the NBA playoffs, "Clippers owner Donald Sterling being investigated for racist remarks reported on TMZ"  I was skeptical.  First, I don't consider TMZ very reliable.  I quickly googled the TMZ recording and heard it for myself before the media tried to influence my thinking.  Well, this time, the media seemed to be dead on.  I will preface all this by saying I am assuming that the tape is authentic, hasn't been altered and the male voice is Donald Sterling.  I've never heard Donald Sterling speak so I have no way to identify that voice as his and given that guys like Frank Caliendo can expertly mimic other voices, it is possible that it is an impersonation.

All day yesterday, I tried to make sense of the comments.  The male voice believed to be Sterling was upset because his girlfriend posted a picture of Magic Johnson.  He tells her "People will think you're associating with the enemy."  Alright, fine, this may not be because Magic Johnson's black.  This may be because he represents the Lakers as he was a star for the Lakers. He does say later that Magic Johnson should be admired.  Maybe it's a LA Clipper vs. LA Lakers rivalry.  I can handle that.  Another aspect of it, maybe he doesn't like that she's being photographed with another man in general.  A lot of guys are insecure in their relationships and don't want people to think their girl is cheating on them so if they're walking/photographing in public with other men, it gives gossippers fuel to think this.  I know men like this.  To believe any of these things, however, would be doing exactly what I blame people that grasp on to any remark and twist it to be racist for doing; ignoring what was actually said.  Sterling specifically says people will talk about you associating with black people.  His entire issue is the public perception of her being seen with black people.  This is so asinine and retarded to me that I hoped the tape was a fake.  I mean, public perception and society is literally the last place where you will receive condemnation for associating with minorities.  Later he says, "If you want to fuck them fine, if you want to have them over privately fine, but not publicly and don't bring them to my games."  This comment really baffled me.  I know racist people.  I've traveled extensively to Europe where they are extremely unapologetic of their racism.  This is not consistent with any type of racism I've seen.  For lack of a better word, "interbreeding" or having intercourse (I hate the term "slept with") with a person of another race is the worst thing you can do to a racist.  Sterling seemed okay with that but not okay with being seen in public with them?  It just made no sense to me. Anyone who believes that "the people" would be against someone hanging out and photographing with minorities in America, has absolutely no grasp of reality and is just plain stupid (ironically, Sterling calls his girlfriend stupid for not realizing that society is against it). To make this even funnier, his girlfriend is half Mexican; half black.  Sterling calls her white in the video.  I've seen a picture of her, she looks Latina.  Did he really not know her background?  During the video the girlfriend tells him a couple times of her background.  How did he not know?  He just says, "You just want to fight me.  You're a fighter" and "You don't understand"  Well you know what?  I don't understand either!

Now that I had garnered my opinions, I listened to the media.  Exactly what I expected: Whites and Blacks alike showing how upset they were over the comments.  Like me, they were pissed that it was overshadowing what is an amazing first round of the NBA playoffs.  It wasn't until Sportscenter this morning that I was given confirmation to what I already believed and an explanation for the mentality which I didn't think made any sense.  Baron Davis, who was an amazing player for Golden State, then he went to the Clippers and didn't play so well.  I never really understood why.  Full disclosure, when he went to other teams, he didn't play that well either. But in an interview last week, before the TMZ video, Baron Davis calls Sterling "Delusional."  That's exactly what someone who believes that American society would be against someone associating with a race that is not their own is; delusional!  I still didn't get an explanation for the mentality until David West posted his comment, "It is plantation mentality, make money off the bucks, lay with the women, nothing in public."  It is known that slave owners had sex with their slaves.  Yes, they made money off the men's work in the field.  No they weren't public about it. I loathe when people reference slavery for any black issue, but, in this instance, it absolutely fits.  Well said David West.  You are exactly right!

The Clippers players should focus on trying to win the series.  I am routing for the Warriors, but I don't want to see them win based on a forfeit or a strike by the Clippers.  Leave the striking and such after the playoffs are over if the league hasn't stepped in and ended it before then.  The commissioner  said that he is planning on finishing the investigation in the next couple of days.  The playoffs are over in June.  It could be sooner for the Clippers, but that remains to be seen.  I don't like the media forcing business owners to govern their businesses. I am a firm believer in private businesses and CEO's and owners can do whatever they want with their businesses. That being said, Doc Rivers, and every black athlete on the Clippers are not forced to work for an owner that believes what Sterling does.  If Sterling wants to try to make a team of white people...good luck!  Not only would they have to be White, they would have to be White and not mind a racist or the public ridicule they would face for being a scab worker for a racist. Like I said, good luck with that one!  But Sterling should understand that.  After all, wasn't the issue what "The people" will think?"

After all this, I have concluded that Sterling's comments are completely indefensible.  There is no truth in it.  It can't even be seen as simply being politically incorrect or truth that people don't want to hear.  It's exactly what the mainstream media has called it ranging from asinine, to bozo, to no place for it in today's society.  Not only is it racist, it's flat out untrue!  It is wrong in every sense of the word; morally and factually!


Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 years can be bought at the bottom of this page 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Remember the Alamo

Ah the Alamo, we all know the expression, "Remember the Alamo."  What happened there? Oh yea, it was a massacre by the Mexican army; they came in and killed a bunch of Americans including Davie Crockett.  Was it a war? Was it an invasion of the United States?  What is the significance?  Or is it simply where we lost a battle?

The Alamo to me is a microcosm of the way the Union views the South.  The general of the Alamo requested back up because a Mexican attack was imminent but the request was ignored.  Kind of like Benghazi wouldn't you say?  No, not really.  Although, technically the U.S. Consulate is United States territory, even the surrounding area of the Alamo is still in the United States.  As I looked into it, I wondered what it is that spurred men to rally behind it.  Was it the ruthlessness of the Mexican army?  How vicious were they?   Did you know that many of the soldiers brought their wives and children with them into the Alamo because they believed it to be the safest spot?  Well, we know all the soldiers in the Alamo were killed so what did the ruthless, barbarous Mexicans do to those women and children???

The Mexican general told them to go home and spread the word of what they did to their husbands and fathers. You can spin that as insensitive and a little like Natural Born Killers but I actually think it was quite gentlemanly of them.  My conclusion is that the Mexican army's actions and nature were not what caused the uprising but merely the bravery of the men that stood and fought even though they were going to die.  Much like the 300 Spartans inspired a nation but the 300 Spartans took their fair share of Persians before perishing.  Those in the Alamo didn't do so well.  I'm not sure where the inspiration came from.

The history of how Texas became part of the United States when it was Mexican territory is what most fascinated me.  When Texas was a Mexican territory, Americans emigrated there and flocked there in droves to get away from the oppressive American laws.  The Mexicans began to worry that Americans were outnumbering Mexicans almost 10-1.  A few years after this population shift, the Mexican succession happened.  See any parallels?  Now the Mexicans are coming to America to escape the harsh living conditions of Mexico.  They say that even if no illegal  immigrants come, the breeding rate of the Latinos vs. the Whites will lead to more Latinos than Whites by 2020.  Interesting how these things seem to reverse themselves in less than 200 years.



Autographed copies of my book The World Hasn't Progressed in 5,000 Years can be bought at the bottom of this page.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

What school didn't teach you about WWII

I recently took a cross country road trip across the south of America.  As I visited many places, I got a huge American history lesson that I never learned in school.  I have found a lot of things out about FDR that has made me doubt his status as one of our greatest presidents. The New Deal made a recession into the Great Depression and his subsidies to farmers and sugar producers led to high fructose corn syrup and all the synthetic crap in our American foods, which makes us by far the unhealthiest food in the world.  I didn't think my view of him would change too much when I visited New Orleans of all places.

If you're like me, New Orleans would not be the place you'd think of getting a World War II history lesson. When I went there, I was looking forward to the Jambalaya, Gumbo and Cajun food.  I must say that it was the best food on the trip.  I had the freshest seafood I've had anywhere in the United States, and I've lived near a giant body of water my entire life.  As I was randomly wandering around the city, I happened upon the D-Day museum.  I must confess I was surprised to find this in New Orleans. I went inside and looked around and then in the main room, I saw a carrier boat with a caption.  "Why is the D-day museum in New Orleans? Because as President Eisenhower stated to Dr. Stephen Ambrose 'Andrew Jackson Higgins is the man who won the war for us.  Without Higgins designed boars that could land over open beaches the whole strategy of the war would have to be rethought.'

Fact, in September 1943, the very middle of the war, the American navy totaled 14,072 vessels of these 12,964, or 92% of the entire U.S. Navy, were designed  by Higgins industries."

I had never heard of Higgins.  Some people know about Higgins boats, but did they know he was from New Orleans?  Did they know that he had 7 factories in New Orleans building ships?  Did they know that they produced a navy ship every hour?  I certainly didn't.  It appalls me that in my American education, I had no idea of Higgins.  This guy should be as famous as General Patton!

Back to FDR.  Although I believe he forced the Japanese to attack us at Pearl Harbor by refusing to speak to them and he desperately wanted us to get into war.  I have to hand it to him.  At the start of the war, the American army was a small fraction of the German and Japanese armies.  We were ranked 18th in the world, behind Romania (Guess World War I didn't raise our ranking too much).  I don't give him any credit for the 1% unemployment. He initiated a draft, sent most of the workforce to war and had the rest, mostly women, replace them.  Forcing them to war so they are no longer considered  unemployed doesn't impress me much.  He then went about multiple ads and campaigns telling Americans to sacrifice and give back to the war effort.  The point is though....it worked.  American production exploded.  We popped out ships, planes, ammunition, tires, etc. etc. anything that our boys at war needed.  Heavily supplied with the might of American work ethic and production, we won the war.

Unfortunately America isn't producing anymore.  Maybe it's because we are the greatest nation so we can export that out and focus on the higher business aspects much like a lawyer focuses on preparing his argument in case but his secretary and paralegals do the research and typing for him.  The american work ethic isn't dead though. If one travels the world, you see that people in other countries not only don't work as hard as we do, they brag about it and look down at us for living to work.  It was FDR that started this culture of work within us.  But 85% of American entrepreneurs are either immigrants or children of immigrants.  We are losing our sense of pride as hard working producing machines.  Could you imagine telling someone now to not get new tires because the army needs it more than you do?  That is exactly what World War II ads said.  No, we had wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the only thing we may have been asked to sacrifice was slightly higher gas prices...and yes we bitched about that!!!  that is why the World War II generation calls themselves the greatest generation.  But I am an advocate of selfishness but I believe Americans need to remember what led us to greatness; our work ethic and our ability to produce quickly and efficiently.


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