“If you can’t be on time, be early.” This and many other fine sayings have come to define the apex of my time in the U.S. Navy. The critical mass of the thoroughly-misspent, latter portion of the business-end of my twenties (I enlisted for five years at the age of twenty-six) was well-intentioned but would come full circle, running the wide gamut of emotions. From a tear streaming down my face during the American national anthem to coming within seventy-two hours (yes, three days) of the end of my term of enlistment of being subjected to a Class A, DoD-sanctioned [expletive deleted]-fest, there rest two things that are entirely clear tonight looking back.
While I still sit afar from any eventual hope of having my novel on the period published, I am able to honestly say, unequivocally, that I do not regret the course I took. I’m glad that I joined as a 26-year-old because the tremendous civilian work history (in terms of overall amount, not grandeur) prepared me well for wrestling with the big, flabby arm of the bureaucratic nightmare that engulfs my first duty station (Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, greater D.C. area) to this very day. Later, my age would also be deemed apropos as an enlisted leader at my duty station as a corpsman with two platoons (during separate periods) of US Marine Corps infantry and, to close it out, an admin [expletive deleted] for a well-intentioned lot of ne’er-do-wells. Again, I have no regrets save for some of the people I lived with at varying times but, as I hope none of you finds out, the military has funny ways of limiting your choices on…everything. Even if you’re in charge, somebody with the great big, blue [expletive deleted] of the Navy or the mean, green weenie of the Marines is waiting to remind you of the measured depth to which you can be [expletive deleted]. Sometimes, inexplicably, that’s the sole, entire purpose of whatever exercise. Rinse, repeat, enjoy!
The more things change…the more they [expletive deleted] change. I’m far too painfully aware of the merciless degree with which this [expletive deleted] charade known in erstwhile noble circles as “life” can wield its limitless power. Limitless, that is, until the entire, lifelong crash-course1 is sent careening from a conveniently-placed, random cliff’s-edge2 and the farce is dually-noted, dually-observed, twice-removed, full-circle-over-and-done.
With that, it has been brought to my attention3 that there’s been too much discussion here towards the end of the tragic manner in which some come to feed maggots, and thusly am hereby directed to direct you here; enjoy the malefic conclusion to a podcast, this one, is too [expletive deleted] long.
1 Resent it all you like but it changes nothing in regard to the brutal severity of the fact that how long you live is irrelevant. If at any point you feel you’ve got a handle on it, be on the pensive lookout for a life-ending falling object, otherwise known as “Falling Piano Syndrome.” I would describe how this came out its name but the nomenclature was lost when the sole proprietor of its legacy was unable to complete this seminal work due to having been killed by…something.
2 I’ve seen the sort of demise that will make your skull filled to its rational brim with all manner of the noir, thoughts such as: “Oh, come on! I’ve seen less randomly-placed traps in cheap-ass video games!” For instance: the noblest and rarest of corpsman games, commonly known as “See Which Corpsman Can Go Down Three Flights of Stairs in a Wheelchair the Fastest”…granted, if one dies during the game the player is automatically disqualified which, even for a guy who admires Richard Nixon, I find cold and heartless.
3 You see, I know the weenies who need to be weaned annnnnd….
“If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don’t mind being completely insane.” – Kate Winslet
There’s a fundamental breakdown that, for whatever the reason may be, is completely disregarded by many modern Americans. While there are so many behaviors that can be clarified on a psychological standpoint, this one isn’t presenting itself quite as easily as some other predominate issues. Fifty years ago, mental health wasn’t a recognized issue. There was no reasoning or justification for people suffering with such, only that they were traditionally characterized as a bad person. We come from a civilization that, 50-100 years ago, men would institutionalize their so-called weaker parts for some of the most mundane reasons; superstition, novel reading, tobacco use, masturbation, etc. Thank God that doesn’t happen anymore, right?
Consequently, the ship turned, starting on the daybreak of the 21st century, to a focus on mental health. We have the Boomer generation that started to classify themselves as damaged and recognized there was a problem. The Boomers came from parents who were the product of the Great Depression and World War 2 which, from the psychological viewpoint, we can take a look at the time and infer that while they were traveling into adulthood, the focus was more on a Country as opposed to the needs of an individual. This outlook coupled with extreme PTSD from the lack of basic needs and war time elements brought to life the behaviors of “sweeping it under the rug.” We then had the Boomers raise the generation coming into adulthood now who are focused on mental health. “Focused.” At least mental health matters when it fits and supports an agenda. Before we go further, I am not and will not relate politics to mental health. In this context, they are in no way or form related. There are snowflakes everywhere people; stay woke.
I will be the first person to say that I absolutely love the fact people are more focused on mental health. I truly do not know how I would react in a culture that didn’t and there still are countries where that is not highly recognized. For anyone that has/does suffer with anything in the mental health category, it’s an extremely comforting to know there is some safe space and people that do understand its real and it’s not going away. Adhering to this train of thought, there is a big difference between needing a safe space because you are trying to work through an issue and because you refuse to admit that it’s ok for people to disagree with you. They are not the same thing and never will be.
Let’s talk about this disparity. In the grand scheme of things, we are not special, our feelings only matter to ourselves, and if we don’t do something, America is going to be governed by a bunch of oversensitive, ill-informed, entitled children; this doesn’t sound very promising to me. However, I’ve been wrong before.
“If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up.” – Hunter S. Thompson
If you made it thus far, you’re thinking, “What’s the point here Brittany? What are you getting at?” When is the last time that you have seen a peaceful protest? When is the last time you have seen multiple groups of the modern Americans that differ on views come together and either achieve the agenda or at least agreed to disagree, and didn’t end up looking like a bunch of snotty nosed, bratty children fighting over the last cookie? It’s cool, I’ll wait. When did we lose the social capability to have the basic respect for other people regardless of political stance, race, economic status or literally any other way you want to group people? When did we have to start grouping people anyway and then treating them differently just because of such? When did we forget that the Constitution protects freedom of speech? PSA, the Constitution also protects ideals we may not agree with.
Looking at current events, we have a group of people aware of mental health but refuse to accept that people differ in their views and when that difference does come about, we then choose verbally and/or physically attack those that do not agree. For what? We are mentally aware enough to know that abuse in any form causes trauma, trauma then has the potential to create mental health issues, however, in that same sentence we will condemn any person to just that, solely because they do not agree with our ideals. Anyone else confused?
The late, great Dr. Seuss wrote, “A person is a person, no matter how small.” How and when did we forget this? How do we now have people that have been friends for years removing each other from their lives just because of who they voted for during the last election? How do we say we care about each other in such a primal way as mental health and with the same tongue cause the trauma we were still healing from? Most importantly, why? Why are we so stuck on being right as opposed to just agree to disagree?
DeViney, J. (ModState): Hello, Mr. Alford, and I want to thank you again here at the outset for taking the time to talk with your friends here at ModState. The work you’ve done to date with Is It Just Us (and beyond) is as solid as it is diverse.
Alford, C. (Is It Just Us): Greetings [to] ModState. I thank you for your kind words. It is good to be appreciated; your words encourage me to do even more. I know our schedules didn’t quite mesh for some time, however as they say, better late than never. I am truly humbled to be asked to do an interview regarding Is It Just Us. I’d like to thank you again for inviting me and for the friendship you have shown me and the Is It Just Us platform.
ModState: Before we dive into anything else, I wanted to take a moment and ask you to talk about that “beyond” part of you and your work I referenced a moment ago. Care to share some about the immense amount of work you’ve logged in and around the web in recent years?
Is It Just Us: Well, I’m not too sure about the “and beyond” part of Is It Just Us. As you know, I’m a web developer and I built Is It Just Us as a way for me personally to get all of my news in one place. Kind of like the Drudge Report, except for Black people. I got tired of having to go to so many sites for information relevant to Black people. So, I decided to make a news aggregator that would funnel that various news stories relevant to Black people and put them on one website. I thought about [that], from a financial perspective, to keep people coming back to my site. However, I decided against that. As it is now, when a user clicks on a link they are taken directly to the original source of the link rather than staying on my website. I thought this was the best course of action to take. I know some people don’t like it when another website is taking traffic away from the original source. Also, I wasn’t in this to make money; I just wanted to make life easier for myself. A couple of my friends liked what I did so I got the idea of sharing it on Twitter. To date over 9,500 people have followed Is It Just Us through Twitter. Every article that is on the website gets tweeted on Twitter. I made sure to carry over the same philosophy from my website over to Twitter as well. Whenever someone clicks on a link on Twitter it goes to the original source rather than my website. In the future I want to concentrate on growing my Twitter following. By the way, I had a Facebook page at one point that was very successful. Evidently it was too successful. Facebook must have thought it was “2 Black and 2 Strong” and shut it down. Facebook said the content was too offensive to some. My response to that is, “Ha Ha” and “Sometimes the truth hurts.” [Smiles]
MS: Is It Just Us….how did that network come about? What were your main inspirations that you drew from pulling your thought process together and putting it up on the internet for enjoyment and education of all?
IIJU: Well, as I stated, I was looking for a way to bring all the news of interest to me in one location. I was browsing the internet, like I often do, and saw a great article explaining how to put together a news aggregator WordPress site. The article didn’t explain everything. However, it was enough to get going. I wish I could remember the name of the author of that article, because I would like to recognize her contribution to my site. I remember writing her on her blog and thanking her, however, I am unable to recall her name or the name of her blog at this time. One neat thing mentioned in the article (which I incorporated) is allowing visitors to leave their email address and receive a daily synopsis of about ten articles delivered right to your inbox. Once again, the links go directly to the original author and not back to my website. When I added a Twitter feed to Is It Just Us, that is when word of the website really took off. From Twitter I have many people, who are not followers of mine, retweet the articles to help spread the word. I know I must be getting the word out when I get attacked on certain articles by the ‘haters’. That tells me that the articles are getting to the people. And, of course, receiving contact from great people like ModState really lets me know that my work is being appreciated!
MS: Artists and writers, et al, the world over have quipped about “the post-industrial blues” and, of late, even more have begun to bat around phrases like “post-truth era”…does any of that ring true for you? In essence, what do you make of the era that both of our respective enterprises, Is It Just Us and ModState, find themselves in?
Exiled on Main Street, we are
IIJU: I definitely do not consider myself a politically correct person. So, a lot of the “new” words being used today are not a part of my vocabulary. I actually had to look up those words just to be sure I understood them correctly. As far as the post-industrial blues is concerned; that is something to be blue or upset about. After World War II in America a man could get a job and provide for his family. Have a house and a car; the wife could stay home. No college degree required. If he didn’t like his job, he could go across the street and get another one. Even Black people, relatively speaking, had an easy time finding employment after World War II. A decision was made by the “elite” (people like the Rockefeller and Rothschild families) to de-industrialize America and send the manufacturing overseas (primarily to China). Real wealth in America has gone downhill ever since. This is not the only reason for the economic decline in America, but it is hard to be an economic superpower when you don’t make anything. A dollar in 1930 is worth over $14 dollars today. According to Shadow Government Statistics the “real” unemployment rate is around 23%. So, people have every right to be upset or have the post-industrial blues. Because our economic future has been robbed right from under us without most people even realizing that it happened. Things never just happen. It happens because a group of men made it happen!
The post-truth era is just more pronounced today than it has been in the past. In other words, the people doing the lying are more “bold with it” than they have been in the past. They have good reason to be so bold, because they have dumbed down the education and polluted the food and water; critical thinking is not found in as many people as it was in generations past. It is much easier to lie and get away with it today than it was in past generations. For example, people mistake editorials or opinions with facts. People are more caught up in emotions or how they feel; versus critical thinking and seeing if what was said was factual. Today we are living in a time where “Orwellian Doublespeak” is becoming more the norm rather than the exception. Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable. Donald Trump is right. There is a lot of ‘fake news’, however he is giving some himself as well as receiving it. You notice I didn’t even mention the internet. Generations that have grown up on the internet are very easily led in the wrong direction…by design! There’s a reason why the heads of Google, Apple, and Facebook don’t let their children use computers until they hit a certain age. If you give a computer to a child too soon, they won’t develop the ability to think for themselves.
Is It Just Us and ModState are living in the age of deception and lies. It is up to us to spread the truth and hope the people’s attention span is long enough to listen.
MS: As you know, ModState is quite possibly the only member site that’s a part of your collective (the “What Sites Are Included?” portion of Is It Just Us) that was founded by Caucasians/European Americans or, since we’re from the older portion of the Millennial generation, “white boys” (hah, sorry). With that, we’ve made it a pretty clear part of our mission to be a positive part of the conversation acknowledging the gaping disparities in law enforcement, crime and punishment and equal opportunity (or lack thereof, as it were) in our society. If you could deliver any message, any word, to other, up-and-coming white folks aspiring to make a difference in the media as well, what would you say to them to encourage them to head in the right direction and on how to do the right thing in pursuing the truth and being a part of the solutions (and not part of the problems) in creating a more just society?
IIJU: My message to any “white folks” who want to make a positive difference, whether that is in the media or some other avenue of life is simple: do what is right! There seems to be a push by the mainstream media to “shame” or “guilt” white people into doing the right thing. I don’t agree with that philosophy. The main problem Black people have is not one of the past; it is one of the present. This country has never been about equality. So, my message would be to do what is right and demonstrate equality. For example, to those in the media: are you reporting the story dealing with a Black man the same as you would if it was dealing with a White man? For example, if you are in finance: are you treating your Black clients (if you have any) the same as you do your White clients? It is simple and Biblical, actually. Treat others in your life as you want to be treated yourself. If you can do that; you are a benefit to society and part of the solution.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reacts to a broadly smiling Vice President Joe Biden during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address at the Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 28, 2014. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
As far as pursuing the truth goes; that may prove more difficult for some. Critical thinking should be second nature to everybody. However, it is not. People that are emotional (or easily triggered) will find it much more difficult to think than others. Thinking critically is a skill. Like all skills it must be practiced and sharpened to be good at it. Unfortunately, this is not taught anymore (by school or parents) and very few people practice at it. Then, you factor in chemicals in the food and water along with trickery in the mainstream media. It is becoming harder and harder for people, especially younger people (who have been literally raised not to think), to think. If you don’t want to know the truth (and many people don’t) then you’re not going to pursue it. If you are one that is pursuing the truth; my message would be to think for yourself, do research for yourself, and question authority (people in the ’60s got that one right smile). [Smiles]
MS: On that note, is there a way that publications like ModState can do more in terms of actual editorial coverage and multimedia content (like our podcast, et cetera) to create awareness of the aforementioned civil rights crises in America?
IIJU: I’m not sure ModState can do much more; you guys are everywhere. You’re on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and you have the podcast. You might be stretching yourselves too thin. [Smiles] In my limited experience it’s not how many channels you’re on, but how much traffic you get per channel. So, I would just concentrate on growing the traffic with the many channels that your already have. The more traffic equals more awareness. You’ll have to talk to an expert on traffic generation though, because unfortunately that’s not me. [Smiles]
MS: Who are your heroes, or idols, or people in general that you look up to in business, for inspiration in carrying out your goals and fulfilling your dreams in enterprise and beyond?
IIJU: I haven’t really looked up to anyone with regards to business. Maybe I should have then maybe I would be more successful in life. [Smiles] Maybe it is the ‘Aquarius lone wolf’ in me that makes me forge my own path and not try to emulate others. I’ve always been more impressed by the hot dog vendor versus the man who makes high six figures a year working for corporate America. I respect the man who is able to pave his own way in life. Especially when it comes to money. Money is freedom and I respect a man that can create his own freedom. I especially respect someone that can start from nothing and make something of themselves. This may sound silly but making something from nothing is very Godly to me. There is nothing wrong with being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. However, making a way out of no way is very impressive to me.
Being Black in America is hard. Being a self-made Black millionaire is extremely hard. I don’t count Blacks that sell their souls to the devil to get rich. This basically excludes Blacks in Hollywood. Black athletes don’t count because at the end of the day, they are still employees. So, I have respect for self-made Black millionaires like Madam C.J. Walker, Annie Malone (who gave C.J. Walker her start), William Liedesdorff, Mary Ellen Pleasant (who funded John Brown), Robert Reed Church, and Reginald Lewis.
A man whom I learned about late in life was Arthur G. Gaston. He started by selling lunches to his co-workers at work. He started a burial insurance company, a construction firm, a funeral home, a bank, and a school. This was done at a time when Blacks couldn’t just go to a bank and ask for a loan to start a business. Back then you just had to literally start the business! It is men and women like A.G. Gaston that really impress me with their ability to create something from nothing.
MS: Who, historically, business aside, have you looked to and look to now as true role models of what it means to be a fair and just citizen in an unfair and unjust world?
IIJU: Historically, business aside, I can think of three people off the top of my head who I think have personified what it means to be a fair and just citizen in an unfair world.
May Day rioting in Paris, France
Fidel Castro stands out to me for a couple of reasons. First is that he went against the grain and helped people he wasn’t supposed to help. Fidel was born to an elite, privileged family. He was a part of the ruling class. The system at that time in Cuba was designed to keep families like his in power at the expense of everybody else (especially Black people). Fidel even gave up an opportunity to play major league baseball (if the stories are true). I have to respect any member of the ruling class who chooses to go against a system that is set up for their benefit because they know it is wrong; even though they personally benefit from it. As for my people, Black people, Fidel ended segregation in Cuba when he came to power. When he visited the UN in the 1960’s he didn’t stay at the fancy White hotels but at a Black hotel in Harlem. Fidel was friends to leaders of the Black Power movement like Malcolm X and the Black Liberation Army. In the 1980’s Fidel sent over 25,000 troops to Angola to fight against the apartheid government of South Africa. Another reason I honor Fidel Castro is because the United States government tried to kill him over 600 times and failed! He survived 11 U.S. presidents. How one man on a tiny island was able to survive against the mighty and corrupt United States government is a miracle to me; but he did it!
John Brown is another hero of mine. For similar reasons as to why I like Fidel Castro. It is easy to do nothing in the face of injustice. It may be risky to speak out against injustice. However, it takes a real man or woman to stand up to injustice and fight back against it. John Brown put his life and the life of his family on the line in an attempt to end slavery in America. He won a few battles but ultimately lost the war. Even though John Brown and his sons gave their lives to help end slavery, their courage, sacrifice, and legacy lives on.
Julian Assange is another person I look up to for the simple fact that what he did was right; regardless of what the ruling class said he should do. JFK said by their very nature secrets are abhorrent in a free and open society. All Julian Assange did was reveal the truth to the American public and to the citizens of the world at large. As a result, for his bravery, he may end up spending the rest of life in prison.
It is interesting that a president, a preacher, and a computer programmer all have one thing in common: They were or are enemies of the United States of America. These are my heroes.
MS: And, you know I had to touch on this at least once, if you could have any message guaranteed to be received by our current President, what would it be? What would Donald Trump read or hear from you if you had one opportunity to get something across?
IIJU: The one message that I would like to be received by the current President is do NOT start World War III. When Donald Trump was running for POTUS he campaigned on sending overseas troops back home to America. He said America shouldn’t be the world’s policeman and he also said that it was an unnecessary expense that was killing America’s deficit. Less than 6 months into office he launched missiles into a sovereign country, Syria, China’s ally; while hosting China’s president for dinner. Donald Trump has been the aggressor towards Russia, China, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and Turkey. The list of countries is probably much longer, but those are the countries that I know of. Donald Trump constantly finds himself fighting with members in his cabinet that want war seemingly more than the President does. This has led to the high turnover in his administration.
Something to look forward to after WW3: Dystopia! YAY! [Free Image Courtesy of MediaVillage.com]
Whether the President really wants war, or he truly is fighting those in his administration, my message to Donald Trump is clear: He and he alone is responsible! If he needs to fire everyone in his inner circle, then do that. If Donald Trump is the ringleader behind all of this, I would say stop! World War III is not in anyone’s best interest. World War III would be like one giant genocide party. Be like Nancy Reagan and “Just say ‘No!’”
DeViney, J. (ModState):With that, Sir, I really and truly appreciate your time and, as always, your continued friendship both as a man and as an ally in [the] media. I feel truly blessed personally and on behalf of ModState to be in one another’s respective corners. Thank you, again, and please do have a blessed day!
Alford, C. (Is It Just Us): Thank you for having me. I would like to thank ModState for being an ally in [the] media. I would like to commend your organization on doing your part in getting the truth out to the masses and trying to make the world a better place for all of us. Keep up the good work and may 2019 be your most prosperous year yet. Until the next time. May God continue to bless you and yours. Peace.
On this, the third anniversary of the founding of the (multi)
media beast that has become ModState,
let’s take a quick look back at what we’ve accomplished this year, and what has
kicked our collective asses. This being the “leather” anniversary (or crystal
if you follow “The Chicago Guide for
Style and Asinineness”, but we’ll forget that), Political Beast
would like to point out the tough (and not-so) commentaries and
informationalities offered by the crew aboard the good ship. Leather in the
minds of Political Beast has always conjured up images of John Wayne astride a
horse, hat always seeming to be just about to blow away as he leads his men (or
just himself) up a hill or down into some dangerous valley; always the hero,
always sure of himself, always a winner, even when he’s down. Our personal
favorite of his films is the one he shares with Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Vera
Miles (hottie!) and a host of others at the top of their game. We guess
competition for screen time sometimes brings out the best in you. “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”
suffers for being black-and-white, but you can still almost smell the boots and
saddles. Not quite sure what ModState
would smell like if you got us all together, but after banging this out over
the last few days, Political Beast needs a bath. In this political climate,
seems we all do…constantly. But, leather-faced and determined, ModState continues to dive down into the
belly of the cavernous animal that is reality and tries to stay in the saddle.
If a much greater man than any member of Political Beast could describe the
year in review, he might do it thusly:
We’d tilt our gaze downward, too. The Internet is forever.
“It is not the critical education Theresa Leary attempted to give us in her American Scandal Primer, or the fact that she forgot to capitalize “Deep Throat” that counts. Nor is it in the way DeViney points out how the Steele Dossier, or GamePartisan or Harvey Weinstein (no affiliation) stumbles, or where Apologetics articles could’ve done things better. Like not making a description of ModState’s history look like a Trump circle-jerk cabinet meeting. The credit belongs to the guys who are actually arguing (sometimes redundantly) in the Podcast, whose faces are marred by dusty facts and changing priorities, and sweat and lack of sleep, and blood from the veins popping out of DeViney’s neck whenever he has to admit Hillary is still relevant; who strives valiantly as Leary does to convince us that she is a mom; who errs in saying “We are all the descendants of rebels” (sorry Al Sharpton), who comes up WAY too wordy again and again, because there is no effort—especially by Political Beast’s recent writing team—without error in Wellein’s shifting definitions of socialism, and shortcoming in DeViney’s confusion over how “universal” universal healthcare should be; but who does, like Geoff Sheppard, actually strive to do the deeds of giving us an accurate portrayal of Katharine Graham’s role at The Post and setting the record straight; who knows the thinly-veiled enthusiasms of seeing the Mueller report exonerate Trump (DeViney), the great continuing devotions to the legacies of Kennedy (Wellein) and Nixon (I’ll ignore the obvious); who spends himself in a worthy cause, bringing the seedy-stream media to its knees (ok, they’re kinda doing that to themselves) who best knows in the end the “zero-tolerance, zero-humanity” (of getting) high on achievement, and who at the worst, if she fails at explaining why kids are still getting separated at the border, at least fails while daring us to take her seriously, so that none of these media warriors’ place will ever be with those cold, right-wing stooges or timid left-wing loons, who never accept Trump’s victory, Hillary’s defeat, or realize the exultation of the exit song on celluloid as the leather-bound hero rides off into the sunset.”
