After a brief visit to the Bay Area, with many protesters organizing the 'Baby Trump' blimp balloon with an 'up-yours' welcome, Trump's appearance proved to be forecast of heavy dystopia. Hey, Google, learn to spell dystopia -- we'll be using that word a lot these days!
Take it from an article in the San Francisco Examiner (https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/any-plan-by-trump-to-deal-with-homelessness-should-scare-you/) by Stuart Schuffman: we should all be scared. Very scared. When a tyrant threatens to 'remove the unsightly homeless' in America -- who do you think will be next for the roundup?
First the immigrants. Now the homeless...
Next: will it be you?
Who else do tyrants hate? An opposition. You only have to look at Hitler to figure out what happens... Hitler killed his own men. "Night of the Long Knives", written by The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/event/Night-of-the-Long-Knives), describes Hitler's plot to overthrow his opposition -- even killing those in his own party and his comrade, Ernst Röhm.
And oh yeah -- don't forget the journalists. With news of the Trump administration now suing Edward Snowden over a memoir that allegedly contains US security information, the level of hatred towards journalists and government whistle blowers has reached an all-time high.
The anti-media sentiment has spread through Republican and conservative groups, casting doubt and disdain over what's reported by the American people for the American people.
It will only be a matter of time before we see familiar faces in America, locked up behind bars. It's no coincidence that Trump's war on the immigrants and homeless comes at a time when private prisons are making a huge profit.
As California votes to ban private prisons and detention centers, the racist conservative agenda is trying to cut through the progressive tide. According to The Ithican (https://theithacan.org/opinion/national-recap-california-legislature-bans-private-prisons/) and its source The Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org/history-racial-injustice-private-prisons),
"Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private prison company in the U.S., has seen a 500% increase in profit throughout the last 20 years".
The practice of these detention centers began before Obama but didn't end with the election of the progressive and Democrat president. To see a timeline of these detention centers in America, this website shows a clear picture: https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/detention-timeline . Sadly, it is noted that during the Clinton administration (Democrat), these detention facilities and their cruel laws were strengthened. It's hard to say why these so-called liberal administrations would support such measures.
The rise of for-profit prisons go hand-in-hand with draconian laws against "crime and drugs". The homeless problem has stemmed from many causes: lack of social support and services, severance from previous government support, joblessness, and abuse. Regan cried for a crackdown on drugs while shutting down support services for the mentally ill -- which led them to the street -- which led to drugs.
You are more likely to do drugs when forced to survive on the streets. The National Coalition for the Homeless published the article, "Substance Abuse and Homelessness (https://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.pdf), citing that people on the street often turn to drugs to alleviate their distress.
Reagan was also known for shutting down unions, which led to many jobs lost. In John Komlos' piece on PBS.org, "Column: How Reaganomics, deregulation and bailouts led to the rise of Trump"
(https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-how-reaganomics-deregulation-and-bailouts-led-to-the-rise-of-trump), he cites that starting with Reagan, America has gone into a downward spiral of corruption which has led to the present level of the rich 1% gaining the biggest wealth while the middle-class and working class continue to shrink and lose money.
It may also explain why some working class people and some poor, voted for Trump. Does Trump care for the poor? Certainly not! But he sure has a lot of money, doesn't he? Money is what got him his seat in the White House.
When you've done everything right in the world and worked hard but still can't make ends meet, then something must be wrong... it can't be you, right? Who's to blame? When the rich CEO's keep saying that they have to cut costs because of XYZ and yet those CEO's get millions in bonuses while workers lose their jobs... something must be behind it.
People don't want to believe that they're at fault for losing all they've tried to gain. People don't like to have their beliefs challenged either. When society fails to live up to its promise and you've followed society's rules to the letter -- well, it can't be my fault! That's what they always say... it has to be someone else.
Guess who takes the blame?
Economic uncertainty seems to be the root of racial and ethnic disparity, along with war. Immigrants and non-whites often bear the burden of blame when the economy goes sour. And when war is declared, all ideas of equality cease to exist.
We will forget the Greatest Generation. The last of the World War II era people are dying and have died. We will only remember what is written in history. History belongs to the victors. Not many recall the atrocities done during that time...
Holocaust.
Concentration Camps.
Japanese Internment Camps.
Nuclear War.
The attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Millions killed...
In an article on the website Global Research, by Professor Michel Chossudovsky, "The Loss of Life, From World War I to World War III. What Would Happen if a Third World War Were to Break Out?" (https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-loss-of-life-from-world-war-i-to-world-war-iii-what-would-happen-if-a-third-world-war-were-to-break-out/5660266), we see the implications of what war can bring.
There is no profit.
No one should make money by killing people.
And yet these wars drag on... costing the US trillions of dollars. According to CNBC National Security Reporter Amanda Macias,
the US has spent $5.9 trillion dollars since 2001. (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/us-has-spent-5point9-trillion-on-middle-east-asia-wars-since-2001-study.html)
Those trillions of dollars could've been spent on social programs here in the US. We could've built housing for all our homeless in this country with money to spare. With homelessness costing the US billions of dollars, it's a problem that can easily be solved with the right direction of money.
If Trump really wanted to end homelessness, all he has to do is stop profiting from war. But he doesn't want to do that, does he? A lot of people are profiting off these wars and detention facilities.
The Globe Post cites people, mostly Republican and Republican lawmakers, who've made money off detention centers. (https://theglobepost.com/2019/08/19/profit-migrant-detention/) Dana Nickel wrote, "Who Profits From Migrant Detention in the US?" with startling details. She reported:
"Prominent Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), for example, received thousands of dollars from CoreCivic in 2018 alone". (https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00366468)
Many are looking to profit off the wars in the Middle East, which have no end in sight. The Military Times article, "Here’s the blueprint for Erik Prince’s $5 billion plan to privatize the Afghanistan war"
(https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/09/05/heres-the-blueprint-for-erik-princes-5-billion-plan-to-privatize-the-afghanistan-war/) by Tara Copp reports that Erik Prince, founder of the government services and security company Blackwater USA, is looking to privatize the Afghanistan war.
An excerpt regarding the operations of Blackwater in Afghanistan reads as follows,
"Blackwater quickly became a symbol of what government watchdogs said was out-of-control war spending." (ibid)
At the very least, one would call this plan a conflict of interest. But if you pay closer attention, it leads to a very corrupt and scary insertion of privatized military interest backed by a tyrant called Trump.
Erik Prince has close ties with Trump. Take a gander at the Mother Jones article by Nathalie Baptiste, "Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Finally Admits He Attended a Controversial Trump Tower Meeting". (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-finally-admits-he-attended-a-controversial-trump-tower-meeting/)
It's a secret web of lies with international espionage and treason. Plotting to influence or overthrow elections for US President? Check. Holding sway over possible future wars with Iran, plotted by Saudi Arabia? Check. It's enough to put someone on trial... too bad the government doesn't care. Erik Prince is currently backed by Chinese money, in the amount of $1 trillion dollars (Bloomberg.com -- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-10/blackwater-mercenary-prince-has-a-new-1-trillion-chinese-boss)
Why did I do all this digging you ask? To show that this so-called homeless problem is not really a homeless problem at all -- but rather a disgusting attempt by a corrupt tyrant to make more money off the unfortunate, all while ripping away the American people's rights.
I still can't understand how persecuting one group of people is supposed to give the rest of us more rights, jobs and money. It simply does not work out and makes no sense. We are not safer either. In no circumstance has putting women and children in these detention centers made us safer.
There is no proof that we are safer when we detain people at the border and kill them. Killing farmers, women and children in Afghanistan doesn't make us safer.
I refuse to believe that by having a military state, we as Americans and as people, will be safer.
History has shown us the truth.
Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties
https://thentheycame.org/
https://thentheycame.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/POETRY-Then-They-Came-for-Me.pdf
Then They Came For Me: Martin Niemöller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis
KPFA.org
https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-october-15-2018/
