who defines luxury? not you. but you subscribe to the idea of luxury even when it doesn’t benefit you. at our maturity stage, we’re not accepting the benefit of fitting in or not being laughed at, are we?
in the song imaginary players by jay-z, he talks about how he is ahead of the curve. he was poppin that cristal when others thought it was beer. he was rocking platinum when people thought it was silver. he said he really gotta be the pioneer.
at the end of the song, he asked the listener “what would you do when you pull up in a 4.0 with your chick, and i pull up in a 4.6 with my chick… you’d probably hop on my d*ck right there, and ask me some stupid sh*t like ‘what’s the difference between a 4.0 and a 4.6?'” jay-z’s response (to himself) was, “like 30 to 40 grand, BEAT IT!” it’s a reference to the trucks’ range rovers. the engine size was the machinery difference, but what truly mattered was the price. it’s a flex to buy the most expensive line of any brand. jay-z ended the insult by saying “YO. DO THEM SH*TS EVEN GOT LEATHER?!”
growing up listening to hip hop, from biggie to jay-z to nicki minaj to latto, it’s easy to want what they have. it’s easy to watch them and think how fly they are. but it dawned on me. they’re not fly because of self-esteem. their esteem is rooted in their materials. they’re fly because of the labels and people they’ve attached themselves to. coogi, rolex, hublot, maybach, tiffany’s…
from an early age, we were unofficially told to clown others if they didn’t have REAL jordans. so yes, from an early age, we were indoctrinated by materialism, which is a product of capitalism. and we silently, or quite boldly, teach our kids that money and brand association is connected to being fly. at what point do we challenge thoughts that we had decades ago? especially if they’re not rooted in love and fairness but instead division and social order.
in amerikkka, we need to reassess EVERY idea we have and see if it still makes sense or if it’s just flat out wrong.
we tend to overvalue objects and then devalue humans when they cant afford the things we regard valuable. we do that instead of devaluing things and overvaluing character, maturity, vulnerability, love, time. humans. normally, these things are cheaply made then oversold. we’re holding in high esteem $57 items because other people told us to.
we will like a person and since someone else said this place isn’t worthy of a first date (though you can go on your 4th date), we depreciate the human who wants to see us. and then come up with this notion that the person must not like us enough if they took me to this restaurant. these ideas are a reflection of society, but we have some responsibility in how society is shaped. vacations, shoes, alcohol, cars, jewelry, restaurants, etc.
in interpersonal relationships, we walk around claiming we want people to take us as we are. we don’t want someone we like to lower our worth because we’re not at a certain stage in life or have the same bank account or can afford a vacation on your time schedule. no. we don’t value people or friendships. we value people with money. we don’t value romance. we value having money spent on us for us. then, we just look for someone who has just a bit less than us to pick on.
a complete revolutionary cultural transformation is needed from us. especially my African family. we must create an atmosphere where a person doesn’t need a dime to participate in society as a human. we must create a tangible and idealist environment where we don’t isolate humans from being in our society because they can’t afford what we can barely afford. living in an exploitive and hyper materialistic society makes change seem difficult. but it starts with humbling ourselves and resisting this status quo. we create new rules that benefit us all.
BURN DOWN “LUXURY” BRANDS
in 2018, Burberry literally incinerated $36.8 million of their own merchandise. perfectly good, never worn merch, all to maintain its exclusivity. nike slashes shoes and then tosses them away so they can’t be worn by folk who might go through trash bins. after hurricane katrina affected millions of lives, corporations lobbied for laws after refugees were seen wearing their gear. of course, after spending millions in ads, who would want to see their merch on some desperate family scrambling for food and shelter? it devalues the product. this happens at h&m, urban outfitters, walmart, victoria’s secret, michael kors. in 2018, richemont, the owner of the jewelry and watch brands van cleef, cartier and piaget, said it had destroyed about $563 million worth of watches to avoid them being sold at a discount.
they destroy perfect merchandise to keep the image of prestige. these corporations will toss out dishwashers, mattresses, food and drinks. major food brands are DESTROYING FOOD to maintain their bottom line and not discount them! valuables. items that people are taking out loans for. you see people steal from high end stores and get mad at them, and never question or raise your nose to the store that sells a purse or wallet for hundreds sometimes thousands of dollars? all of the merch stole since the pandemic doesn’t amount to the merch the stores literally thrown away in a year… but be mad at “thieves.” if crime is connected to harm, who’s really the criminal?
blame individuals for plastic bags and straws and for “overpopulation.” overpopulation is a capitalistic myth to shift blame onto you in your house while allowing giant corporations sell you this dream of luxury while they create scarcity by burning [in]valuable items. resources are there. they’re being mishandled at everyone’s detriment. if we only produced what’s actually demanded, we could spend way more time outside of work and have funds for activities and areas that are needed to enhance life. it sounds crazy HERE, but i thiiiiiink there’s a system (and a few countries) that agrees and implement this type of economic plan.
luxury is luxury when everyone can’t afford it. it’s why homelessness is essential for capitalism to remain. there needs to be people in the streets to make homes valuable. you need to know your job is insecure for you to continue working. unemployment is needed. scarcity in a capitalist society is imperative. it can all be so simple.
why is that logo that important to you? why do your eyes open wider when you see that car? why are you so loyal to that phone brand or name brand at grocery stores?
celebrities get paid millions to model a sky blue watch that costs $6 million to raise their stock. then you have some athletes who intentionally does the opposite and removes the big logo from the most recognized shoe brand in the world or puts tape over it.
yes, admit. we do engage just to not be isolated. just to participate in society. cus if not, these shoes without a swoosh is nothing but shoes from temu or ross. it’s on us to create the atmosphere of not needing a dollar and still being able to love, laugh, eat, sleep, and take part in community.
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD? not in amerikkka.
people in amerikkka think it’s something inherently virtuous about “grinding.” there’s this idea that if you rest, you’re not worthy of a house, of food, or being part of society. most of us have drank the poison this wicked system has fed us. rest is associated with stagnancy. look at this new article. they’re coming up with new names to create a cool concept of working multiple job. who’s the “they” you ask? the elites. the ones you wanna be like. the ones we give our few dollars to so they can add to their fortune.
*having multiple jobs isn’t cool. it’s necessary because of the structure, but it aint cool. we MUST fight back!!*
then you see other countries that have a way better sense of happiness. and way more security. and way more educated. yet, work way less. as of 2022, 65% of married families have both parents working. listen. keep alldat equality talk at home, that’s between you and your partner. have a sit down. but it’s an undeniable fact that the family and children hurt when there are no parents parenting in the capacity kids need. the family suffers when valuable time is secondary.
now stay with me. the productivity of workers since 1950 has gone up. it has gone up 430%, per these stats. One way to look at that is that it should take less than 10 hours per week to afford the same standard of living as a worker in 1950. in other words: our standard of living should be over 4 times higher than it is.
what makes this country’s system even worse is working for the vast majority of people is like a drone. you’re detached from the work but must keep flying for hours more than others because that’s your duty. not purpose, but duty. most of us don’t know our purpose, yet we’re working to death. a drone is above us while the director is on the ground. there’s alienation as our work doesn’t reflect desires, nature, or purpose. but we tell people to work harder. our elders tell us stop complaining because of their conditions. what do you do for work? how does it help humanity? how is it adding? how is it addressing issues? i’m not judging you. amerikkka is on trial, not you.
and when we do have a career, be careful EVEN THEN to not connect wages with helpfulness. in a system based on exploiting, always remember you do not get paid based on your help to mankind. you are paid based on your value to your employer’s bottom line. the system of capitalism only focuses on profit and surplus. period. hard stop.
you go to school and get degrees (all that contribute to debt, first) to serve. wait, you pay for a ticket to help? anyway. yes, you might very well be helping others. that’s not what i’m saying. i’m saying your wages don’t reflect that. we can make an easy case that teachers are extremely important to the well-being of any given society. we can add social workers, those in food service, nurse assistants, EMTs. any occupation that serves vulnerable people you can bet is underpaid.
yet, your favorite basketball player makes $40 million dollars or more. that super bowl you’re gonna watch is gonna involve a quarterback who throws a ball for $154k a day. or $4.3 million a week. that’s $52 million a year.
celebrities get paid to take off jeans and walk around in underwear. get paid to post on a social media platform more than you get to assist a pregnant woman give birth or help a homeless man with mental health issues find a house. presidential candidates pay up to $20 million for celebrities and influencers to endorse their campaign. all while they ignore the job insecurities you have and the debt you have accrued. but go vote for a new Black face of empire. that’ll help.
see. pigs and prosecutors legally can’t use evidence that was obtained unlawfully. it’s called “fruit from a poisonous tree.” what grows from this system of slavery is poisonous. the politicians are poisonous. the military is poisonous. the educational institutions are poisonous. it’s on US to devalue the fruits they’ve served us and we plant our own that doesn’t reap harm and death.
VALUE SYSTEMS CHECK
we don’t value honesty, we value a pleasant lie.
we don’t value good wine or tequila, we value the notoriety of brands.
we don’t value peace, we value pride.
we don’t value style and fashion, we value the brands.
we don’t value information and knowledge, we value pieces of paper as a degree.
we don’t value people, we value the materials that are attached to people. and wonder why we’re in situations we’re in. it’s because we didn’t consider character. we considered things. so people present us things while being awful.
in the movie Heat starring Robert Deniro and Al Pacino, Deniro says “don’t get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat.” that sounded like a meeeean line. he ended up walking out on a woman who seemingly cared for him.
we as a people are detached from each other and will walk out on souls that joined our life to elevate us in 30 seconds flat for the illusion of being valued. for the illusion of luxury. we treat and view people with so much disgust because we don’t value human life. especially to my African family, it’s time to reverse our value system and put value on each other and life over things. we cannot show up in our own life and others when we value everything BUT life and community.
we Resist this life Until Liberation Exist.
unamerican idol 