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Below is a comment I made on ProfD's post @ProfD yeah I heard. Again, why is it 99% of the third parties in the usa, since the two party system, never choose to actually grow from the bottom to the top? the People's party first campaign is this one for Cornell West. Their first campaign. How can you expect to win a majority of 50 states when you have no presence in any state? Cornell west and many others before him, like Ross PErot, have differences in many ways, but all of them , regardless of their knowledge, clearly lack erudition in terms of government. The people's party has a website that is willing to accept money, has a bunch of goals, but has no process. Has no examples to show what they can do in smaller ways? https://www.peoplesparty.org/ I should not had but I went to Cornell WEst's website. https://www.cornelwest24.com/ I quote him What is Cornell West, a member of GI Joe the cartoon. And moreover, based on his introductory statement he is forgetting the USA can't be reintroduced to something it wasn't. When did the USA guarantee housing/guarantee healthcare/guarantee education/guarantee living wages/ guarantee ecological maintenance/... this made me laugh the usa is ending wars, the usa has started or propelled most of the wars since the year 1900/ the USA for over 150 years, which all black people know, has been the king of incarceration/ and the usa has always had extreme poverty, what do you think a slave is financially but poor. Ahh what is the process. But I will entertain this as this involves black leadership and cornell west is a black leader. First he is running for truth and justice, those are concepts, not people. What is the definition of truth or justice? He offers none. Why does it matter? You need to define how you determine a concept. Humans beings have never concurred on what is truth or justice. So you need to define it strictly so people can be clear on how you view it in terms of policy. Second, reintroduce the USA to the best of itself. Well, he explains what the best of the usa is, but the one big problem is most of what he states has no historical basis. So this is an error to me. The truthful thing to say is, introduce the usa to the best of what it can be. The USA hasn't been any of the things he defines as the best of in the usa's history. Third, how to make the things he wants to happen A. end poverty- well, simple equation. revenue earned per person+ financial assistance per person > cost of utilities+cost of food+ cost of clothing+ cost of healthcare. The problem is, the labor market in the usa has never supported the majority, again, slavery as a system is great for fiscal captalism. It allows for humans to be kept in a negative financial state legally which allows for the process of fiscal capitalism to play out and influence most free folk positively, cause the enslaved are taking a constant financial hit. So what is the solution to end poverty? Government assistance, or more bluntly, printing money and giving it to people or when people need, ala healthcare. But, this will not lower cost of items so this is a constant growth of printing money B. end mass incarceration- well, legalize prostitution + legalize loitering in public places like parks/sidewalks<not assault but loitering and not in residencies or private property but public places>+legalize all sales or possessions of drugs: from the heavy like cocaine, to the middle like nicotine or alcohol or to the light, like marijuana+ legalize all gambling, no restrictions anywhere meaning playing dice in the streets it allowed+ legalize all gun sales. The Black community knows this more than most. Black people used illegal means cause we were not allowed legal means by whites. It is simple. Most humans aren't killers but most are not going to fool themselves into low servitudes for the sake of legality. But in a very christian country with many self righteous people, legalization like I just suggested will have many opponents. C. Ending wars this makes me laugh. This is probably the hardest of all. I don't know how a country with seven fleets/three airforce commands/a satellite flleet/three submarine fleets/ a drone army/the CIA/the FBI/the NSA/and of course privateers like Blackwater is going to end wars when they are the genesis of most wars. The fiscally wealthy in the USA + the military community is not going to go back to isolationism as before the first phase of the european imperial wars, commonly called world war one. So this one is hard and I will not spend more than a minute on each of these. D. Ecological collapse well, the USA is going to need an army to tell other countries how to use their resources. At the end of the second phase of the european imperial wars it was possible to get most governments in humanity to guide their economies but today, it is too late outside of using force, but of course, if you want to end wars, you can't start wars so... the good news is, the earth can survive humanity's destruction. E. The guarantees: housing+healthcare+education+living wages. all these things in fiscal capitalism require money. To guarantee them means at the moment, the usa is going to print money like never before, to guarantee them. Now, a problem exists. How can the usa tell china or russia to not print money for their people ? how can the usa not give some members of the european union or the european union itself the ability to print money? if every major government is printing money where does the financial markets reside in all this? I quote a banker, fiscal capitalsim absent penalty isn't fiscal capitalsim. The ability to be broke/penniless/kicked out/totally indebted is part of the natural cycle of fiscal capitalism, to guarantee means that someone's financial ledger has to be totally made up somewhere and why should only one be made up. I conclude with function. Points A+ E policy wise, law wise , mean print money and pay for things. And woe be the day the usa empire isn't the global policeman and someone calls in that debt and has to get it. Points C+D policy wise, law wise, are impossible together. The only way to get all governments in humanity to operate on one page is a larger war machine. but a larger war machine will by default lead to more wars, sooner or later. Second money never blocked an army so the usa has to have a military to defend itself, like all countries. but the usa serves a function as a law enforcer for global trade. the usa has a military machine that breeds wars. No empire can have peace absent its military , while a military is mandatory to allow any government to function against another government, cause eventually another government will want to simply take. And while money can be potentially used to deter wars or get governments to allow certain activity, that is an ever increasing bill. B policy wise, law wise, is the only one that is purely domestic or in the usa in terms of scope. It is the only one that can have a different solution but it is the hardest sell. the usa is full of self righteous people. In AALBC,how many people have chided at the level fo religious zealot black people selling drugs, selling themselves, dealing in guns. To empty the prisons you need to first change the legal code. But, all the towns that are supported by prisons will vote against this, rally against this. So you will sate them with money. What about all the law enforcement communities? they will be unhappy. LEgalization deletes the need for law enforcement as it is. If the only thing illegal is murder and assault, you don't need so many law enforcers. man is drunk on the corner, what's the problem is he isn't assaulting someone. Woman is selling drugs in the park, what's the problem if she isn't assaulting someone. But, I doubt the majority of the populace in the usa , again, very religious, very self righteous, very much into lying will accept such policies. In the end, Cornell West's policies add up to print money. Print money to: end poverty, stop wars, stop mass incarcerations, get governments to allow certain actions concerning the environment, plus pay for guarantees to all living humans. That is a lot of money. In a modern humanity where china makes 92% of the cathodes in all electric car batteries, where Russia + the Arab monarchies own most of the oil. And the most important point, West has nothing but his speeches to show for functionaizing these ideas. Cornell West has a place or lived in Harlem in Manhattan in NYC in NYS. Run for city council. why not?

I think he was referring to the Promise That the Statue of Liberty represents and fulfilled for many Europeans - "Give me your tired your poor" Cornel is a Professor/ commentator/ pundit / and Political Activist....So far he he is Now a Political Candidate and a Potential (Black) Leader Black Prophetic Fire.....Liberation Theology (Romero) - Black Liberation Theology (Cone) Cornel West: The Difference Between Justice and Revenge | Big Think Re-Introduce America to The True Promise of the Constitution and to Live up to that Creed. The so called Lack that leads to poverty is not one Scarcity or Expense.....But a Policy of Maldistribution of Resources. 75% of All prisoners are illiterate....That statistic demonstrates the need for Proper education and Coping skills training That is what Leaders do....envision the seemingly impossible, the down right unpopular and create ways and means to realize the Dream - like Martin's Nonviolent Movement for Black Civil Rights Leaders do not seek popularity or consensus of expediency.....but Truth Justice and Integrity with Love. There is Over 16million Abandoned homes/houses in the USA vs approximately 500 thousand homeless....There is already enough money - Fiat money The United States spend more on the military than the next 10 highest spending countries combined....Maybe some of those monies can be spend else to monitor and ensure peace. Again True leadership is not a popularity contest.....but one of finding creative solutions. All black peoples was and is being helped by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights movement... Cornel West run is a Further demand for Truth and Justice.

IMO, there is no need to reinvent the wheel for everything and/or start at a grassroots level. Starting a political party is an example. It only takes a few people with a vision/goal/agenda and a significant amount of money behind them to start a movement. To date, most 3rd political parties have rolled up into the main 2 political parties. That's because of money.😁 Former POTUS 45 had zero political experience at any level prior to joining the GOP and tossing his hat into the ring. His accomplishments up to that point had been shady businessman and reality TV personality. The qualifications to be POTUS are 1) natural-born citizen of the United States (US), 2) be at least 35 years old and 3) have been a US resident for 14 years. Dr. Cornel West is over-qualified for the job regardless of what he says or does. Sen. Bernie Sanders had lofty ideas that haven't been implemented in his home state of Vermont or anywhere else. The measurement of a politician is what they can do to secure the interests of their donors and constituents...in that order. The history of the United States is well documented. It would be a tall order for anyone to make America a more perfect union. That's *if* America even wanted it. Dr. West's concepts and ideas could be building blocks to a better society and shaped into policy *if* Americans wanted it. There's no shortage of *smart* people in America both inside and outside government capable of bringing a vision to fruition *if* America wants it. The reality is that America is a divided country with a sordid past. Regardless of politics, it will take more than one person to begin to right the wrongs and clean her up. But, I think it will take a non-politician to put America on the *right* track. Along with his intellect, knowledge and wisdom, Dr. West at least brings that voice to the table.😎

I started reading this book recently, African-American Philosophers: 17 Conversations, it made me think about another conversation on this discussion forum, “Who's filled the intellectual void after James Baldwin?,” which I initiated in reaction to the Toni Morrison blurb of Ta-Nehisi Coates new book, the Power List Best seller, Between the World an Me ; “I’ve been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died…clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates.” While this is a bold statement I did not initially take it seriously, as authors typically exaggerate when endorsing another author's book. But given that it was Toni Morrison making the statement, some folks, most notably, Cornel West, took issue with the statement; going overboard, in my opinion, in his reaction. If it were a more obscure author making the same statement, I'd be willing to bet Cornel would have overlooked it. I've become more concerned with the idea that Baldwin's passing left an "intellectual void" for the past 30 years. There are a great many Black intellectuals which is one of the reason I've started reading African-American Philosophers. The book was published in 1998 among the philosophers interviewed include Anita L. Allen, Robert E. Birt, Bernard R. Boxhill, Joyce Mitchell Cook, Angela Y. Davis, Lewis R. Gordon, Leonard Harris, Joy Ann James, Tommy L. Lott, Hoard McGary, Jr., Michele M. Moody-Adams, Albert Mosley, Lucius T. Outlaw, Jr., Adrian M. S. Piper, Laurence Thomas, Cornell West, and Naomi Zack. With the exception of Davis and West, I'd imagine most of these thinkers are unknown to the general population. "intellectual void"...Puhleese!

@Troy I agree that Morrison not only understood the power of her words but also the intent. A rebel with a cause. I’m gonna get a copy of the African American Philosophers - I’m intrigued. Thanks for the cliff notes.

-- ANDREA WEIGL 919.518.7679

Thank you MUCH for the feedback! That brother is talented! Love his voice overs.

My take on Toni Morrison is that she doesn't take herself as seriously as those who pander to her do. She put her books and opinions out there and isn't overly concerned with the reaction to it. She is truly her own person.