Pro-Life Thought of the Day
Category Archives: economy
The Rich and Poor: Guilty as Charged
Today I shared the message below as a reflection for my Breaking Bread With Natasha post. It touched me so deeply that I was moved to share this beyond my spirituality blog, because the words are not religious, they are based in an energy that crosses all faiths, religions, and beliefs.
Even if you don’t believe in God, omitting the name and reference in my message still doesn’t change the message—we need to all do our part to help ourselves and help our human brothers and sisters (no matter what their skin color, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other demographic marker that separates us).
We all live on Earth, and 99.99% of us will most likely die a human death on this planet, so we need to make the most of our circumstances and do our best to protect our home and each other. Below, read my message shared earlier today, and if you want, thoughtfully respond. Thank you.
Some people negatively fixate on the super wealthy as the creators of our worldly pains and issues. But the “crabs in a barrel” and the “move out of the hood” mind sets have also plagued our families and communities. How are any of these groups truly different?
We would rather hold on to our full dollar when we only need 75 cents, than spare a quarter to someone who needs 50 cents.
Our self-absorption, even at the bottom of the barrel, means that we will stand on the backs and heads of others to elevate ourselves, rather than creating a human ladder or pulley system that lifts all of us out of the barrel. We’re always fearful of being left behind by the first crab who exits, and we’re terrified to be the last crab at the bottom. So we viciously attack, climb over, and do whatever it takes to get out and never look back. We end up acting like the first crab we feared.
Socioeconomic and racial tensions (primarily caused by socioeconomic conditions) are boiling as we enter the summer season. The heat clouds our thinking as we exist in what feels and looks like stagnation. We want someone to blame, so we childishly point the finger at others. We need to accept the fact, the truth, God’s Truth–that we’re all to blame for what’s happening in the world today. The only innocents are the babies and children, and those individuals born with mental challenges that restrict their active involvement in their or our destruction.
The rich person in their greediness is no more guilty than the poor person in their greediness. Neither are sharing God’s gifts. The careless spending by the wealthy is equally appalling as the careless spending by the impoverished. Both are arrogantly wasting God’s blessings.
The wealthy person passing by not willing to help the homeless person asking for food, water, or shelter, is equally at fault with the poor person who doesn’t tell (or take) the homeless person to a source (that they have also used or heard of) that provides food, water, or shelter—or worse, they don’t stop to share a portion of their own.
The poor person blames the wealthy person for being far-removed, yet the poor person ignorantly feels content in not opening up and giving what God touches their heart to give–because the poor person hasn’t yet learned how to properly sow. Our unwillingness to give freely is equally sinful, no matter what your financial status declares.
Why complain that all you have is bread and water, but then choose to watch your bread go stale rather than sharing some of it with someone else in your same situation or worse off than you?
Why complain about one source of violence in your community, but not stand outraged by all types of violence in your community? If your neighbor is murdered by another neighbor, your outrage should be heard as much or even louder than your screams over the murder of a neighbor by an outsider (or the murder of and by outsiders).
Is the raping, beating, and theft of your neighbors not reason to stand for justice? Are people who look just like each other, hurting and killing each other, not a reason to stand up and say, “no more” and mean it? Why are we only outraged when the perpetrator doesn’t look like their victim?
We are all God’s children and we waste more of our precious time finding ways to remain divided (and creating a broader space), than we embrace ways to come together to reflect His Truth. When will we stop frolicking in wickedness and instead turn to the Light?
Copyright 2015. Natasha Foreman Bryant. All Rights Reserved.
Signs of Redlining Back in Metro Atlanta?
David Pendered (Saporta Report) recently wrote that, “Signs of the discriminatory lending practice called redlining have reemerged in metro Atlanta, according to a new analysis of home sale prices.”
Pendered cites a study by Georgia Tech Professor Dan Immergluck, where Immergluck quantifies the in his report an uneven rebound of housing prices in metro Atlanta. It’s part of his research into issues including housing and real estate markets, mortgage finance, and fair lending. His most recent book was reissued in 2011: “Foreclosed: High-Risk Lending, Deregulation, and the Undermining of America’s Mortgage Market.”
According to the report, the areas where home prices have rebounded most and best are in predominately white and comparatively affluent neighborhoods. The affluent neighborhoods aren’t dependent upon mortgage markets, as most markets of $800,000 and more have always faired fine, and always will regardless of regulations.
“Prices should have come back more evenly,” Immergluck said. “The demographics of the city are not that different from 2001. We shouldn’t have half as many mortgages [in some demographics] as we did then. That’s what is keeping the prices down in these neighborhoods.
So what’s the issue causing this unevenness?
Immergluck believes that it is the process of redlining based on a concern over credit quality. Whites historically have better credit scores than non-whites (for a slew of reasons we will discuss in another post). So recovery for whites has been greater than non-whites, and as a result there have been less home loans extended to non-whites.
Pendered wrote that, “In addition to determining the uneven nature of price recovery, the report confirmed that the greatest collapse in home prices occurred in predominately non-white areas – especially in some communities where speculators bought homes and flipped them for significant profits. Mortgage fraud was rampant in some of these areas.”
To learn more about redlining and this report, read here
Source:
Saporta Report.
http://saportareport.com/blog/2014/10/signs-of-redlining-uncovered-by-new-study-into-spotty-recovery-of-home-prices/#sthash.cQyAY0Yq.dpuf
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. The Paradigm Life. All Rights Reserved.
Americans More Concerned About Dissatisfaction With Economy and Government Than Ebola
What do you think are the top ten issues facing our country?
According to Gallup:
One in 20 Americans now cite Ebola (5%) as one of the most important problems facing the country, placing it among the top 10 concerns, but not the highest. The economy (17%) and dissatisfaction with government (16%) still lead.
Read more here.
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. The Paradigm Life. All Rights Reserved.
My Response to John Hope Bryant’s Article “If Bill Gates Were Black”
By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA
I wanted to share my thoughts regarding John Hope Bryant’s brilliant article that was posted on and by Bloomberg BusinessWeek today. I also wanted to have a healthy dialogue with those individuals who showed their lack of critical thinking skills before they reacted, and quickly responded in the negative, to the article.
It is my opinion that the moment many of us don’t understand something or it rubs us the wrong the way, the remaining of what we read or hear turns more into an episode of Charlie Brown, just a bunch of whah whah whah blah blah blah…and we don’t hear or interpret anything else. We are then too focused on a counter argument, but never on seeking clarification. Here is the link to John Hope Bryant’s article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-04/if-bill-gates-were-black-dot-dot-dot
Below is my comment that I submitted to Bloomberg, that they will hopefully post in their comments section below the article. After you read John’s article and the comments made by other readers, please share your thoughts about the article and comments (inclusive of mine). Let’s have some healthy dialogue and if possible, some positive solutions to issues facing the Black community specifically, and all underserved communities in general. Here you go:
Economic empowerment and the eradication of poverty first begins with understanding the history of how this country was built, how we rebuild during economic downfalls, and how the least of God’s children are impacted. It requires us to look at the missing piece between the have’s and have not’s.
So yes, possessing a bank account versus being robbed blind at check cashing centers is a bonus. Yes, having a credit score around or higher than 700, instead of 550 and lower, is a huge predictor of a community’s growth and prosperity—as well as an individual’s ability to thrive not just merely survive. Yes, being financially literate is imperative, because if you aren’t then you run the risk of falling prey to predatory lenders who can smell your desperation miles away.
If you don’t have a bank account then how are you depositing or cashing checks? Are you going to check cashing centers and giving them a portion of YOUR money to gain access to YOUR money? That doesn’t sound like the wisest of choices when you have a choice. Show me one millionaire or billionaire who doesn’t have a bank account. Show me one entrepreneur without a bank account. Show me. I’m sure you can’t.
The banking system isn’t corrupt, there are corrupt INDIVIDUALS in the banking system; just like there are corrupt individuals in countless other systems including government, religious organizations, educational institutions, charities, etc. You can’t blame a crisis caused by unethical behavior on an entire system, because just as there were predatory lenders who knew customers were potentially high risk for loan defaults, there are some ‘victims’ of this economic downfall who knew they bought more house than they could afford, who knew that they didn’t have true job ‘security’ but gambled with the odds anyway, who claimed to earn more than they actually had (and eventually they had more month than money). So unethical decisions from individuals caused our country to suffer these past few years.
This is a brilliant post by John Hope Bryant, that clearly expresses the sentiment that if African Americans had a Bill Gates-type-entrepreneurial role model then the vision for the Black community would not be limited to a mindset of ‘only the lucky get out’, and the ‘victory’ would not be narrowed to simply having a ‘Black President”.
Think about it, if Bill Gates was a Black man, the money he donates and invests would be injected within his community first and then worldwide. Don’t most of us consider taking care of ‘home’ before we take care of the rest of the world? Don’t we start local and then go global? Well if this were the case, then Black communities would be resuscitated through Gates community giving, and the country (and world) would see a different ‘picture’ of these communities.
John Hope Bryant is NOT saying that Black people don’t have entrepreneurial role models; he is saying that we need MORE business owners who are employing thousands, not merely hundreds (or less). He’s saying we need more innovators, more businesses in technology, etc. that provide a competitive advantage within the U.S. in general, and within Black communities specifically. He’s saying we need MORE Black entrepreneurs going into the community, going into the schools and teaching and sharing the ‘magic’ in their success.
He is saying that in order to eradicate poverty and gain economic empowerment in the Black community it is going to take the Black community, not government, not charity, not handouts, but hard work and each person reaching back to an open hand and providing a hand up out of the pit. It’s going to require Black people with 700+ credit scores teaching those with 550 and lower credit scores how they did it. It’s going to require Black entrepreneurs to hire within their community, to bring on interns to learn the ropes at their company, and to mentor young Black children.
The majority of our role models that our children regularly see come from entertainment and sports backgrounds, which there is nothing wrong with that, except if you lack talent in either area, then what?
Additionally, and no disrespect, but Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, Bob Johnson, and others have built BRANDS that employ–but none to the extent of a Bill Gates level; and all three brands represent entertainment or sports. In 2007, Microsoft employed a reported 79,000 people. That was in 2007. Name one Black-owned company that employs 79,000 people?
So John Hope Bryant’s article says, “what if Bill Gates were Black?” What changes would you see in the Black community? What would Black children aspire to become if they saw a Black employer hiring thousands of people within their community? How many Black people could be employed (since unemployment is HIGHEST in the Black community)? How many of our children would be encouraged to excel in STEM courses and pursue careers in those fields so that they too could grow up to ‘be like Bill’?
We need to take the emotion out; we need to stop wanting to attack everything we don’t understand, and start acting like we are intelligent enough to ASK for clarification if needed, and to ASK how we can individually and collectively help solve the problem.
How many of you volunteer in the Black community? How many of you work with the underserved and underrepresented? How many of you are helping to work towards a solution? Or are you merely only focusing on picking at and tearing down the things you don’t understand, and the things you are against? If you aren’t doing anything to help the Black community, and other underserved and underrepresented communities, then what does your opinion really mean, and what are you truly adding to this conversation?
John Hope Bryant you did an awesome job with this piece. We need our children to aspire to be entrepreneurs as much as (or more than) they aspire to be athletes and entertainers. Great, they want to be a football star, but let’s teach them to also start and build a business (now) as an additional revenue stream—so when their football career ends, they still have a career…and wealth, not just temporary riches!
A broke mindset only gets the same results…an unfinished puzzle!
Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.
Trump the Chumps: Part Two
By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA
Are you ready to pick up where we left off ? Let’s go!
First let me say…OUR President announced late last night that the U.S. has confirmed that they killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan after OUR President gave the okay to engage in combative measures to eliminate Bin Laden and his associates as a threat. So…uh Donald Trump and all of you small-minded morons out there so concerned with OUR President’s birth certificate, maybe now you can see what pressing issues that he found more important to follow up on instead of tracking down his birth certificate from the 60s. Now this is a perfect segue into part two of my post on Trump the Chumps…
I want to see Trump’s transcripts from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Matter of fact I want to see his transcripts from Fordham before he transferred to Wharton. I want to see his academic honors he claims to have earned while attending the New York Military Academy (when he was acting up as a teenager as his parents sent him there to get his attitude problem adjusted). I want to know what gives a person who comes directly from Scottish (mother) and German (father and paternal grandparents) roots the right to question someone’s heritage and citizenship.
I want to know what a person who claims to have an interest in the U.S. economy, jobs, business development, and competing in the global marketplace- and says that OUR President is doing an awful job (the worst of all presidents he claimed) can do anything to turn our country around when in 1991 he filed for corporate bankruptcy (and almost filed for personal bankruptcy); watched banks and bondholders lose hundreds of millions of dollars while he restructured his debt to avoid losing more money in court. What can this man say when in 1992 his Trump Plaza Hotel was forced to file a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy?
Two years later Trump lost the Trump Shuttle, was forced to sell a parcel of his West Side yards to Asian developers without retaining ownership- only allowed to keep his name on the buildings that were built on those yards so a premium could be charged for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the breaking point when he became fixated on Asians, more specifically the Chinese as being enemy number one.
I want to know why Trump feels he’s qualified to run this country when in 1998 his Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts were profitless and could barely pay the interest on nearly $3 billion in debt; which kept them from making necessary improvements on the properties. I want to know how he feels he is capable of running our country and reducing our deficit when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a financial-reporting case against Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc in 2002 alleging that the company had misleading third-quarter 1999 earnings release statements. Then two years later the company announced they were restructuring their debt reducing Donald’s individual ownership from 56 percent to 27 percent, and giving bondholders stock in exchange for surrendering part of the debt.
So who’s company had to file for bankruptcy November 2004? Trump’s. So who relinquished his CEO position but retained his role as Chairman of the Board? The Donald. So after re-emerging as Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings in 2005 and appearing to be on the upswing even with legal issues who then had to file for Chapter 11 again on February 17, 2009 after the “Chairman of the Board” said he would resign from the board four days earlier? Trump Entertainment Resorts.
How is Donald John Trump, Sr. qualified to be the President of the United States? Does he think it’s because he knows how to say, “you’re fired” and he thinks that shows signs of a strong leader? Maybe it’s because while he was a student at the New York Military Academy he was the captain of the baseball team in 1964 and received the Coach’s Award that same year. Or maybe it was because his senior year there he was promoted to the Cadet Captain-S4 (Cadet Battalion Logistics Officer). For those of you who don’t know what this title means- The Donald was “responsible for the maintenance, security, record keeping, issue, and turn-in of all U.S. government property (except ordinance).” That is definitely grounds to claim a stake at the presidency isn’t it?
His attack on OPEC and belief that as President he could force them to do what we say and “stop robbing us blind” is supported by what experience exactly? Does he think his real estate career has laid the foundation for dealing with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries?
Maybe Donald thinks he’s better suited for the Presidency since he knows the viewpoints from all sides since he’s been a supporter of the Reform Party, Republican Party, and the Democratic Party. Donald needs to choose a party first, commit to it, and I would suggest having had experience voting in primary elections- since according to an April 23rd report by New York-based TV station NY1 (and confirmed by a city board spokeswoman) Donald hasn’t voted in a primary election in New York City for 21 years.
I want to see Donald’s tax returns for the past four years. I want to see his academic achievements highlighted for verification. I want to see the report his “people” gave him when their intel said that OUR President’s birth certificate did not exist and then eluded that it was because he was Kenyan born.
I mean seriously, Donald’s foreign policy concept is imperialistic and pimpish. I thought our country is pushing an anti-bullying movement with our children- but we’re still saying, “do as I say not as I do”. He told CNN last week that we should have told the Arab League that we would go into Libya and take Gaddafi out of office for $5 billion and then we could go in there and get their oil. He then also found a way to attack China and place some blame their way because they haven’t sent their military troops to Libya.
Yes, China’s cleaning our clock economically and academically- how is that their fault that we got caught slipping on innovation and education? Donald why don’t you invest in our schools, bring in more textbooks and supplies, fund before-and-after school programs (in underserved and underrepresented cities) that offer tutoring as early as 6am and as late as 7pm during the week, and weekend programs open from 8am to 6pm?
I would also say this- the man who is so concerned about our economy, jobs, and competing with China whom he calls our country’s “enemy” should take the $100 million he offered to donate to the White House for a stinking ballroom and instead inject that into our economy for a booster shot and job creation. If he’s so concerned about jobs and says OUR President is incompetent at creating jobs, then The Donald should start hiring U.S. citizens in all of his companies, and since he has the money supposedly, why doesn’t he open more businesses to answer the supply and demand needs which will help to trigger positive consumerism trends in those states?
Let’s be real shall we…Donald Trump is the epitome of the capitalist that people detest- he is all about money and how he can acquire more only for himself, and not concerned with job creation except to help him achieve and maintain his financial wealth. I want to know as he’s attacking OUR President about our country not having enough U.S. based companies and U.S. made products, how many of his employees in Dubai, Turkey, South Korea, Canada, Scotland, and Canouan Island are U.S. citizens? How much of the generated revenues from these locations are being re-distributed back into the U.S. economy? I want to know what U.S. products he is helping to produce that are being exported to other nations to help boost our economy and help to pay down our staggering debt?
Let me say in closing that I see that Donald’s son Eric has a foundation- The Eric Trump Foundation for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital- but where’s Donald’s foundation? I researched and discovered on Trump’s website that “The Trump Family is proud to participate in and provide support for…” The Eric Trump Foundation, Girl Up United Nations Foundation, New York City Police Foundation, Operation Smile, and The Police Athletic League (PAL)…I will let you reflect on that for a moment and not to diminish the contributions made by and to these great organizations but just ask yourself where the support of education and job creation is present by the Trump conglomerate!
Then I want you to think about this…OUR so-called “incompetent” President has done something no other President before him has been able to do and that was whoop up on, defeat, and bring back the body of Osama Bin Laden snatching that magnet of fear out of the world. You may be able to huff and puff, and fire a bunch of people Donald, and Sarah Palin may be able to hunt deer and elk in Alaska but NONE of you fools have what it takes to deal with ordering the elimination of Bin Laden while being under attack from hate mongers who question your patriotism, nationality, citizenship, loyalty, and religion every single day; while also trying to bring up the spirits of the country, rebuild our schools, produce jobs for the unemployed and underemployed, and deal with back-to-back crisis situations affecting our country domestically and abroad- while raising a family and trying to be a loving and attentive spouse. Let’s not discuss your family lives and careers!
To my readers let me say…you know that I await your feedback!
Copyright 2011. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.
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>Ivory Coast: Election, Cocoa, and More Drama
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By Natasha L. Foreman, MBA
Ivory Coast…a country that just had a ray of hope flash before them is now waiting for the drama to end. We can recall the chaos that sparked during the 2002 failed coup attempt. Now after the November 2010 election, the country has been slammed with even more drama as incumbent President Gbagbo refuses to step aside so President-elect Alassane Ouattara can assume the position. There are two Presidents trying to run a country, one who refuses to leave, and one who polls show won the election by a narrow 8 percentage points (according to the UN and the Independent Electoral Commission)- and in turn should by all accounts be assuming all responsibilities as acting President.
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| President-elect Ouattara. Photo Credit: MyJoyOnline |
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| Incumbent President Gbagbo Photo Credit: Youth Canvas |
There are some in the south that argue that Ouattara is a puppet placed into office by foreign power structures- and thereby not a legitimate candidate nor trusted to have taken part in a fair election. While others don’t care who won the election, they just want to return to work, get their salaries in full and on time, and start the rebuilding process so the country can thrive. Many northerners would agree that they just want to resume their responsibilities at work, get their children back in school, and gain a sense of normalcy under a re-defined vision of the term. Their support of Ouattara however is the reason for their current punishment under Gbagbo’s rule.
With all of this drama and emotion comes a reality about an economy that is facing a turbulent crash as some businesses, including banks have shut down. Let’s take a look at what has been happening: Schools in the northern part of the country have been shut down since late November 2010; Gbagbo’s administration has broken ties with the West African CFA monetary union- removing all except the Ivorian flag from the front of the bank’s offices; some state salaries ($160m) are not being paid on time or at all- a burden that some claim Gbagbo cannot hold up; Many private sector salaries are not being paid- especially in the northern region; Tuesday the country missed a $29m interest payment on bond debt held by European institutions; and now pro-Gbagbo supporters are showing off a new proposed currency that they call, “Ivorian currency of the resistance” at protest rallies.
So where’s the president-elect Ouattara?
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| President-elect Ouattara Photo credit: Wikipedia |
Ouattara is under blockade in a hotel in Abidjan waiting for Gbagbo to step down and relinquish control. Despite the obvious lack of control in many areas, Ouattara does however have control of the state bank accounts which reports say are held at the regional level. He respectfully called for a boycott on all cocoa exports last month, and for companies to stop paying taxes hoping that by Gbagbo no longer receiving those monies into his current administration he will get the hint that it is time to move out and move on. The cocoa boycott is a major power move and potential slippery slope since the Ivory Coast accounts for one-third of all the cocoa in the world, but without exportation there is no revenue for cocoa producers; and more than one-quarter of earnings are derived from cocoa exportation. The ban could cause cocoa prices to spiral out of control.
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| Ivory Coast Cocoa Photo Credit: TwilightWhisper |
But what good will these measures do for the Ivory Coast as the head of the French Chamber of Commerce (in the Ivory Coast) estimates that the country will lose one-third of its small and mid-sized companies if this chaos rolls over into a third month? In December the U.S. imposed travel sanctions on Gbagbo and 30 of his allies (names unreported) and that did not seem to phase them much or at all.
It does not seem as though Gbagbo and his supporters are moved by the attempts made by Ouattaro and his supporters since Gbagbo supporters recently seized control of branches of the BCEAO, a West African regional central bank, and his computer and financial experts are scrambling to create a new banking system after the BCEAO restricted access of their internal system that is housed in their Senegal offices. To really send a message Gbagbo took control of the privatized electricity company’s distribution network, and then last week had his energy minister turn off all power to the northern part of the country (large Ouattara supporters) for a few hours.
The message is being sent loud and clear- Gbagbo has the power, has no intention of leaving office anytime soon, and he definitely won’t leave quietly.
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| Incumbent President Gbagbo
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
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Copyright 2011. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.
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