Do You Suffer from DontGivaFlip-itis???

[SistahSpeak]

Condition: Not giving a flying flip about the things blasted in the media to take my mind off the REAL issues at hand??

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Personally, while I know that there is an election for presidency going on (Obama & Clinton), I wholeheartedly believe that it's just another form of Reality TV.

Something else to take our minds off of the fact that our so-called rights are being violated through Acts being passed in the middle of the night; the reality that life as we know it will change in a matter of years because we're at Peak Oil; the sad reality that quietly we have cities, in amerikkka fighting over water rights – why now? the fact that gentrification is happening more strategically than ever before in inner-cities... and on, and on, and on.

I'm clear that I must stay abreast of most items in the mainstream news so that I'm not completely oblivious. And being that I read alternative news, news that "they" don't want you to know about, reading the "fluff" news will provide me with a more holistic viewpoint/understanding.

BUT...

Am I wrong for not eagerly pursuing these topics? That I walk away from folks who want to sit down and debate on whether or not Obama will win? And who sucked last week on american’t idol? And who screwed who and wrote a book about it? Who cares about who got Brittney Spears pregnant and what jail Hilton's in this week, when our people are being mis-educated, bamboozled, and pimped in systems created by the oppressor?

I'm not looking to "cure" myself of anything, I'm just curious if anyone else is suffering from this "condition" lol


DISCLAIMER: This is a post in “The Vent” Forum – Just gettin' stuff off my chest! :-)

[The Dragon]

I don't even watch tv sistah: Thats how much I don't give a flip. And your right to say that the presidencial campaign and debates is just another reality tv sitcom. Your also right that our attention given to tv and other non-issues is being used to take our mind off of much more important issues.

[rekh]

Originally Posted by SistahSpeak

I'm clear ...

There it is right there, Blackwoman.


htp (peace)

[Sumyr]

Very good post! What I find most interesting in this whole Obama/Clinton media circus is (A) Not very many people even know who the Republican candidates are due to the media favoring Obama/Clinton and (B) people fail to realize that regardless if Obama/Clinton wins the democratic nod - neither will garner enough votes to oust the Republican party from the White House. From my experience and what "I" have witnessed in the past - Democrats vote, but not in huge enough numbers to make a difference. Therein lies the problem.

[afrocentric]

right about now.....I DONT GIVA FLIP!

[SistahSpeak]

Originally Posted by Sumyr

Very good post! What I find most interesting in this whole Obama/Clinton media circus is (A) Not very many people even know who the Republican candidates are due to the media favoring Obama/Clinton and (B) people fail to realize that regardless if Obama/Clinton wins the democratic nod - neither will garner enough votes to oust the Republican party from the White House. From my experience and what "I" have witnessed in the past - Democrats vote, but not in huge enough numbers to make a difference. Therein lies the problem.

I agree... and even if a black man or white woman garnered up enough votes, it is not this so called demon-cratic system that selects our next president. IMO, and from my understanding, if the public votes go in the direction that "the powers-that-be" chooses, then great. But if it doesn't, they will be sure to arrange things so that it does.

Off topic - sorry!

So, anyone else struggle with this condition?? Has the pharmaceutical industry come of with somethin' for it, yet?? Maybe with side-effects that include gas, uncontrollable bowels, weight gain, blood clots, sleep apnea, impotence, near-sightedness, and possible gambling urges (I swear this one exists can't make this stuff up). But hey, there's a drug for each of those conditions as well! LMBAO!!!!!!!

YES! Land of the FREE! Nothin' Like it

[Nyela]

Originally Posted by SistahSpeak

Condition: Not giving a flying flip about the things blasted in the media to take my mind off the REAL issues at hand??

-------

Something else to take our minds off of the fact that our so-called rights are being violated through Acts being passed in the middle of the night; the reality that life as we know it will change in a matter of years because we're at Peak Oil; the sad reality that quietly we have cities, in amerikkka fighting over water rights – why now? the fact that gentrification is happening more strategically than ever before in inner-cities... and on, and on, and on.



DISCLAIMER: This is a post in “The Vent” Forum – Just gettin' stuff off my chest! :-)

Now you've hit on something that many just think about in passing.
Gentrification in itself is not a bad idea. The problem is those in the community who can benefit from it most, are usually not a part of the deal brokering.

In poor, black neighborhoods, the Middle Easterners, Latinos and Filipinos have taken over the neighborhoods. Corporate America is also coming in and changing the face of real estate in said neighborhoods.
Instead of low cost housing and near by schools; there are now high rises, condominiums and magnet schools. The children in the surrounding area are shipped out and the affluent white children are shipped in.
The poor citizens in those neighborhoods are given "vouchers" to find other housing, only to find out they don't qualify because of credit or income requirements.
You know what else? We are sitting by and doing nothing. Over the summer I spent a week in St. Louis. I was SHOCKED at how horribly the historically black neighborhoods had deteriorated. I was shocked at how the streets and business centers were dilapidated but there was a nail shop on ever corner.

Yes sis, it's frightening. And it's only getting worse.
I say, invest in those already in the community. Give them low cost loans for start ups. Teach and assist in home building and investing. Provide a means to an end to this madness in the land of the free and Home of the brave.

[The Dragon]

Theres a damned nail shop on every corner here in Detroit also. I get frustrated walking down the street observing it.

[SistahSpeak]

Originally Posted by Nyela

Now you've hit on something that many just think about in passing.
Gentrification in itself is not a bad idea. The problem is those in the community who can benefit from it most, are usually not a part of the deal brokering.

In poor, black neighborhoods, the Middle Easterners, Latinos and Filipinos have taken over the neighborhoods. Corporate America is also coming in and changing the face of real estate in said neighborhoods.
Instead of low cost housing and near by schools; there are now high rises, condominiums and magnet schools. The children in the surrounding area are shipped out and the affluent white children are shipped in.
The poor citizens in those neighborhoods are given "vouchers" to find other housing, only to find out they don't qualify because of credit or income requirements.
You know what else? We are sitting by and doing nothing. Over the summer I spent a week in St. Louis. I was SHOCKED at how horribly the historically black neighborhoods had deteriorated. I was shocked at how the streets and business centers were dilapidated but there was a nail shop on ever corner.

Yes sis, it's frightening. And it's only getting worse.
I say, invest in those already in the community. Give them low cost loans for start ups. Teach and assist in home building and investing. Provide a means to an end to this madness in the land of the free and Home of the brave.

Sis - I like your thinking! The "common" idea or understanding of gentrification is that it is positive and investment in neighborhoods, but by definition alone it's the contrary. The definition of gentrification is "The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people."

With that being said, this is proof of the fact that this system in which we live are notorious for distorting reality - have us believing that bad is actually ok and that good is strange... that's another post.

But, back to your point. Like what you observed in St. Louis, I've noticed here in Chicago, specifically on the South Side (South of downtown chicago where residents are predominantly "Black"), a bunch of apartment buildings in what many "black-folk" consider "rough" areas are now all condos. 1 bedroom condos that go for $100-150K+. But the catch is that they aren't selling! And why don't they care? Because they're expanding downtown chicago and will gating it off - access will not be as free as it is today. So they're buying up the real estate not for financial rewards now, but for their "world" tomorrow.

To me, it's all calculated...

But if I found myself focused on what "they" feed me, I'd be far too distracted and wouldn't have been able to observe these things for myself, nor would they be of any importance.

Damn, I'm off topic, but yet it's all so relevant! YIKES!

I got energy this mornin' ya'll!

[SistahSpeak]

Originally Posted by The Dragon

Theres a damned nail shop on every corner here in Detroit also. I get frustrated walking down the street observing it.

DEEE-Troit! Now I see where that Flava comes from sis! *smile*

All Love,
S