Jamila Akil
- 2552 comments
- 1676 likes given
- 7205 likes received
Bio not provided
Jamila is a moderator of:
I just wanted to let you all know that I will not be making any more comments on this thread. I've "stirred the pot" quite enough and, because I'm a moderator, I think it would only be appropriate for you, the commentators, to get the last word in. I'm not ignoring your or your comments, I just don't want to distract you all from discussing whatever you like pertaining to Obama and his speech. So, keep having at it!
"100 million dead because of socialism as the "wrong" people being in charge"
Do you put these on posters and sell them? You really should.
" I didn't pick up a slogan,..."
Sure you did. You just don't know it, like you clearly don't know a lot of things.
" The cost-of-living is incredibly high in Sweden..."
That's because it requires money to pay for services. Duh!!!!
"If your idea of prosperity is having your neighbors take care of your responsibilities..."
I'm so tired of people repeating these slogans that they picked up from somewhere
"and are OK with limited mobility and being unable to live and dream freely,.."
Oh yes, I forgot that in Sweden they practice mindcontrol by placing special equipment on your head every night so that when you go to bed the government can stop you from having unauthorized dreams. Silly me.
Everyone also has invisible shackles on their legs to limit their mobility. Kinda like those dog collars that shock dogs if they get too close to a border. I forgot about the shackles, silly me again!!!
"To say that Barack Obama doesn't understand institutional racism.."
Who said that?
To paraphrase Kanye West, 'President Barack Obama doesn't care about black people."
The Obama's are smart. They've played the game long enough to reach the highest position in the land, so they know that talking too much black stuff would have never allowed them to get to where they are.
I'm pretty tired of the Obama's dog whistle speeches.
If only you had read it before posting it...
Just for starters, the piece you linked to was roughly written a decade ago and is citing information anywhere in age from a decade ago to up to 80 or 90 years ago.
AS OF 2012-2013
According to the UN human development index, Norway is #1, Sweden is #7, and the US is #3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
Life expectancy in MS- 75 years
Life expectancy in Sweden-82 years
Life expectancy for US black-71 years
And, having traveled through MS I can speak from experience and say that there is A LOT of poverty there.
US blacks do not have a higher overall standard of living than the average US citizen, let alone the average Swede.
When I first heard about this story my first thought was: "Why don't you ever hear about white women with brown kids being stopped and asked to prove if their children are really their children?" I only ever hear about this happening to white men with brown kids, never even with white men and Asian children (although plenty of white families have adopted Asian children).
"No offense to Scandinavian countries, but what do these tiny, non-diverse countries produce?"
Um, they produce ALOT of things. Did you think they got rich based on producing good vibrations?
RE: Sweden
"The economy of Sweden is a developed export-oriented diverse economy aided by timber, hydropower and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade. The main industries include motor vehicles, telecommunications,pharmaceuticals, industrial machines, precision equipment, chemical goods, home goods and appliances, forestry, iron and steel. Traditionally, a modernized agricultural economy that used to be employing over half of the domestic workforce, today, Sweden further develops engineering, mine, steel and pulp industries that are competitive internationally such as the companies of LM Ericsson, ASEA/ABB, SKF, Alfa Laval, Aga and Dyno Nobel."
" Do you really think that they can compete with us? Do they offer the level of freedom and innovation that we do? How much technology have they given the world? How much art? Invention? Innovation? "
CLEARLY you know nothing about these countries.
"Local, state and federal taxes have increased to a point that many couples cannot afford just one breadwinner (couple that with our extravagant lifestyles).."
Our so-called extravagant lifestyle and taxation have virtually nothing to do with it. The Scandinavian countries have a higher standard of living, less inequality, and also pay higher tax rates.
I already told you what the problem is: real wages in America have decreased and an increasing portion of our national wealth and productivity is going to a smaller and smaller proportion of Americans.
Here's the problem I have with Obama's speech: Yes, there is a lot of truth to what he is saying, but he ignores the larger issues that are holding back many American's, not just millions of black ones.
So, you know, instead of fixing the structural inequities that make is so hard for millions of Americans to bootstrap their way to the top, Obama places all of the blame for your failure if you fail to make it squarely at your own feet.
From an Atlantic article:
"As [Stephanie] Coontz argues, during the post-war period it was possible for a husband (it was virtually always a husband) to make enough money to support a wife and family in a middle-class lifestyle....Inflation and then globalization have made the one-earner middle-class family an impossibility—and that, in turn, has meant that women, married and unmarried, have had to enter the workforce in large numbers.
...
Coontz points out that while purchasing power of average Americans doubled between 1947 and 1973, real wages between 1973 and the late 1980s fell by 27 percent, comparable to the decline during the Great Depression."
But according to Obama, the fact real wages have fallen and inequality has increased--thus making it harder than ever to bootstrap your way ANYWHERE--isn't the problem. The REAL problem is that you are lazy.
According to Obama, the fact that the US does not have a better daycare system or paid maternity leave for mothers is not the problem. No, the problem is that you are lazy.
The problem is not that higher education is almost virtually free at the point of access in many other nations with the highest standard of living (and, in case people have forgotten, the University of California system used to free, ages ago)--nope, you just need to work harder, and if attending school full-time while working full-time is a problem for you then that just means you're lazy.
In other words, Obama lets the Democrats and the Republicans who run this country off the hook--it's not their fault that the infrastructure of America is broken, or that most of the gains from wealth and productivity over the last 40 years have gone to an increasingly small proportion of America--NOPE!! Teh problem is that you are lazy.
I didn't read the article but I already know what she is saying and I've known it for quite some time, which is part of why I would tell any young, talented, ambitious black teen to avoid attending an HBCU unless they are attending Morehouse, Spelman, or one of the few other elite black schools. College is a time to tap into social networks and to form strong and weak ties that will be useful in helping you get a job and/or get venture capital to start your own business later. The vast majority of black's simply do not have the kind of social or financial capital that will we extremely useful for the ambitious black person later on down the line.
"Comparing China and India to the U.S. is a joke!"
That comparison is a bit off-center. There are plenty of poor people in those countries that are suffering and unable to bootstrap themselves up, just like the lower class is suffering here in the US.
"In fact, 54 percent in the survey said they failed to hire anyone in the last two years because of a weak resume, regardless of having a good interview."
Translation: We want people with actual work experience or plenty of experience gained from internships.
"For a gorgeous girl he met at a Tennessee bar. They met in December and today he asked her to marry him,..."
I am sooo NOT surprised! Congrats to the couple. I remember talking to him on his blog about MY desire to get married quickly after meeting someone, and he was like "Oh no, don't move too fast, blah, blah, blah" but from the way he was writing about this woman he had just met, I knew he was really a romantic at heart, the type of guy to propose after only a short time frame. AND I WAS RIGHT ABOUT HIM!!!! Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like this just confirms that I am becoming a better judge of character and getting better at quickly assessing people.
"I think he just has "a soft spot in his heart'" for larger, more athletic young men. I could be wrong; probably not....."
LMAO, I think you're right.
The following was highlighted in the above piece:
"Washington has been on the covers of Essence, Ebony and Women’s Health, which is great. But these are not the mainstream glossies that really confirm a celebrity has arrived. Washington was on a version of Elle’s Women in Hollywood issue, but as with Octavia Spencer, Washington’s cover was not on newsstands. Sarah Jessica Parker was awarded that honor."