Black Lives Will Matter by Adopting a Zip Code
Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP
September 9, 2020 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom-X must be looking down on us fifty years later wondering if much has changed in America. Racism and discrimination against Blacks is well and alive. Racism has been in America from its beginning and will continue to exist. One of the ways to address racism is for the Black community to take control over its destiny and take care of its own. That will require a focus on Black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency as advocated by Dr. King and Malcom-X. One possible solution towards economic empowerment and self-sufficiency is through an Adopt-a-Zip-Code program. A zip-code represents about 10,000 people, which is large enough to develop a self-sufficient community yet small enough to manage.
The idea calls for successful Black Americans to come together and provide their know-how, resources, and wealth to help Black majority Zip-codes. They can be called Black Empowerment Leaders (BEL), defined as the top 1% of the Black Americans in terms of income and wealth. The goal is to start community banks, build manufacturing facilities, schools, grocery stores, and whatever it takes to make their Zip-code self-sufficient by adopting it. This program would show the people in Black majority Zip-codes that someone cares and that education and hard work does pay off. There is no shortcut to success in life, and having a real-life successful person from their own ethnicity mentoring them would trump any government program out there.
There are at least seven self-made Black billionaires and about one million black millionaires in America. Surely, we can find about 5,000 (one for every 10,000 Black Americans) of them to dedicate their time, money, and influence to change Black lives by adopting a Zip-code. Some of them have enough wealth where they can afford to give one year or more of their time to help their respective communities. They can make their adopted Zip-code to be the next Greenwood. read more…
Inequality Everywhere
“The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes. The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work.” Late Comedian George Carlin
August 29, 2020 – President Trump, who is a billionaire, presides over the richest cabinet in US history. The combined net worth of the cabinet is estimated to be $9.5 billion or more. Another way of looking at it is that this cabinet of about twenty-five people is worth more than forty-three million, or one-third, of American households combined. It appears as if socialism is camouflaged as capitalism, whereby the US government is centrally controlled by a few. One can argue that the US government has turned from a government of the people, by the people, and for the people into a government of one percenters, by one percenters, and for one percenters. More than 50 percent of senators, 30 percent of congresspersons, and 75 percent of Supreme Court judges are millionaires. This does not mean that all rich people are bad or do not care about the country. The reality is that Americans face inequality everywhere, whether it is in wealth and income, gender, race, education, or even representation in government.
Wealth and income inequality have been more pronounced during the last three decades. The federal tax code is one of the key factors responsible for the rise in income and wealth inequality. Republicans believe in the top-down or trickle-down approach of providing tax breaks to the top one percenters and corporations—one of the ways to distribute money up from the middle class and the MI generation. They believe that it will spur economic growth because the more money corporations have, the more they will invest. More investments will mean more factories and more jobs. This is despite the fact that for-profit corporations are interested in making money, and they cannot make money if there is no demand for their products read more…
Confessions of an Old Man
How Millennials are Being Robbed
Confessions of an Old Man is about how next generation is being robbed of their future and what can they do about it. The goal of the book is to get Millennials angry enough to actively engage with the American political system and take control of their destiny instead of their future being decided by rich old white men. It is a statement of collective guilt that places the responsibility on my generation, the baby boomers, for dealing a bad card to their children and grandchildren. My generation controls the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidency, so we cannot shirk from the responsibility.
This book starts by defining the MI generation and characterizing its economic and political power in decades to come. It then provides an analysis of adverse impact of student loans, national debt, health-care cost, global warming, and retirement on future generations. The book concludes with a challenge and a road map of a better future for all Americans.
Kirkus Reviews
“An inspiring, provocative encouragement to younger generations to exercise political clout….the author supplies a surprisingly sober analysis–one that’s consistently reasonable and pragmatic….this is an intelligent call for practical reform….A spirited critique of American politicians’ treatment of younger generations, and a plan of action for youth empowerment.”
San Francisco Book Review
“Exploring the ways that the baby boomer generation has robbed millennials of future economic stability, Moon uses in-depth research to quickly establish himself as an authority on the subject…. Anyone who is interested in learning a little more about economics, government, the environment, and the implications of the so-called “American Dream” is sure to enjoy Moon’s Confessions of an Old Man.”
Manhattan Book Review
“I recommend this book to all who desire imminent change, but I deem it a must-read for Millennials. …In his confession, this old man is guaranteed to convince the reader that serious issues can be conquered by working the democratic process–but the people must act.”
Introducing Author Munir Moon
Munir Moon is a former financial industry executive, a successful small business owner and an author of three books. Moon spent eight years in the financial industry, starting at Chase Econometrics and ending at a savings and loan association during the 1980s. He was a firsthand observer of the financial crisis in the 1980s, which resulted in the demise of the savings and loan industry, to be repeated in 2008 in a different form. Having a son born with cancer who survived numerous surgeries, he has experienced the best and worst of American healthcare system. As a businessman, he appreciates the impact of over-regulations, taxes and globalization.