ClydeStyle

Category: Choice

  • What should America do with it’s minority population?

    Have you ever wondered why America didn’t just send African-Americans back to Africa after the signing of the emancipation proclamation?

    I know if I were a white guy saying this, it would look racist, but this is something I have always wondered because clearly, the majority of America did not want people of color here.

    There are so many disparities in America, from healthcare, criminal justice, housing, wealth, and such. Black men have been label so negatively that it would have made sense.

    After doing some research, I found that there were black organizations that wanted equality here because this is where slaves though they belonged after being abducted and separated from their homeland.

    So we stayed to be treated horribly with a few of us making it big.

    Many whites believe that Blacks should have risen up and created something big for themselves. They should have by now created whole communities to their benefit. History tells us they did, but can you guys what happened?

    Several race-driven massacres and instances of racial violence against African Americans have occurred in the U.S. history. Here is a list of some which happened in just the month of August:

    • August 1896: Polk County Massacre White workers in Arkansas attacked Black workers who were coming to work on the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railway. This attack resulted in the deaths of three African Americans and eight wounded.
    • August 14-16, 1908: Springfield Massacre (Springfield Race Riot of 1908) A mob of approximately 5,000 white individuals launched an attack on African Americans in Springfield, Illinois. The massacre resulted in six Black individuals being shot and killed, two lynched, and about two thousand driven out of the city. This event was one of the catalysts for the formation of the NAACP.
    • August 11, 1965: Watts Riots Beginning on August 11, 1965, and lasting for six days, a series of violent confrontations erupted between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other predominantly African American neighborhoods of South-Central Los Angeles. The Watts riots resulted in the deaths of 34 people and more than 1,000 injuries.
    • August 30, 1919: The Knoxville Riot This event involved a white mob attacking the Black community in Knoxville, Tennessee.
    • August 1947: Fernwood Park Race Riot This riot occurred in Chicago in mid-August. 

    Literally, whole communities were created by black folks and destroyed by white folks. Tulsa, or Black Wallstreet, is the most notable circumstance, but Willmingotn, NC and Rosewood, FL were equal devastating.

    During reconstructioning this happened all the time. So, you don’t want us to make it on our own, and you don’t want to send us back. What is left?

    Now, ICE is being used to eliminate brown people. Maybe America should be honest about what she really wants.

  • Living with a disability

    Although it is not talked about much, July is Disability Pride Month, and specifically, July 26th celebrates the signing of the American Disabilities Act (ADA).

    In America, we don’t do a good enough job taking care of this population. Similarly, we don’t take care of seniors either. Like everything else, money and status matter so that despite how rich of a cou try this is, we fail to take care of our most vulnerable.

    It is not even on the radar for most people. If you don’t have a disability or you’re not helping to take care of a person with disabilities, their care would not be on your mind.

    Five years ago, I was stricken with a bacterial infection that eventually made me a bilateral below-knee amputee and killed my kidneys. I am also on dialysis. Medicaid has been a blessing to me as I am taking 17 pills per day, and the prescription bill alone would be hard to afford.

    As long as I stay in the network, my health expenses are covered. But let’s talk about the coverage. I wear prosthetics and  ,  like everything else, if you have money, you will be up and walking close to normal. If you are poor, it’s an entirely different story.

    I have the lowest form of prosthetics available outside of a pirate’s peg leg. It takes me nearly 500 percent more energy to take a step than a healthy person. More advanced prosthetics could get me closer to 50 percent if I had the money.

    Because of this, many people, in my case, don’t even attempt to walk because of this. Imagine not having legs and trying to get around and do things. Even with assistance, it is difficult.

    Technology should make life easier for everybody. We decide to always bring cost into it. So what then is the benefit of being in the richest country?

    Shout out to all the caregivers who donate time and energy to help the disabled. We will pray together for things to get better.

  • Advantage: Profit and the people lose again

    Who doesn’t enjoy a good burger with fries and a cold drink? I mean, we are in the middle of summer, and there are so many places to get a burger.

    McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Culver’s, Checkers, Sonic, and Hardee’s can all give you the typical burger, fries, and drink combo. But at what cost?

    When we eat these foods, it is rare that we consider the residual effects of this choice. If we did consider it, we would not eat it. I wish all we had to worry about was the calories. A typical combo meal from any of the restaurants named would be over 1,000 calories — easily. And if we brought in carbs, fats, and sodium, you could have a heart attack just thinking about it.

    The larger chain restaurants are even worse. Chili’s, Applebee’s, Cheddars, and even Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Outback are far worse than the fast food joints.

    The reason? They are in business to make money by any means necessary, and if that means over time, millions will suffer from degenerative diseases related to obesity — oh well!

    These restaurants are giving customers what they want. For most of us, if you put a plant-based burger with lentils, beans, and mushrooms as its base next to a quarter pound beef burger seasoned well, the choice (based on taste) would be the beef burger.

    Further, if you tell us the consequences of eating both, most folks won’t care. They will make statements like, “Well, we all gotta die of something.”

    By this same logic, why would anyone save money, buy stocks, have a 401k, or invest anything in the future? Our eating decisions will ensure we won’t be around to enjoy it.

    It is hard to blame the restaurants for making a buck, and they have the nutritional information available for everyone to see.

    In the US, there are 119.9 million people with high blood pressure and 38.4 million diabetics. Heart disease is still the number one killer in America, and 40 percent of all citizens are obese which is about 100 million. The lion’s share of this is based on what we eat. You could work out for five days and literally undo your progress over the weekend by eating at the restaurants listed.

    The Food and Drug Administration could do something about this. It controls the ingredients used. They won’t because too much money is spent treating our sickness, and too many lobbyists have dispersed checks for their silence.

    YOU have to make YOU better, or the advantage will stay with profit.

  • Scariest phrase: The past is of no consequence

    Do you ever think what it would be like to live without consequences? I mean, of course, there are always consequences, but we have a history of weighing the consequences and making the decision based on what we can handle or how much we have to pay.

    Former heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson, loved cars and loved to drive fast. One time, on a back road, he is caught speeding by an officer. The officer charged him $25 for the speeding ticket, which was huge back then. Johnson gave the officer $50, and the officer said he did not have change. Johnson said it was ok because he has to drive back this way.

    Clearly, he weighed the consequences and accepted his fate, which led him to pay in advance.

    Everyone seems to do that with concrete things, but what about abstract?

    If I say something to hurt my wife’s feelings and I can tell that I did based on her actions, I could just apologize, or I can simply trust that she will get over it and move on.

    If my 5 year old grandbaby gets caught playing with the electrical outlet and I slap her hands and yell at her until she cries, I could feel justified in what I did because she could have seriously gotten hurt. But I see that my actions were more than just disciplinary in nature, as her ego is bruised. Do I attempt to recover her or stand as the authority?

    What if I’m the boss over 40 employees at work and I create a hostile work environment? Or, I create racial tensions by paying my white employees 37 percent more than minorities? What if I decide to make all my supervisors white? What if I never lay off anyone white? Or how about I just treat everyone badly because I can? What if I allow my bias to lead me? What if I am demeaning to women in the workplace?

    The past has no consequences, which is one of the greatest lies ever told. Offenders must recompense their victims. But before that happens, there has to be an acknowledgment of the wrongdoing. You can’t curse your wife, and then the next time you see her, you just start talking sweet to her without acknowledging your past mistakes.

    When we don’t acknowledge our wrongdoing, we lower the victims self-esteem. God takes that personal.

    Let me be clear: There are always consequences! Whether you get them immediately or later, now or in the future, today or in the afterlife, consequences are coming! Make amends today before it’s too late.

  • America struggles with its plurality of morals

    We are halfway through 2025, and as we slide into summer, there will be more daylight and  more opportunities to interact with others.

    This used to be considered a good thing because it would strengthen our community ties and further develop our societal  norms. As a country, we need this more now than any other time because we are completely divided in our morals and values.

    There are several factors in developing our morality. How you were raised by your parents, peer interaction, role models, and the media help to sync our morality.

    Years ago, parents disciplined their children. Spare the rod, spoil the child was the biblical saying that made discipline important. The standard in America was to work hard for what you want. We saw our parents do it and we took our turn as we became adults.

    I was fortunate to have 4 siblings at home, and I had an older brother who went to college, and I followed his steps. I may not have gone to college if he didn’t go.

    I grew up with role models or heroes that I tried to imitate. There was a clear difference between good and evil, and the majority of the kids wanted to be the good guys!

    Then, of course, there is the media and social media where you can see and hear literally anything. The media has helped to desensitize us and blur the lines between good and evil. When Luigi Magione was arrested for allegedly shooting an insurance agency CEO in the back on a New York City Street, he was praised by many and seen as a hero. Forty years ago, there would have been gun protests, ridicule of his family, and no one in the 80s would have celebrated this shooter.

    So here is the point, in years past, people were just as selfish, greedy, corrupt, and immoral as they are today. But inside of us was a governor that would make us ashamed to be associated with such filth. Today, we can openly present opposing views to our societal norms, and it’s just OK.

    There is now a new definition of what it means to be free in America. We are now free to act a damn fool without shame, be racist, a pedophile, a junkie, or a drunk and my favorite — we can be as ignorant as we want to and that’s just fine.

    At this rate, the destruction of America is not an “if”, it’s “when.”

  • Make America great? HDI is the right place to start

    For centuries, America has boasted about the great lifestyle its people share and how democracy is the best form of government.

    We brag about capitalism and all the opportunities that are available for those who work hard. The advertising we show to the world does not tell the true American story.

    We say nothing of crime, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and the ever-present wealth gap. We don’t discuss our troubled history that still plagues us today. Our poverty, poor education, and limited affordability for healthcare have the majority of America struggling. One percent of America has more money and resources than 99 percent of America.

    America always had a problem with the “haves” and “have nots,” and the “haves” like it this way. Consistently, rich politicians appear on news shows expressing what’s important to most Americans or pretending to know what Americans want. What we really want is easy.

    The Human Development Index (HDI), which was created in 1990 by a committee in the United Nation’s, was created to statistically measure and rate a country’s excellence in three main areas: life expectancy, education and per capita income.

    You would think that a country so rich in wealth and opportunity would lead the free world in this index. You would think that we would want to boast about the advantages available for our citizens and how well we all flourish. It should be expected that America rate in the top 5 of these great countries.

    Well, here are the top 15 countries: Switzerland (1), Norway (2), Iceland (3), Hong Kong (4), Denmark, and Sweden (5), Ireland, and Germany (7), Singapore (9), Netherlands, and Australia (10), Liechtenstein, Belgium, and Finland (12), and the United Kingdom (15).

    These United States are tied for 20 with Luxembourg, which means that there are roughly 19 countries that have better opportunities in wealth, health, and lifestyle than we do.

    We need to let politicians know that the type of America we want is one that stays in the top 10 on this index. We want opportunities for everyone who works hard. There is no reason that education and healthcare can’t be free, and in this country, we should have already wiped out homelessness.

    Crime is lowered by opportunities to learn and earn. Imagine that there are countries that never have mass shootings. Greed is killing us, my friend. The rich only care about getting richer, and democracy is not working for us. It is almost impossible to get the masses to vote a certain way, and both political parties have been detrimental to the majority of America.

    We need a better way, and it starts with making the top 5 of the HDI.

  • Raise your hand if you voted for this?

    I love history! I love history because it allows me to stand in the present, take a factual look at the past, and in some cases, see exactly what the future will look like.

    This past and future vision has a caveat, which is whether or not we learned from and  acknowledged our mistakes. This is great given the fact that America never learns from it’s past and it never acknowledges it’s mistakes.

    We are now about four months into the second Trump presidency, and we have seen a calamity of executive orders that have harmed millions of people. From foreign aid funding being sliced and essentially killing humanitarian efforts across the world to thousands of layoffs of federal workers to the destruction of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to cuts in federally funded research programs at various universities across the country, all in an effort to somehow make America great again?

    Those against Trump’s plans seem to be waiting on others to step up and defend the American way. These “others” I speak of are those in the Republican party. Democrats are hoping for Republicans to have a conscious and stop Trump from destroying our country as we know it. They can not defend what he’s doing, and they are avoiding meetings with their constituents, believing the carnage will end soon.

    Funding for school programs that level the playing field and assist those who are struggling have been cut. Healthcare initiatives like vaccines for hepatitis B and the flu shot were sliced, and the mass deportation efforts have disrupted kids in school, workers for farms and other industries where migrant workers are now afraid to leave their homes for fear of deportation.

    The worst part of all of this is the fact that most American people are delusional about the Trump administration. It seems that those who believe it’s pure evil and those who think it’s the greatest are both wrong.

    As usual, the American government is repeating past mistakes. We are looking at fellow Americans being hurt by all these cuts with no regard to their well-being. We are waiting migrant workers living in fear every day of their worst nightmare coming true. We are seeing people’s lives devastated by Trump’s actions, and we don’t say much against it because it doesn’t affect us. After all, I’m not a federal or migrant worker. I have no use for social programs or welfare or DEI, and I don’t own a farm. There are still a lot of Americans that can make this claim, but for how long?

  • Save your panic for later; You may not even need it

    Two major things are happening today: Donald J. Trump is going to be sworn in as the 47th President of these United States of America, and there is also a national observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., birthday.

    Some are devastated because they were looking forward to celebrating the King holiday with the inauguration of the first female president in Kamala Harris. Social media was in such a buzz before the November election that these events may collide. Well, that didn’t happen.

    And no matter how much of the MAGA Trump world was exposed, Democrats thought that Americans would move away from Trump. They, the Dems, used their usual scare tactics to get us to vote for them. If Democrats had a better plan for America, then why did they spend so much time telling us how bad Trump was.

    This may be a shock to you, but a vote for Trump was America’s way of lashing out at the status quo. The same way that minorities loot when an unarmed Black man is gunned down or shot by police. Both actions serve as the voice of the unheard.

    Most Americans have real problems, and I’m not talking about the homeless and jobless. I’m talking about folks who did not advance their education or just went the blue-collar way. They didn’t get any of those good union jobs, and most of the time, they have to work two and three jobs to make ends meet.

    They can’t afford to get sick, can’t afford not to go to work, and if they have a mental health breakdown, they better get over it because they can’t afford that either.

    This is why so many celebrated the killing of the insurance CEO in NY. For the poor in America, there is always a battle. A battle with health challenges, taxes, even utility bills, and groceries. Gasoline, kid expenses, and rent. There is never a break from this. Our politicians, on both sides of aisle, are too rich to know these problems, and to be honest, they don’t care. Dems were supposed to be the party of the people, but why were the people looking elsewhere?

    Let’s get some facts straight about Trump. He didn’t destroy America nor cause a war or break anything in the White House like folks said he would the first time. He is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is, but he is definitely not the worst president America has had — he’s not even in the top 10!

    The majority of our president’s have been self-serving at some point in their administration. Some just hide it better than others. The American dream has never existed for all Americans, so with every president, some Americans are going to be marginalized.

    I would imagine Trump will do what he did the last time. He will give a great tax cut for all his billionaire friends, and he’ll try to shake up things a bit in Washington, but that’s it. America will go into great debt like they did after the terms of the last four Republican presidents. Bottomline is you will survive this, especially if you are poor — Trump promises to leave you poor when he’s done. Just like Biden did.

  • With all that’s going on in the world, how can I not come back?

    Hello friends,

    I have been on a bit of a hiatus as I needed to give all my attention to writing. I have published a few spiritual books that are all available on Amazon. I will post what I have.

    But now, I’m going to start blogging again, and this time, new posts will come out on Mondays. I will talk about a variety of subjects, including morality issues, politics, spiritual guidance, psychotherapy, and health.

    I eventually want to share some personal information to inform those who are interested. I have had health challenges since 2020.

    But there is so much going on in the world that I can not afford to remain silent. How did the Democrats lose the election? How did Donald Trump escape prison? Now that artificial intelligence is here, what does that mean? Has America lost its morality? Are the insurance companies a problem? Has the FDA really been looking out for America? Do we need the IRS? These are just a few of the questions that need answers.

    So, now that it is 2025 and delusion seems to be affecting everyone, let me speak into your consciousness and give you some sobering words to get you to process reality.

    I hope you will stick with me! Thank you so much for your support and pray for me as I continue to use this platform to inform.

    Blessings,

    Clyde

  • Immigration isn’t everybody’s issue

    If you looked up, fear mongering in the dictionary, you would see a picture of old Uncle Sam because America’s preferred use of getting a reaction from its citizens is always fear. Politicians and talking heads often want to inform the general public what they are afraid of, and lately immigration is high on the list.

    It seems that the “powers that be” like to use the “magic” approach to politics. They like to distract you with the right hand while stealing from you with the left. Today, that right hand wants us to be concerned about border security. Why?

    We are told that migrant crime is high. It is not. We are told that they will take all of the good jobs. False. Mexico is dumping its prisoners on us. There are far more women and children coming over.

    There are always going to be poverty crimes because you have poor people. So, it makes sense that poor migrants will commit petty crimes at times. The jobs that they work are definitely jobs that Americans would not take. You can tell that our government doesn’t really want to fix this problem based on the amount of help wanted signs at the border. You could leave Mexico on the right day at the right time and have a job in the US within 48 hours.

    But why is this such a big issue or better, what are we avoiding by spending the time talking about this? Well, nothing has been done about the criminal justice system. We still have people in prison for cannabis in places where it is now legal. Nothing has been done about voter suppression. There have been attempts to dump student loan debt, but nothing concrete. And let’s not even begin the conversation on reparations.

    The more we talk about immigration, the less we spend on issues that really matter. If Congress was paid based on the work they completed, our Congress would go broke.

    We must not let what matters to us die on someone’s desk in Washington. We need to make a statement with our voting and even seek even greater ways to get our positions heard.