Racism

Imagine if Trump was black or brown. Imagine if Trump had an African, an African-American, or a Hispanic accent. How many MAGA folks would follow a dark-skinned egomaniac claiming to be a super smart, perfect human specimen, that knows it all and can "save" America taking it backwards?  How would MAGA react to such a political candidate? Not many would follow him. Why? Racism. Trump's appeal has everything to do with his "race", and the quest for re-establishing white supremacy in the United States. 

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Racism 

Racism is a socioeconomic system based on the social construct of race. Understanding racism begins with understanding the concept of race. Race is a human fiction. Race is an artificial (man made) creation or invention based on the different biological traits and external features of humans. Regardless of those external differences, we are all humans. We are all members of the one and only race, the human race. 

Don't worry if you cannot see it that way. Don't worry if your brain is stuck on the concept of "races". Culture is the operating system of the human brain. Culture has programmed you to see the world a certain way. Culture indoctrinates you day in and day out in racism based on the concept of "races".   

Unlearning is harder than learning. It is hard to unlearn what we have learned. Unlearning requires a great deal of mental plasticity to undue neural connections and replace them in the brain. The younger you were when you learned something, and the longer you have held a belief, the harder it is to unlearn it. Once your brain has created strong neural synapses cementing a habit or belief, it is hard to undo it. Keep trying. Unlearning and re-learning are worthy life hacks.   

In any event, our primitive ancestors in ancient times found it convenient to classify humanity in different "races". They used ancestral mutations and adaptations as the bases for the conceptualization of different races and racial categories. It was part of a "divide and conquer" colonization strategy. 

Dividing humans into different races allowed some "races" to rationalize / justify their "superiority" to colonize and exploit others. Racism is a derivative of tribalism. Racism is part of the "us vs them" binary framework that humans and other animals use to compete over territories and resources. 

Religion 

Racism also has a strong religion component, especially in those religions that foster the belief in an imaginary creator. If you believe in a creator, you may also believe that the creator designed different races. In the Judaic tradition, god created human to his image. What is that image then? Is it black, brown, or beige (aka "white")? Obviously, believers choose to believe that their creator looks like them. Part of believing in an imaginary god is believing that such god is there to protect you and help you. By falling for the cultural belief in an imaginary god, you open the door to believing in different races with different socioeconomic privileges and entitlements. 

And that is what racism is ultimately all about: privilege and entitlement. Members of the "chosen" race of god feel entitled to privileges over non believers and other "inferior" races. God is the best human creation of all times. It allows humans to justify and rationalize everything. The mere fact that so many people believe in gods, proves their utility. 

By definition or structure, you have to believe in your god or gods by tradition and blind faith intuition. You have to suspend disbelief. You cannot subject your beliefs to any empirical testing. You cannot backtrack the story of god to the imagination of your primitive ancestors who lived terrified of the unknown and had to invent gods to cope with the pain. You immerse yourself in the dogma, form community with other believers, and continue your merry way. Whoever challenges your belief is an infidel or evil person. 

Money

After god, money is the second best human invention of all times. Money is a payment technology (tool and method) serving three economic purposes: economic valuation; satisfaction of debts; and storage of value. Just like god and the concept of races, money is useful because people believe in it. People are willing to trade goods and services in exchange for money in which all others believe as well. 

God, money, and races are works of art. They are human inventions that become very useful in helping humans navigate their existence. There are not fundamental truths, but rather useful myths and utilitarian works of artificial (man-made) fiction.

Politics

Politics is power over people. God, money, and racism are political utilities that facilitate control over people. Rulers claimed that their power came from the gods, who favored them. Power allows for the creation of money, which can be seen as a permit or permission to trade. Racism allows that a group of people enjoy superior privileges than other people. Racism can also be used to force some people to work for other people. 

MAGA is a political movement. Trump is the political leader of MAGA. MAGA is a political movement trying to take the United States back to the times of white anglo saxon protestant (WASP) patriarchal supremacy. If Trump was black, he would not have many MAGA followers. 

Trump can do and say whatever he wants because he enjoys old style white privilege. Trump has millions of followers who wish they could have similar white privilege. Any normal person would be already in jail for what Trump has done. While some crimes are more difficult to prove than others such as criminal intention for sedition and insurrection, other crimes committed by Trump are easy to prove such as possession of hundreds of illegally kept classified documents. 

Sooner or later, American justice will catch up to Trump. MAGA folks will be bitterly disappointed. However, no one is above the law, not even Trump. That is the principle that will be demonstrated in the next couple of years in the American legal system. We are living the most interesting and entertaining times in American political history. The racists want the country "back". The elites, liberals, and progressives are not giving it back. We are moving forward. Fasten your seat belt. It will be a fun ride. 

Food for thought. What do you think?

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