Y'all know the deal:

Even with left-wing people fired up they "probably" won't 'primary' Biden now, since abortion is ending and left-wing people (now) want to win....

...folks still think Biden is looking a LOT like Carter because the USA HATES inflation and high gas prices (just like in the 1970's)


So....

Our parents saw Reagan and Bush in power from 1980 - 1992 and saw the crack era DESTROY the Black community....yet how much do we really see people "crying" over the Reagan era/crack era?

Does the Reagan era/crack era seem like nothing because we "remember" all the cultural things like hip-hop/Purple Rain/Thriller/some movies/TV shows and really don't care about the societal outcomes of that era?

I don't really associate my family who were older crying too much about that era even though crack seemingly "destroyed" the Black community in the 1980's/1990's.

So...

Is the answer just seemingly "not caring" about whatever happens in an era and just "keep going" because soon "it'll just be 'yesterday's new" and "you really just won't care about the bad stuff and just remember the music/movies/TV shows, etc."?

Poll result (2 votes) Yeah, of course, do our parents cry over Reagan/crack era now? (1 votes) Vote Nah, you got to be super focused a Clinton can eventually win (1 votes) Vote

the crack era. I’m not even from the “hood”, and I lost a couple close family members (an uncle and a cousin.) My wife is from a rougher area more directly impacted by the crack and the war on drugs. She’s lost two brothers, an aunt, and a nephew.

All of these family members have been killed because of some connection to crack/the war on drugs. Her aunt never used at all, but dated a man who started using crack and ended up owing a drug dealer. Instead of killing the boyfriend, the dealer kidnapped my wife’s aunt, tortured her to the point that she was almost unrecognizable, and killed her. My wife’s brother did time in prison for selling. Not long after getting out he was shot and killed, and they dumped his body on the steps of a church. It was an execution. Police never found the killers, but likely that he either owed a supplier or someone didn’t like that he got out.

I could tell more stories but that isn’t the point. I mentioned some deaths but didn’t even get into the numbers of folks still locked up due to the war on drugs. PLENTY of Black families are still directly impacted and still crying over the crack era.

crack error was 40ish years ago. it's not recent to most even with clear evidence of how bad it was. it'll come up when there's talk about how black people were jailed vs how white opiod addicts are given treatment today.

I wouldn't say people don't care. it's just old news.

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

And I don't begrudge folks for how they choose to do it whether it's total apathy/disconnection, or wallowing in it. Regardless of what I personally think of how they are processing it.

My mom talks about going to college before the crack era hit and then coming back from the military after it like she'd seen ghosts in real life.

Whereas my dad never left the hood during it all so he saw the deterioration of friends, family, local institutions and community up close. He doesn't talk about it much there were always these moments where he'd break a bit and you could see how much it hurt him. He'd see an old friend he used to run the streets w/ back in the 80s. Or the kids of a neighbor that went off on crack. These are not insignificant losses and you can see the generational ripples that happened and still are happening.

Personally I look at life like a bullriding machine. That bull is gonna keep bucking so make sure you don't get thrown off. Be prepared and move w/ it.

I think the crystallization of all this for me was the morning after Trump got elected and I went to work and boy it was warfare in there. Black people rightfully despondent about it. MAGAts gloating about it. Me, yeah it sucked and I knew America was in for it. But I had a lot of fucking work to do that wasnt going anywhere so lets get cracking on the day.

<--- Big Baller World Order

So yeah it's acceptable to stick ones head in the sand and simply keep going

People say things like “run for office”, but everyone isn’t built for that.

Kudos to those who do, but it’s not like everyone who doesn’t, simply doesn’t care.

For many, life is challenging enough simply treading water within their own bubble. The problems of a era often add to those problems. It’s enough to keep the bare necessities in life, and putting a few dollars into a savings account is a luxury for many. Often enough, the problems of a given era make those things that much harder.

And if people aren’t just getting by, they have dreams and personal ambitions. Most people are just doing what they can with what they have. Even if we could all do a little, or even a lot, more, I think the basic challenges of life- not even accounting for more significant challenges many of us face along the way- make it more than understandable when we don’t

so its not that people don’t care..

just at some point you have to move forward.

and being from the rust belt we dealt with the steel mills closing and watching fathers turn to the bottle.. then it was crack, then heroin and now pills

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

The people who didn't make it out the crack era aren't telling their stories, we are only hearing from the folks who made it. And if you made it, you can't help but look back and focus on the good things and minimize the bad things. That's a survival mechanism. Same with just moving on with your life. We weren't meant to sit around and stew about the past.
**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

I sort of had to make a post like this because...I'm sort of heavy on Instagram now and....there's a lot of celebration of the music from the 1980's and 1990's there on Instagram....

...and...


I'm thinking....

...most of us on Instagram are sort of "loving" everything about the music of the 1980's/1990's but....would we have such "good" feelings about THAT ERA if....it was as "bad" as it...."was"?

and there are morbid songs that give bring out pessimistic emotions as well.

Loving the golden era of hip hop doesn’t mean you love police brutality and crack overdoses.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

about social reality, etc.

I read one article where a guy from the 1970's was observing Black people "partying" at a P-Funk concert and he asked his friend "what if P-Funk had a message like Gil Scott-Heron?" His friend replied something like "then things definitely would be different."

So...

"loving" pop-culture so much does seem to do "something" about how a person overall views an era.

but....

The problem seems to be...(like in the P-Funk example)...if so many of your peers decide that "party-ing" to P-Funk is more "important" than having a "Gil Scott Heron" type of mindstate...we know that the majority of people are going to go in THAT "favored" direction (even Gil Scott Heron couldn't "keep" his supposedly "on-point" view and his lifestyle was very much like any of his peers who "partied" to Parliament-Funkadelic)

much easier to 'escape' reality by partying and listening some jams. generalizing, but the majority of folks are not about fighting for rights or injustices. that's normally a subset of the populous.

since most folks are trying to survive and have a good time, the other stuff tends to get glossed over. none of that means the bad stuff wasn't as bad, but the good times were part of that history too.

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

I hated the shiny suits and the Puffy era. I was all about the unsigned hype and rappitty rappers.

Years later I was listening to Mase or a Puffy cut and realized I missed out on a lot of parties, dancing and fine booty because I was in the corner freestyling or outside the club debating Low End Theory or 93 til Infinity.

Basically we were some haters.. lol.

and one thing I learned is its possible to like pop culture AND the underground. You don’t have to choose one or the other. But we used to demand people pick a side.

I can party to P Funk and then listen to Gill Scott at a totally different setting and still be down for the cause.

it sounds like you are trying to lock people into a political view based on a moment in time and that isn’t how this works.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

They get told to shut the fuck up and stop being "radicals" every 2-4 years during the election cycle.

"They used to call me Baby Luke....but now? The whole damn 2 Liiiive Crew."

i don't really know if it's a uniquely american or western thing, or privilege thing.. or something just more like a human default

the way people who have actually been through some shit don't talk about it in the same way as people who haven't been through much will whine incessantly about the smallest thing.

and yea as mentioned there's also a survival mode factor.
gas prices and inflation suck, but they're not gonna leave a lasting scar the way the crack era did for someone affected ,.. gas prices are super easy to talk about for everyone.

americans also like simple stories. that carter was an ineffective bummer who brought us inflation and gas lines, and reagan showed us the true potential of america's greatness... sure it wasn't perfect.. and crack yada yada yada.. but still..

seeing the same thing with trump. i had a conversation yesterday that started with "i didn't like trump but.." (these are always my favorites) how he actually did a pretty good job, it's just that he just couldn't stop running his mouth and tweeting stupid shit. yeah its anecdotal but i swear i hear this type of bs enough from apolitical types to believe he's gonna win again.

i makes me wonder how the covid era will be viewed in 20 years in this country. will it be a million people died, or will it be we coudn't get into walmart wihtout a mask, and we coudn't even go to dinner without showing a card...etc..

if you only think about the negative and never take time to “party” or relax and escape from the daily grind it can lead to some dark days IMO.

Even during war people have dances and celebrate little things because we all gonna go kne day, gotta have some light to hold onto to get thru the darkness

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

...be sort of "nonchalant" or "indifferent" about time passing and the issues of the day being relegated to yesterday's news over and over and over and over....


At some point, does anyone say:

"Hey okay, this won't be another era that just has a couple of moments of importance."

Important progress and gains, etc.

... with what I care about

As some alluded to in here, doing what I gotta do for me and the people I love to live their best lives will always be first and foremost

Once I'm where I'd want to be from there, any surplus I have would be dedicated to the things I'm passionate about, which may or may not help those outside of those I love. With more means, I could conceivably cast a wider net, but until then, I don't have the means, the bandwidth, or the influence to operate outside of my immediate net

And any other stuff that I can't control in this moment is simply above me

_____________________________________

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