Some words of my father:
1. Conventional wisdom is seldom wise
2. Segregation laws exist because whites are scared of us. If we were not qualified then there would be no need for these laws.
3. Victimhood is an excuse for failure.
4. I don’t care what you will become but I will be disappointed if you do not push yourself to be one of the best.
5. When I went to Georgia he said “Don’t look at their women. They lynch us for less.”
6. Envy is a wasted emotion. Envy no one. Make them envy you.
7. This one was from Mother on the civil rights anthem “We shall overcome.” “They don’t mind us overcoming so long as we don’t come over”.
8. Don’t let others discourage you and ignore those who try.
9. (From Mother after a fairly heated discussion). Me: Why did you have me? Mother: We didn’t know it was going to be you.
10. Focus on your objectives and shut out all the noise.
11. Find your limits and when you do to find someone who could help you push pass them.
12. Excuses are not accepted in this house. Just do better next time.
The market for EVs has tanked. The initial purchasers were mainly high end buyers who have another primary vehicle. They and others are virtue signalers who want to brandish their green creeds. However, EVs are gathering dust on dealer lots and car manufacturers are cutting back on production and the building of new plant and equipment. Almost all startups are struggling and three have filed for bankruptcy. The stock price for these companies is down 80 percent from their initial offering wiping out billions of dollars. I want to say “I told you so” but I won’t. The market has also rejected ESG investments with an estimated $1 trillion decline in market valuations. Thus, the market is currently rejecting the governments’ shoving EVs and “renewables” down our throats. The next step, of course, is for the governments to ban fossil fuels and all internal combustion engines – even though the science tells us that even this will have little impact on the climate. To date over $1 trillion has been wasted going green. It will be interesting to see when the public will revolt and vote the bums out. Look at Norway. The greenies there are trying to force cattle farmers to cull their herds to lessen methane in the atmosphere. Cow flatulence is the primary source of methane which is why at the COP28, the meat eating elites were urging all of us peons to cut down on our meat consumption. Norway is going to pay cattle farmers not to raise cattle much like we pay farmers not to grow certain crops. The reaction in Norway was to form a new party opposed to the greenies which has garnered seats in the parliament with the new center right coalition defeating the sitting left leaning government. Will we be far behind. One of the few positive things said by Trump is that he will roll back all the green nonsense of the Biden administration.
Isn’t it interesting that the media and those on the left see populism as a threat to democracy when the populist governments are democratically elected? They view what is happening in Europe, North and South America as a decline of democracy, multilateralism, and tolerance. They hate Hungary’s Orban as much as they hate Trump and say that country has moved from liberal democracy toward right-wing populist nationalism. Their reactions to elections in Argentina, Italy and Norway are similar. Contrast this to their paying fealty to Hamas which was democratically elected but turned into a totalitarian repressive regime. I think the ‘progressives” have forgotten that populism can be from the left as well as the right.
There is a poll on whites as oppressors that some profess shock over. It is a Harvard/Harris poll that asks “There is an ideology that white people are oppressors and nonwhite people and people of certain groups have been oppressed and as a result should be favored today at universities and for employment. Do you support or oppose this ideology? Seventy five percent of those over 55 disagreed. But 79 percent of those 18-24 agreed. A follow up question asked if Jews were oppressors. Ninety-one percent of those over 55 disagreed but two-thirds of those 18-24 agreed. I guess most respondents were white with the young stating that they, themselves, are oppressors. Naturally the right is pointing to the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the schools and all the rhetoric about “white privilege.” As one observer noted “success is possible, but only if one joins the system that critical race theorists believe oppresses people of color. Thus, if an oppressed individual achieves success, he or she becomes an oppressor, regardless of their identity.” Now I don’t know of any whites or Jews that are oppressing anyone. But certainly the Biden Administration is oppressing Trump and his supporters and the Israelis are oppressing the Palestinians on the West Bank. It is hard to find a government regardless of color that does not oppress. Governments in the Middle East (except Israel) oppress non-Muslims and Muslims of a different sect than the one in power, LBGQTs, and women. The Chinese oppress those that are not Hans who make up 92 percent of the population. Black African countries oppress whites, Indians and tribal groups not in power. Finland oppresses the Lapps, Russians, gypsies and Somalis. I am hard pressed to think of a government that is not oppressive.
I find it interesting that several commenters on my commencement address at the University of Georgia complimented me on talking about how we can confront racism and move toward better race relations. That was not my intention. I wanted to make two points. The first is that you can overcome adversity despite daunting odds and the second is that you are mired in mediocrity if you are intellectually lazy, Listen to the speech and see if you disagree. I start at minute 29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0JQvHqAaXM
haroldblackphd.com 