This has been a horrible year in the United States. The cold-blooded killing of George Floyd shows us that racism needs to stop. It needs to stop now. This country was founded on the backs of slavery; this was wrong. We can’t go back in time and change that, but we must do something about the prejudice that still resides in too many hearts and souls. If nothing works, we need to see that they don't take the law into their own hands and strike out against the people they hate. I’m a pessimist at heart and I believe it is an impossible task to change the beliefs of those holding extreme prejudice against Black People. However, I don’t believe that the children of these people will necessarily hold the views of their parents. It doesn't have to be. My parents were racists, drunks, and more. I’m none of those. It’s up to every person, no matter their age, to get the facts from the many valid sources surrounding them. It is my responsibility as a writer to write about this, and so I will. I'm a horror author. Racism is real-life horror. My novels and short stories will show it for what it is.
Too often we try to distort what we did to the Native Americans. We who are not Native Americans came here and stole their land. That was wrong. We resorted to genocide to get rid of them. Every tribe in this country has had evil foisted upon them. We need to make things right. It won’t be easy, but we need to do it. What about the horrid pipelines going through their land? Eminent domain be damned. We took their land away, gave them, in many instances, land which isn't suited for a lot as it is, and then we expect them to live in fear of having the pipelines fracture, exposing them to pollution, and any number of health hazards. All so the white man can get rich at their expense. Again.
We also need to remember that a huge chunk of American land was owned by Mexico. Some land was supposedly sold, deeded to us, etc. But we also waged wars over this. Remember the Alamo? Yes. That land did not belong to the United States. Mexico owned it. Latino people deserve respect. They're human beings the same as every other human is. I have many Latino friends. They're hard working people.
I could go on and on about how we screwed the Chinese out of land and made them virtual slaves to work on the railroads. I will do some stirring of the pot to bring some little known facts to your attention. It is my responsibility as a writer. And now, because of Covid being blamed on China, many United States citizens of Chinese descent are viewed as being part of a conspiracy to spread this contagion. We did the same thing to American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II when we interred them. Did we inter the Germans and Italians? No. Of course not. They are white. Fair? No, I don't think so.
Politics has become a big joke: from the politicians to us. Both parties hold out their hands to the big interest boys and slap cash in their pockets. Screw the voters. We don’t count. This was an important election year not only for the presidency, but for the House, and Senate. Many local and state offices were up for grabs. Every election for every office is important. My stories will present views that people of both major parties don’t agree with. I don’t care. I will let them be known.
Another case is the Keystone fiasco. Foreign interests and the Koch’s will make the money. And they want to ship out the worst oil on the planet. Think of the environmental impact. You better, because big business and the politicians don’t. And if you own a ranch or farm in the path of all this, eminent domain will allow these destructive bastards to simply take the land they need. Cool, huh? I mentioned this above when I mentioned what this was doing to Native Americans. Many people looked the other way, thinking it wouldn't affect them. Guess what? Greed attacks everyone.
Big oil doesn’t stop there. Fracking is spreading everywhere. It sucks. It destroys the infrastructure, pollutes the water, causes earthquakes, and more. If you don’t want you and your children to get ill because of this lesson in stupidity, get the facts. Pennsylvania knows all about the downside. This and much more will be coming in my Living Green series.
And for those of you who like to eat, Monsanto is preparing yummy food that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot stick. Big Business working hand in hand with Big Government again. Both parties. It doesn’t matter. Another delightful thought is the use of insecticides killing bees and more. We need bees, people. They die; you starve. Some of these insecticides have the same chemical base as what was in Agent Orange. That’s right, the same stuff that gave Vietnam Veterans cancer galore.
Another thing I don't agree with is that we need to back the police. We need to back the good police officers. Not the bad. Look around you. We live in a police state. If you're Black, Native American, Asian, Latino, or any other minority group, you most likely have some fear if the police pull your car over, or if it happens on a street as you're simply walking. That fear is well justified. The law needs to apply to everyone. Including the cops. Especially them. They're in a job to maintain law and order. If the job is too much for them to handle, they can always leave.
The talk about mental health comes up a lot when we talk about criminals and why they do what they do. Some felons go to mental hospitals instead of prisons. Sometimes they're released. The doctors say they're cured. A great many of them return to doing the same things they were put in the hospitals for. What does this tell me? Maybe, just maybe, the mental health folks don't have all the answers. What do I know about this? I've had family members and people I know who have attempted suicide or even succeeded at it. Almost all these people were seen by psychologists and psychiatrists and given a clean bill of health. In the case of one young man who did kill himself, he was told twice that everything was fine. They told family members and school officials the same thing. As far as I'm concerned, they were accomplices to murder. What we need are much higher standards of schooling and training for this medical field.
I’ll stop here. I could go on and on about all of this, but I will take pen to hand or fingers to keyboard and let my tales of real-life horror flash across your computer screen. No one will be a sacred cow as far as I’m concerned. My readers are smart. They will figure it out.
I am pissed off. It is time to take off the gloves. Right is right and wrong is wrong. My stories are about to get darker. Much darker. I will deal with whatever issues attack my gray matter the way I know best: using my story people to handle the evil running around on this spinning rock of ours from deep within my soul. My system. It works for me. It is my responsibility as a writer.
Blaze McRob
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