I have been thinking lately that 50s and 60s radicals, revolutionaries and agents of change were so successful because their really wasn't any other better choice but to fight for systematic change. That is their lives, livelihoods, the well being of their children all depended on changing the system and making it a better place for everyone.

But what if there were today's money at stake? What if Malcolm X could have been offered a cushy extremely lucrative job at MSNBC hosting a daily show?

What if Martin Luther King had access to forming a mega-church that was earning millions in tithings weekly. I understand that MLK's family was reasonably relatively well to do but they weren't nearly rolling in the dough of a Joel Osteen.

This Capitalistic American System has evolved into a system that is so amazing in it's ability to co-opt disruptive forces, sanitize that force and actually incorporate that force into the system into a way that it not only no longer disrupts the system but actually augments the system.

Look at rap music. Probably one of the most disruptive forces in american society in the last 40 years. N.W.A., Ice T, Public Enemy actually sparked government hearings and government surveillance. 40 years it's as family friendly and sanitized as an Asian kid where a Nas T-Shirt on an ABC Family TV Show. It's Iggy Azealia winning grammys. It's the former drug dealer turned Mogul and capitalist icon who has absolutely no interest in upsetting the current apple cart which puts so much money in his pocket.

And you can dismiss Jay-Z as just a rapper and shouldn't be looked to lead any sort of change but the fact of the matter is Sidney Poiter and Harry Belafonte were leaders of change in the 60s who used their visibility to leverage the cause. I wonder though if they would have done so if they were making 20 Million a picture?

Wouldn't Will Smith and Denzel have to be a little nutty to throw all that money away to change the system that personally benefits them so much?

Martin, Malcolm, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poiter, et. al were agitating for change that theoretically would have improved their lives and the lives of their family in addition to the race as a whole.

That would not be the deal for wealthiest, most powerful Black people today. Any change to the current system would probably result in great personal sacrifice on their part. It may be that I am cynical but it's not surprise to me that their not willing to do it.

Which kind of explains why Islamic fundamentalist are the most visible and vocal group who want to tear the current system down. They definitely don't have much stake in the current system.

Seems like if we learned anything in the last 100 years about how to deal with disruptive forces it seems we should be offering them jobs, tv shows, record deals if we want them to behave like good little global citizens.

Anyway, that's just what I woke up thinking about this morning.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as 'that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you're r