MLK Had a Dream

By Richard King

     I do not believe there is much debate about the essence of Martin Luther King’s dream.  That “one day people will be judged on the content of their character, not the color of their skin”.  I think that many in contemporary times misinterpret the message of that historic speech.  It was not so that we would be white people, black people, or asian people..But instead just people. As Morgan Freeman once so eloquently said during a 60 minutes interview “I’m going to not refer to you as a white man, and I would ask you not to refer to me as a black man”.  Simple yet very powerful.  Growing up in my formative years it seemed as though MLK’s dream had come true.  We heard about race, but it was usually when some radical fringe element, no matter what the color may be, held a rally or protest.  This has all been cast aside for a country where equity and inclusion is the edict du jour.  Having looked back on it for some time now, I think I know when this new racial divide began.

     In 2004 I, like many other Americans, was tuned in to the Democratic National Convention.  Although I’m a libertarian I watch both the Democrats’ and Republicans' respective conventions.  The DNC in 2004 was not unlike many before it.  It had a nice penchant for the dramatic with John Kerry arriving via Navy Swift Boat saluting and declaring “reporting for duty”.  Not a bad touch, just very out of place when you actually looked at Kerry’s service record.  All that aside on the night of the keynote speech, the world was introduced to a completely unknown face to most in America.  A tall handsome younger man with an excellent gift for oration and flair.  Indeed everyone would not soon forget the name Barack Obama anytime soon after his speech.  He was declared the DNC’s new shining star.  His message was decent, he wanted to declare that we were one United States and not just a mix of races.  He called for unity and an end to racial division.  The only trouble with that speech is that racial division was not exactly a matter of supreme importance when he stated this in his address.  To my knowledge at the time, there were some racial issues in the US, which almost always involved radical fringe elements.  Be it the KKK or Louis Farakhan and his anti-white and anti-semtic platform, it was largely very limited.  I’ve watched in my hometown as people of all races and creeds came together to counter protest the KKK and Skinheads.  The most racism I encountered was usually when a select few of my Grandpa’s war buddies would make an off color remark along racial lines.  Something that I easily dismissed as a relic of a bygone era.  As the great standup comedian Jim Norton once said “if you're 80 and you grew up in Mississippi, you probably owe a few apologies”.  Neither I or anyone I knew for that matter would ever have the audacity or reason to call a black American the “N” word.  Yet at the age of 29 I suddenly found that all that was a thing of the past.  I nor anyone for that matter could have foreseen the return of race as a primary driver for political policy.  It was almost as though the civil rights movement never happened, and suddenly America was back in the time of Jim Crow.

     Obama quickly rose.  At the time of the 2004 DNC address he was a State Senator from Illinois with very little executive experience, if any at all.  In fact while the rest of the world was awe struck by this new fresh face that many pundits were comparing to JFK, I was left wondering who this guy was.  My initial attempts at research of his life were fairly fruitless.  There really was a cloud of mystery that surrounded this man.  While that only added to the allure for some, I found it very suspicious.  I was not asking for very much I thought.  If a man is to ascend to Senator only 2 years after his 2004 speech and then begin a run at the presidency it would seem to be a good thing to know about his life.  Where was he born, how was he raised, did he have siblings?  These are all very basic questions of anyone you might consider making friends with, so obviously the answers seem a bit more important when you're seeking to be the leader of the free world.  However for a very long time Obama’s past remained exactly what his campaign manager David Axelrod wanted it to be, a mystery.  There were many reputable investigative journalists that sprung into action to try and answer the questions that were certainly on the minds of many.  We came to learn that Barack Obama was the son of a Kenyan Father and a white American mother.  He has siblings still in Kenya yet he spent the majority of his life in Malaysia and then Hawaii.  He was a Harvard Law graduate and used his higher learning to be a community organizer, settling down in Chicago.  It became known that he had a very long and personal relationship with a Black Liberation Theologian by the name of Jeremiah Wright.  An extremely divisive figure to say the least.  Famous for such eloquent quotes as “not God Bless America, God Damn America”.  Then as if this cake was not radical enough already another tier was added with the revelation of his deep ties to Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorne.  Domestic Terrorist from the infamous Weather Underground that carried out attacks against the FBI and other government entities.  After learning all of this I wondered why anyone would vote for him?  His associations alone called into question his love of country and his rhetoric of Unity instead of division.  With the legacy media fully onboard and pundits like Chris Matthews having tingles in his legs from every syllable that fell from Obama’s mouth, the stage was set for this star to continue his ascent.  None of the information that came to light seemed to matter to most Americans.  It was either explained away or dismissed entirely as a right wing conspiracy.  The rallies were bigger and bigger and as I listened to the cries of “Obama Obama Obama” it reminded me of the Mummy and the transfixed dazed populace repeating “Imotep Imotep Imotep”.  Yes indeed many fell under the spell of “Hope and Change” and while I was sure that people would eventually come to their senses, alas it was not to be.  In November of 2008 Obama became the 44th President of the United States.  Completely reversing what was thought to be a coronation for Hillary Clinton and the breaking of the ultimate glass ceiling with a woman as POTUS.

     Obama’s presidency began with much wonder as to what “fundamentally changing this country” really entailed.  As promised he began to come up with bold policy prescriptions such as Obamacare and vast increases in Government assistance and intervention.  Like most on the left, Obama was certainly a believer in what became to be known as climate change, the older brother of the prior Global Warming.  Instead of unity and a return to a color blind society, more and more the American public was spoonfed ideas like “people are only against Obama because he is Black”.  I actually had an elderly man stop me at Wal-Mart one night and tell me that exact thing.  It was completely out of nowhere, I had never seen nor met the man in my entire life, yet for some reason one look at me and he was inspired.  It was truly one of the more strange experiences I have ever had.  What immediately came to mind was the utter stupidity of the statement.  I don’t care if you're Black Brown Gay or Straight, bad ideas are bad ideas.  Thus was born the racial divide that has only metastasized and paved the way for the insanity that we find ourselves in a mere 7 years after the end of Obama’s second term.  Now we have the specter of equity that hovers over the country like a case of bedbugs.  Racial Equity "is the idea that racial identity cannot be used to predict individual or group outcomes".  Then of course the idea of inclusion puts forth the notion that "traditionally excluded groups be brought into the fray of power and positions thus becoming authentically involved in all aspects of decision and policy making". Both of the aforementioned definitions came from the North Carolina.Gov website.  What exactly is a traditionally excluded group?  "Don't ask, dont tell" has been in place for years now in the military. Employment is and has always been equal opportunity, especially in our current state of affairs.  It basically means that anybody, no matter what the circumstances, should deserve a high paying job just as much as everyone else.  Equal outcomes for all if you will.  This of course completely throws meritocracy out the window and replaces it with making sure there are nothing but big firsts.  The first Transexual assistant HHS secretary.  The first Black openly gay press secretary and so on.  How did these two ludicrous ideas become construed as progress?  I have a very good example. I applied a year or two ago for a job with American Airlines. I thought having a job at the airport would make me feel right at home with my love and experience with Aviation. In the interview there was myself and three others. One man was white like me, another was a Hispanic gentleman, and lastly a young black woman who had never set foot on an airplane before. The job was offered to the woman who had never even flown and she couldn't even take the job because she had no Driver's License.  I have accepted that equity and inclusion seem to be here to stay.  In addition we came to learn the names of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.  The first a street thug who after a strong arm robbery tried to kill a police officer who was forced to fire on him to save his life.  The latter a victim to a degree of vigilante justice, yet portrayed as an innocent young man walking home with Skittles for his brother when he was gunned down for no reason.  Riots ensued, along with looting and destruction.  A seemingly benign incident compared to the riots that came post George Floyd and the rise of BLM and ANTIFA.  To this day I see the BLM flags and shirts despite it being proven fact that BLM was nothing more than a money making scam.  BLM never helped anyone in the inner city.  Instead the founders enriched themselves and with their blatant hypocrisy bought expensive homes in affluent mostly white communities.  Defunding the Police became the new Battle cry and relics like Maxine Watters stood on the courthouse steps in Minneapolis proclaiming that if Derek Chauvin was not found guilty “the city would burn ''.  There was a time when that was known as incitement.  Now it is just another day in the USA.  The old race baiters of the past grew their power and made way for new radicals like Van Jones and Marc Lamont Hill.  This is not even mentioning Critical Race Theory and White Privilege, both now household phrases.  It made the country I used to know into a place where merely asking a table of young black people to quit cussing and yelling automatically made me a card carrying member of the KKK.

     “Hope and Change” has long since been replaced with “despair and rage” and race relations are at their worst in decades.  The Washington Establishment doesn't want racial division, they need it.  Without it they're like a Great White Shark with only one row of teeth.  The division is what keeps us plebes busy with the benign, while totally missing the truly consequential.  Unity right now seems like quite a tall order.  To accomplish it, major and realistic Hope and Change will have to come in order to combat this narrative that America is still the same as it was in 1860.  Enough is enough, the little boy crying wolf routine got old a long time ago.  It is time to move forward and start fulfilling Dr. King’s dream or continue living in a world where one innocent remark can ruin one's entire career.  The time I described was not that long ago.  We unfortunately have had an entire generation practically raised with the mentality that the color of their skin dictates who they are and what they will do with their lives.  I don't have all the answers, what I do have is ideas.  Perhaps they would be beneficial, perhaps not.  Right now I would give anything to return to the simpler time when it seemed like the Dream had come true.

OnlyFans, Only Greed

By Richard King

     Pornography is undoubtedly one of the biggest vices in the US by far.  If one were to inquire, they would find that 57 percent of men ages 30-49 have used pornography within the last month, and 42 percent would admit to having viewed pornography in just the past week.  Some estimates put the number of “porn addicts” at 200 million.  This is absolutely staggering when you factor in that 40 million report having outright obsessions with pornography.  Keep in mind these stats are worldwide. With numbers like these it is not shocking that OnlyFans “content creators / amateur porn stars” are making money hand over fist with this platform.  I’m a true capitalist and entrepreneur, that being said the business model of OnlyFans is one that cares only about generating revenue.  The people who generate that revenue mean nothing.

     OnlyFans had very modest beginnings.  It was created in 2016 by a British businessman by the name of Tim Stockley.  Stockley and his partners did not just happen upon this. They are morally questionable individuals whose whole careers have been in pornography. Stockley's primary partner Leonid Radvinsky, spent most of the '90s selling stolen passwords to Internet porn sites. Including sites that promote child pornography and beastiality.  These are truly sick individuals.  It is a London based business founded for the sole purpose of opening a personalized streaming service for both amateur and professional porn creators.  The success has mainly been due to other social media sites cracking down on nudity and explicit content.  The real spike came though when Covid struck and the draconian lockdowns that ensued left many people very bored.  During the initial stages of the pandemic, OnlyFans saw a jump in revenue of almost 540 percent.  In addition, the number of content creators rose five times over to a staggering 1.6 million creators in total.  With an audience that also rose 500 percent coming in at 82 million subscribers, with the majority of subscribers coming from the US.  OnlyFans claims to be a site not just for pornography, but also for musicians and chefs etc.  This notion is really excrement when you look at the numbers and the amount of content.  Today, in less than 3 years' time there are 210 million subscribers and 2.1 million content creators.  It would appear that the pandemic was not just a cash cow for big Pharma and others.  OnlyFans is one of the most dominant forces in pornography today and with the ease of content creation and the money that comes with it, it would not be a good bet to say that the numbers are going to decline anytime soon.  Whatever the creators make the company gets 20 percent. Call them "cyber pimps" if you will.  Worse still, OnlyFans is a Chuck E Cheese for predators and pedophiles alike.  OnlyFans is of course not the only site for "Cam Girls".  There are numerous outlets for that, however in this category, OnlyFans seems to be the biggest kid on the block.

     OnlyFans has an extremely minimalistic approach to verifying the age of content creators.  It is not any wonder that many disturbed individuals have used this platform to both exploit and victimize underage girls and boys.  There have been many lawsuits filed against the company, these are almost exclusively settled outside of court.  Freedom of speech and expression is the backbone of our Republic.  We can no more ban OnlyFans than we can a local KKK Klavern.  This creates the most concerning aspect of OnlyFans, though activity which includes minors is minimal it still exists.  Where does freedom of speech and expression stop, and criminality begin?  If child pornography is being created on this platform, then it should be shut down.  If that seems too extreme, then at the very least there must be strenuous regulation when it comes to age verification and content monitoring.  The response by the directors of OnlyFans has been very uninspiring to say the least.  This is not surprising.  This modest start-up has turned Stockley and partners into billionaires virtually overnight.  What they have now is perhaps the most predominant helper for the demographic discussed earlier.  With these rising revenues and trends, parents, don't be surprised if you hear or get sent a leaked photo of your daughter or son that you prayed you would never see.

     It is hard to say what the driving factor is behind so many young women especially seeking to bare their bodies for pay.   The statistic I found reports that 70 percent of content creators are females.  This really isn't even just pornography when you get down to it.  The true nature of OnlyFans is that it is basically a legal online prostitution racket, the primary difference obviously being that there is no physical contact.  With subscription prices ranging from $5 - $50 it is very easy to spot the fountain of money this has become.  This generation more so than any previous ones seems to have no concept of the future.  This generation lives for the moment and instant gratification. In this scenario the big picture goes out of focus very quickly.  What are young adults going to do when it comes time to try to start a career or get a high paying job?  When they arrive in the interview room, the interviewer might very well pause and say to themselves, “she is one of my favorites on OnlyFans”.  Painting in that light makes it seem like a high-quality reference when in reality employers will call into question the morality and values of the individual involved.  Every business wants to find ways to generate more revenue, the best gimmick ever is not having the most popular OnlyFans creators as employees.  If one wishes to be a Hooters girl for a living, then this might be just the thing.  When you actually apply the Lense of thinking ahead however, it could be the very thing that relegates an individual to a life of mediocrity and loneliness.  If I were single, a girl who is a star on OnlyFans would not be my first choice for long term commitment.  Take it a step further and one day if you do have a family and a career, you have nobody but yourself to blame when your child's friends start showing pornographic pictures of his or her mom.  Unless pornography is your calling in life, OnlyFans serves as a means to make easy money, period.

     I would not be surprised at all if some that read this are OnlyFans subscribers or creators.  This monster grew out of control very fast.  As time passes more and more young adults will put their futures in great jeopardy and the horrible scourge of child exploitation and pedophilia will thrive even more.  I'm not telling you anything that isn't par for the course these days. I recently noticed an ad box on the screen watching YouTube that allows you to create an AI friend to flirt with. This business began in the 19th century, it's not going anywhere. As it almost always occurs, the best medicine is upbringing. They say it "takes a village", that might be true to an extent. On the whole though it takes having a solid family environment to help prepare the best young people for real life.

Sources:(Webroot, IFStudies, Forbes, Gitnux)

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