In the Matrix

Too often,I think I live in a sort of matrix, enveloped by something alien that's trying to force-feed me its version of current events--while my common sense is telling me otherwise. In the United States, there are two big propaganda machines, each grinding out its own version of The Truth: the one promoted by rabid conservatives and the one favored by the Biden crowd. Their propaganda machines are the Mainstream Media, the pundits on TV, talk radio and the print outlets who widely disseminate views on either side. There's Fox on the extreme right, MSNBC (supposedly) on the left. There's the New York Post on the right and the New York Times on the left. And so on, down the line. Sane consumers reject rabid conservative Republican views, but find little comfort in modern Democratic attitudes. That's because both Republicans and Democrats are in the pockets of the rich. The Democrats in charge are really corporate conservatives, more interested in keeping their donors happy than in meeting the needs of the little people who voted them in. They'll say things that sound progressive, then do nothing to promote true liberal goals: affordable housing and education, decent laboral conditions, fair pricing, fair wages, reproductive choice, voting freedom, gun control and health care for all. Democrats in power say that they are "centrists", and that centrism is the only way to pacify Republicans and dissuade them from trying to destroy the Democratic Party. They claim "extreme" liberalism--or what's needed to right socioeconomic injustices in this country--will only frighten Republicans into further hostility. And so, their main struggle has been to foil progressives within the Democratic party, instead of battling the Republican thrust to take over this country. Except for senators Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachussetts), the stars of the progressive movement are people of color, most notably, representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Ayana Pressley (Massachussetts) and Rashida Tlalib (Michigan). These women, known as The Squad, have been effectively silenced by centrist Democratic heavyweights the likes of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. So "Centrist" becomes just another word for "conservative", make no mistare. And when you hear the term "both sides", you are really listening to a camouflaged conservative argument because we all know that there's only one side, the side of truth and justice. And the truth is that there's no justice for average Americans struggling to survive on many fronts while the current Democratic leadership does nothing about it. There's no profit in it for our "leaders" ; it's been that way for decades, Clinton was Republican Lite, and Obama was all flash and no substance. And supposedly liberal mainstream media only parrots the corporate Democrat view, so forget THEM. If you want the truth unvarnished by politics, you have to resort to the independent YouTubers who freely voice their indignation at what's going on. And if you want solutions to the popular plight, don't look to Washington. Start building a liberal movement from the ground up. Start mobilizing to elect true liberals to state and local office. There's some indication it's already happening. In the recent primaries, true progressive candidates swept by corporate Democrats with much larger war chests. Of course, the mainstream media didn't mention it, but there are stirrings of a mass movement that's trying to break out of the informational matrix we've been dozing in for so long.Let's hope the trend continues.

US Latinas: Pro abortion, or no?

Depends on who you ask, I guess. The churro peddler in the subway might think differently from a staff interpreter at the United Nations; we're a varied bunch. They say that, as devout Catholics, most Latinas in the US reject abortion. They say that recent Latina immigrants oppose abortion more than do US-born Latinas. They say a lot of things. Yet, the numbers paint a clear picture: most US abortions are obtained by minority women. In Texas, Latinas are 74% of women getting abortions. The Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights think tank, states that the abortion rate among US Latinas is double the rate among white women.

This is because Latinas are more likely to have unintended pregnancies. My own perspective on the subject of abortion is based on personal contacts. Most Latinas I know have a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude towards abortion. Latinas get abortions, they just don't talk about it-- and they don't believe in imposing their views on anyone else. Latinas seem to believe in choice. They also compartmentalize their beliefs: you can have an abortion one day; attend church the next. This is not hypocrisy; they just don't see these things as related. And abortion has been commonplace for generations. My mother had one just as we were getting ready to leave Cuba for the US. Our family faced an uncertain future in a new country;mom already had 3 children, a baby would've made things even worse. I myself had an abortion just after I'd moved to New York with my brand new bridegroom. We were struggling newlyweds in a strange city; we couldn't afford a baby. Mind you, this is not some angst-ridden confession; I have never endured a day's worth of guilt in my life. On the contrary, I was relieved that I'd dodged such a bullet. I've never felt that I'd "killed a baby"; to me, a cluster of cells with a faint heartbeat, unable to live outside the womb, is not a "baby". I did feel as though I'd been vacuumed clean from the inside out, and I didn't menstruate for two months, which was fine by me. Other than that,my abortion was uneventful, painless, and probably safer than actually giving birth years later. That was like being run over by a truck several times over 12 hours of labor that left me a weakened, bleeding mess with some of my innards pushed sideways. So it's not just liberal propaganda, it's actually true: a well -performed abortion is safer than vaginal birth or a c-section. Which brings us to the main reason for this blog: the current reality that the US Supreme Court has overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, making it almost impossible to obtain legal abortion in about half of the United States. This will heavily affect poor minority women who can't afford to travel to states where abortion is legal. They will be forced to have unwanted babies or seek dangerous, back-alley abortions. But for white conservatives, what's the point of cancelling Roe? Do they really want to be inundated with unwanted brown babies? I think not. Currently making the rounds of fascism is the infamous "replacement" theory, where whites fear they'll be "replaced" by minorities due to their rapidly growing numbers.The unofficial immigration "policies" being enacted to counter these fears are as shocking as they are insidious. To begin with, US authorities have been waving in rosy-cheeked Ukrainians at the US/Mexico border while holding off the much darker-skinned Latinos. I guess whites are hoping to expand the nation's dwindling pool of white genes by welcoming unlimited numbers of Ukrainians. This is not new, other countries have tried it with varying degrees of success. The policy (obviously) failed in Cuba. But Argentina turned itself into a Caucasian nation by letting in only immigrants from Europe during the last century. In fact, Argentina used to have a small Black population which simply disappeared over time.To date,nobody knows where they went. I doubt, however, that they were forcibly sterilized into oblivion-- precisely what's happening to certain populations of US minorities. The forced sterilization of black and brown inmates (some men, but mostly women)in prisons and immigration detention centers is a common, but little known practice rooted in the eugenics movement. (Yes, we're talking about the US in this century. NOW. They'll try to tell you this infamous practice ended sonetime in the 1960's, but it still goes on). From 2006 to 2010, 148 female inmates were illegally sterilized at two California prisons)The practice disproportionately affects Latinos, Blacks and Native Americans, who are more likely than whites to be institutionalized. Typically, detainees who request minor medical treatment are sterilized during these routine procedures without their knowledge or consent. Those who protest risk deportation, solitary confinement,or any number of other punitive measures,depending on where they're being held. Lack of institutional oversight facilitates the abuse while cloaking it from public view. As with abortion rights, the US Supreme Court has been a major player in the sterilization drama. In 1927, the US Supreme Court ruled that "public welfare may require preventing unfit individuals from reproducing",in one of its most infamous rulings,Buck v. Bell. The Supreme Court has never expressly overturned Buck v. Bell. (In 1942, Skinner v. Oklahoma didn't specifically overturn Buck, it only ended "punitive" sterilization of felons, not sterilization of the "mentally ill"--and it required a "compelling state interest" and close scrutiny of each case, in forced sterilization. Big loopholes.)According to the National Women's Law Center, 31 states still allow forced sterilization! Maybe instead of overturning Roe v. Wade, which is, after all, about freedom of choice (and no doubt helps keep the number of black and brown babies in check without forcing anybody's hand)the Supreme Court should overturn Buck v. Bell. Stop forcibly sterilizing minority men and women and instead,let individals regulate their own reproducive choices.