Two Clowns, Same Circus, Time for A Paradigm Shift

Everybody is talking about this coming election and how "change" will come once Donald Trump is out of office. But what are the changes Joe Biden is offering to the American people? Ask yourself that question before going to the voting booth. 

All I see is business as usual in this facade and anemic democracy we have left in this nation. I see the continuation of the status quo where the rich continue to make obscene profits while the working class is practically being destroyed. I see It’s business as usual for these greedy oligarchs that continues the warmongering policies against other sovereign nations. For what? Oh yes, their natural resources! I see the constant voting shaming on the American people because many are talking about voting for a third party or simply just sitting this one out. 

The United Failed States of Amerikka is now implementing draconian laws to suppress and oppress those who defy the Wrath of the Imperial Tentacles of the US. From the killing of Black African Americans by Murderous Cops to the definite detention of undocumented immigrants under ICE custody and the mindless endless systemic racism mechanism in place, Biden and his VP candidate Kamala Harris will not change anything. Let us not forget that presidential candidate Joe Biden will not provide medicare for all to US Citizens even during a Global Pandemic. Biden is not the solution but part of the problem of why we can not move forward. 

Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was correct when he noted that Imperialism is the Highest Stage of Capitalism. And like all previous empires that have fallen, the US Empire is slowly decaying, going to a death spiral, and will most likely fall as well.

We need to understand that the two political parties in our government WILL NOT SAVE US! Again I’m going to repeat this, THE TWO CURRENT POLITICAL PARTIES WILL NOT SAVE US from the disaster we are all experiencing. It’s time to say that the economic and political system we have now needs to go! We also have to recognize that financial institutions like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and The World Bank need to go as well. I strongly believe that these current financial institutions that continue to corrupt the political parties are the problems.

Natural Disasters are happening under the current system. 

The current paradigm we are all living today is a monetary system that oppresses the mass majority of people financially and is destroying the planet because of the need of maximizing profits. By doing so, we are destroying the natural habitats of every wildlife known to man which is why we see a huge influx of animals migrating to other states or countries to survive. For example, DuPoint Industries has been using a Teflon like substance on pots and pans that are actually poisoning people which is giving them cancer. These toxic, cancerous chemicals within the manufacturing process of these products are contaminating the rivers and every water supply resource in the state of Virginia and other states nationwide. Cows, deers, squirrels, and many other wildlife creatures are dying because of the illegal dumping of these toxic waste products in our environment. All this, FOR WHAT? JUST TO MAKE A PROFIT. In the eyes of DuPont, profits, and productivity for people's consumption of their products is what matters the most. When independent scientists (not pseudo-scientists) has concluded that human activity is what is causing the destabilization of our planet.

In my honest opinion, we need a Paradigm shift if we are going to save the planet, the animals, and ourselves. We need to urgently change our way of thinking and how we see money and focus on how we see ourselves as part of a living organism on a finite planet. Yes, It Is Time for A Paradigm Shift Indeed!

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

Freedom is Moving Target

By César Omar Sánchez

“We are “free” only as long as we play our assigned parts. Once we call out power for what it is, once we assert our rights and resist, the chimera of freedom will vanish. The iron fist of the most sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus in human history will assert itself with a terrifying fury.”

-Chris Hedges

Contemporary American People Mindset

We live in a world where apathy and ignorance are running rampant and is highly contagious in our society. Like a virus, it spreads throughout our community and the entire nation with no limitation and continues to poison the minds of both youth and adults. We are currently living in two societies; on one side we have a minority that is aware of the current status we are all facing when it comes to ongoing systemic racist mechanisms towards African Americans, Latino, and people of color to this present day. On the other side, the majority, where spectacles triumph over literacy and continue to choose comfort over struggle.

Hispanics/Latinos Home and Abroad

As a brown skin Latino with indigenous ancestry background, I am aware of our history when it comes to colonialism and religious persecution, we too also understand what it means to fight for freedom. Freedom for us is still a constant struggle, we are still going through ongoing fight not only in the United States but back in Latin America countries like Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Brasil, …etc. In Eduardo Galeano's’ book Open Veins of Latin America, he exposes how Oligarchs, Corporations and Venture Capitalists have extradited so much wealth from these countries and how they became so powerful in the global financial market. Uruguayan author gives his assessment of Latin America:

“Latin America is the region of open veins. Everything from the discovery until our times has always been transmuted into European--or later--United States-- capital, and as such has accumulated on distant centers of power. Everything: the soil, its fruits, and its mineral-rich depths, the people and their capacity to work and to consume, natural resources and human resources.” ― Eduardo Hughes Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

The Illusion of Freedom within an Empire of Illusion

 To obtain absolute freedom, we must acknowledge that both the political apparatus and the socio-economic system we are currently in must be eradicated. Those in power will tell you and me that we live in the greatest country on earth and that freedom is guaranteed.  Marketing Strategists, Advertisers, and Public Relations agencies use their talent non-stop on selling you that we have "Freedom" in our political and economic paradigm. With the constant 24-hours, 7 days of the week of propaganda on mainstream media, its no wonder US Citizens are so confused.  These same individuals will continue to say that we must continue to vote and to trust these fat cat oligarchs that continue to profit off other people's misfortunes and even deaths. Many politicians today will lie in our face and say that these multimillionaires, banks, corporations, and the military-industrial complex are here to protect our freedom. This is only a façade and the capitalist system has been exposed to the American public of not being democratic and not allowing freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of beliefs that question those in power.

For African American people, unfortunately, freedom is limited to them and their voices have been suppressed for decades now. These mechanisms like voter suppression laws, mass incarceration, job discrimination is just some of the components that make African-Americans discourage and tries to break down their spirits, but it won't work, it never did and never will. 

This past week I attended the BAAFSSO (Black Alumni, Administrators, Faculty, Students and Staff Organization) meeting where many issues were being addressed to the current NJCU President, Sue Henderson. And I thought I felt inspired by many of my classmates voicing their concerns so passionately, I still felt a sense of hopelessness as I know that those in power will not take any actions to improve these conditions. Students and Faculty members should have the freedom to address their grievances without the fear of retribution from their peers or higher ranks within the executive board. The question becomes the following; are we truly living in a free society?

We can no longer continue in this fantasy world where we are sleepwalking towards oblivion. Our freedom is slowly being taken away and many of us have fallen asleep behind the wheel. I cannot sit back and see our black brothers and sisters continued being gunned down in every major city in this nation. I cannot just turn a blind eye while police are being militarized and are granted immunity for the slaughter of black youths. Again, I must ask the question, the word “freedom” …what does it signify in the United States of America for Blacks, Latinos, and people of color?

My Encounter with The Central Park Five

                Mass incarceration of black people in the United States is staggering and shocking.  Far too long black youth and men had their freedom taken away from a racist judicial court system. Two cases come in my mind, one was the injustice arrest and jail sentencing of five youths from New York City. They were known as the Central Park Five which was arrested for allegedly raping a white woman in the middle of the night at Central Park in 1989. A few years back I met with two of The Central Park Five, now The Exonerated Five, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam at John Jay College where I was preparing a speech on political prisoners. As I sat down with both Raymond and Yusef, they both described their horrible experience on how they were coerced during an exhausting police integration tactic. This quasi evidence of a confession from them is what helped the prosecutors sentence all innocent young youths to jail. They explain how quickly one’s freedom can be taken away so easily just because of their socio-economic status and the color of their skin.

We Want Freedom

The second case that comes to my mind is a prolific writer and probably the world’s most famous Long Distant Revolutionary political prisoner still being held in the United States’ prison said the following:

“Conventional wisdom would have one believe that it is insane to resist this, the mightiest of empires, but what history really shows is that today's empire is tomorrow's ashes; that nothing lasts forever, and that to not resist is to acquiesce in your own oppression. The greatest form of sanity that anyone can exercise is to resist that force that is trying to repress, oppress, and fight down the human spirit.”

― Mumia Abu-Jamal

The time to fight for freedom is now!  Freedom for All!