Saturday, September 28, 2013

Why a Barilla Boycott won't Work in the United States

Barilla meme
Tampa, (Fl) -- I am going to be concrete, a boycott against Barilla won't be as effective as many people think; and, the reason is on the low prices of the pasta.

Why the low prices of the pasta.? The answer relies on the fact that almost on every single weekend newspaper around the United States have coupons for the Barilla brand that goes between US¢.55/2 and even so far US$1.00 pero box not to mention that several stores around the United States offer coupons that would leave the boxes almost on US¢19 per box which is a deal, a deal when someone is hungry won't refuse so easily.

I know that the machismo in Italy is not something to be proud and the link between this attitude and the "stereotypical" macho attitudes because of the patriarchal approach that is linked with the imagery of the national religion imagery where men are kings, women are just household items and kids are to please their parents.

I don't know how much the boycott is going to work in Italy itself after the comments of Barilla CEO Guido Barilla, but in North America where people can get pasta at a really low price before thinking of the message that their food is produced, there are going to be some minor setbacks on a national level for the organizers of the boycott because you can't deal with hunger and politics.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Nigga Identity Vs. Million Man March; What Would MLK Would Do Today With The Problematic Around Afro Communities.?

Tampa, (Fl) --- On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gave his famous speech I Have a Dream. On Topeka Kansas, 1954 the first steps to end racial segregation by Brown v. Board of Education yet the list goes and goes, yet on modern history one of the most important events is the Million Man where the main focus was to try to find the unity of politicians toward the black and minority causes, centers as well focus group that people feel Washington, DC was leaving behind on a national level.

Today the contributions that the African-American society has given to the nation are amazing, as we can tell spoken word, music (such as Hip-Hop being the most notable one, Jitterbug, Tap, Disco, you can name it) arts, literature, politics; the list goes and goes but there is a division between the society where young urban adolescences are less aware of their past and more focusing on the consumption culture that is plaguing the United States, in which not only the Afro-youth but as well other groups in which the words - I want to have it now-  are becoming a synonym of the Millennials as well Gen XY.

Million Man March
Today, there is a division between the community where the heritage is divided between the knowledge of the past and the "nigga" identity which itself on a popular level seems to be associate with lack of dignity as well with an appropriation of the street life.

Yet, what is happening today with the black youth is happening with almost every other one where being slackers and spending more time with their phones as well with other sensual pleasures instead of aiding their communities.

Globalization is a key that we can take in consideration toward preserving previous knowledge as well destroying it; because with the interlink of global networks, we will have all the trash we can imagine as well stereotypes that are placing ideas among the youth; such as the appropriation of imageries that "thug life" as Little Wayne is selling is OK and shows a realistic aspect of the street but also if the individual further studies the hip hop culture will see that the hip hop even if it has his roots on the streets is more associated with corporate music that is designated to sell to a mass audience.

What would Dr. King say today.? First of all the speeches he gave are still relevant but Dr. King because we are on a point where a social revolution is still on as well racial segregation, not on the same level that it was on the 1960's and before that, but rather on the exclusion of groups that as some people place them - are not welcome, because they can be terrorists.-

Which is the reason why Dr. King's speeches are still relevant as there is racism up until today, and probably worse than it was prior 1960's because even if the Jim Crow system was abolished almost more than a quarter century, African Americans and other minorities face a limited freedom due the governmental control as well an unequal justice system that incarcerates blacks on a higher rates than whites for similar offenses.

It is an ironic tragedy that the freedom movement ended with people not being free on a fundamental sense because of the system that we had implemented to discriminate people based on their color of their skins. Maybe Dr. King if he was alive beyond the year of his assassination, he would continued talking about freedom as well social justice because we are facing a future where the middle class is heading on a path that is not bright.

Monday, September 2, 2013

"I want Frozen Mashed Potatoes" and the Syrian War

Tampa, (Fl) --- It is not that strange to say that we are an amalgam of generation of spoiled people. Everytime you have the chance to go outside and sit in the bus, the bus itself or just go for a trip to the supermarket listen to other people conversations and you will realize, we are just a bunch of son a bitches with no opinions beyond the ones the media manufacturer for us.

On a trip to the supermarket a couple of weeks ago I was walking towards the frozen meat section (no interest on getting anything) when I saw a man, who looked to be in his middle 40's and assuming by his attire he could be on his day off. He asked in a really awful tone to a clerk to find him frozen mash potatoes, the clerk without any hesitation went to find the proper help and another one appeared he asked him if he was the person in question,  he said no; and he made a small tantrum to the clerk much as if he was a 10 year old kid. Another clerk by accident that worked in the meat department section helped the guy but not without listening to the stupidity the man said and probably got the thing for free.

Stupid, white, fat Americans - are the words that keep coming to my head after five years, after a popular slogan within the leftist movements in Colombia was used to describe the American society as whole. I probably can't see that phrase as a generality anymore because due the amalgam of people that live in North America the best way to describe it would be - Spoiled People who Have no Clue on What's Happening on the World Beyond their Own Thumbs - and, there is a truth on that one because people here are spoiled in their vast majority and thanks to the system they think the world is theirs.

The mashed potato guy is just an example on how many people don't have any manners or education towards other people reality and they follow blindly what happens on the news without any critique of judgment toward the politicians interests. The catalyst of this war is beyond 9/11 it predates almost on the Cold War political interests where the nation is hunting the resources of other nations in order to ensure the survival of the "home" economy that doesn't work and that the people are consuming the national resources at a fast pace.

The potatoes are just a macro example how the society has reached to the point where they want things now and without thinking of any consequence what other relations with other people or nations will be; but, I guess we are just that a bunch of spoiled Americans.