Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
In many ways, today may be our most important national holiday. Why? Because we are recognizing an ongoing quest for justice and equal opportunity in our society.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, more than any other holiday, is a mirror we hold to ourselves. Do we like what we see?
Today we see injustice in the forms of too many "laws" or false "law" which fails real world tests of true justice for all. We see men doing what anyone would do to get by in this corrupt "economy" being killed on the street without representation or a trial by jury, over a few cigarettes (#ICantBreathe to take just one example), while elites, those shielded in so-called "super zip codes," get "bailed out" and "CEOs" get millions of $$$ in bonuses, "bonuses" which are often not actually paid by a "free market," but paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of hard-working people who are growing poorer.
We cannot allow systemic violence or injustice to continue. We must have a real economy which works for all, not a phony crony global Plantation posing as a "free market."
We have no other choice today but structural reform on these issues before it is too late. The poor who are systemically kept poor and the disenfranchised must have real representation before it is too late.
Without structural reform, we are looking at further civil unrest and eventual collapse. Many stick their heads in the sand and pretend "everything's OK." Many falsely believe America could never end up like other collapsed or war-torn societies. But the truth is we are no different from any other country & such disintegration and instability can happen here just like anywhere else.
Many people today are asking the question: If Martin Luther King Jr. and other folks in the civil rights movement, including children, who fought and died for justice, if these folks were alive today, then what would they think? What would they say about the current state of "America"?
In writing The STARLING Connection, which deals with massive constant State surveillance of the citizenry, I began to wonder what kind of chance for justice people will have in the future?
What if men like J. Edgar Hoover or George Wallace or "Bull" Conner had their hands on such a massive State surveillance apparatus as today's "America" has constructed? What if men like Hoover, Wallace or Conner could see everything citizens are doing, where they are organizing, who they are talking to, when they are planning to march, and so forth, as the capability for the State to watch the people and harness Big Data stands at this moment?
Would the Civil Rights Movement have happened or have been able to accomplish as much as it did under the constant surveillance of "god"-pretending Big Brother?
This is the Great Danger of constant State surveillance of the citizenry, a far larger and far more powerful Terror in and of itself than any which it purports to eliminate, a massive technological Goliath Terror which serves to hide the real problems and issues (thus making these issues more difficult to solve), enables greater corruption, systemic injustice and violence; all this, is precisely what I warn about in The STARLING Connection.
Continuing my 2015 kick-off, sharing #free excerpts of the first few chapters of The STARLING Connection here on theodorewebb.com, here are the final paragraphs of the first chapter, "Breaking Tradition." Enjoy & please share with friends!
Note: Comments are always welcome. Tell us what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to you?
Voice of 15-year-old Simon Laramie, the narrator of The STARLING Connection, speaking in the year 2045:
In many ways, today may be our most important national holiday. Why? Because we are recognizing an ongoing quest for justice and equal opportunity in our society.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, more than any other holiday, is a mirror we hold to ourselves. Do we like what we see?
Today we see injustice in the forms of too many "laws" or false "law" which fails real world tests of true justice for all. We see men doing what anyone would do to get by in this corrupt "economy" being killed on the street without representation or a trial by jury, over a few cigarettes (#ICantBreathe to take just one example), while elites, those shielded in so-called "super zip codes," get "bailed out" and "CEOs" get millions of $$$ in bonuses, "bonuses" which are often not actually paid by a "free market," but paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of hard-working people who are growing poorer.
We cannot allow systemic violence or injustice to continue. We must have a real economy which works for all, not a phony crony global Plantation posing as a "free market."
We have no other choice today but structural reform on these issues before it is too late. The poor who are systemically kept poor and the disenfranchised must have real representation before it is too late.
Without structural reform, we are looking at further civil unrest and eventual collapse. Many stick their heads in the sand and pretend "everything's OK." Many falsely believe America could never end up like other collapsed or war-torn societies. But the truth is we are no different from any other country & such disintegration and instability can happen here just like anywhere else.
Many people today are asking the question: If Martin Luther King Jr. and other folks in the civil rights movement, including children, who fought and died for justice, if these folks were alive today, then what would they think? What would they say about the current state of "America"?
In writing The STARLING Connection, which deals with massive constant State surveillance of the citizenry, I began to wonder what kind of chance for justice people will have in the future?
What if men like J. Edgar Hoover or George Wallace or "Bull" Conner had their hands on such a massive State surveillance apparatus as today's "America" has constructed? What if men like Hoover, Wallace or Conner could see everything citizens are doing, where they are organizing, who they are talking to, when they are planning to march, and so forth, as the capability for the State to watch the people and harness Big Data stands at this moment?
Would the Civil Rights Movement have happened or have been able to accomplish as much as it did under the constant surveillance of "god"-pretending Big Brother?
This is the Great Danger of constant State surveillance of the citizenry, a far larger and far more powerful Terror in and of itself than any which it purports to eliminate, a massive technological Goliath Terror which serves to hide the real problems and issues (thus making these issues more difficult to solve), enables greater corruption, systemic injustice and violence; all this, is precisely what I warn about in The STARLING Connection.
Continuing my 2015 kick-off, sharing #free excerpts of the first few chapters of The STARLING Connection here on theodorewebb.com, here are the final paragraphs of the first chapter, "Breaking Tradition." Enjoy & please share with friends!
Note: Comments are always welcome. Tell us what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to you?
Voice of 15-year-old Simon Laramie, the narrator of The STARLING Connection, speaking in the year 2045:
Want to know some other wild things The Drones can do besides shock waves? They can see straight through buildings, wood, brick, and metal. It doesn’t matter. They can see into people’s living rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms. They can see who you’re sleeping with, what you say to anybody, what you had for breakfast and when that breakfast leaves your body. They have really good facial recognition too, so they can always spot you and instantly match your face up to your National I.D. profile. They know who everybody is and what they’re doing.
If there’s somewhere PATRIOT SECURITY can’t see through, they can send in their “Baby Drones” just about anywhere. Baby Drones look just like insects, so you can’t really tell if it’s an insect or a Drone. When most people see any insect, a yellow jacket, wasp, even a fly or a mosquito, they get really nervous and stop talking; especially if they’re saying something they’re not supposed to. They don’t want anything “negative” showing up instantly on their National Identification (National I.D.) social media profiles on SUPERNET.
Yeah, I know. It’s all kind of crazy, right? You have to wonder how our parents and grandparents let it all get this way.
Would the Civil Rights Movement have happened if the "Bull" Conners of the world had the vast power of Constant State Surveillance?
Read The STARLING Connection.
Click pic to read first chapters FREE!
