After LeBron James made himself a popinjay of a transparent asshole by criticizing support for the protests in Hong Kong in the name of his (in the case of Nike, inhumane) business interests, he continued talking about the issue, cementing himself as a guy who is much less rhetorically savvy than he thinks he is.
I know that people are genetically programmed to listen to a guy with a big ass beard when he talks. It’s the marker of a wise, experienced man.
LeBron probably intuits this too. Hence he has co-opted, one might even say appropriated this look, and delivers his mundane statements while never smiling as if he’s reenacting a Game of Thrones monologue, or, even worse, is impersonating prominent black civil rights activists of years past.
It’s like he fancies himself the Moses of woke millinneals but doesn’t know he’s one of the majority whose world view barely extends beyond their facial or pubic hair.
As someone who fancies himself as a generational spokesman, the face of the NBA – what some might call a social justice warrior – LeBron’s comments clarifying his previous comments on the situation in China were unequivocally betraying of any integrity, to the point that his entire facade now seems so fickle as to induce any true liberal with a strong sensation of nausea.
The nausea not brought on simply by LeBron, because really who really cares, but the fact that he’s not an anomaly.
“I also don’t think every issue should be everybody’s problem as well.”
That is LeBron’s rationale for choosing his business opportunities in China over speaking out about China’s grave oppression of its people, at China’s behest.
It couldn’t embody his generation any more perfectly.
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It appears this pseudo-intellectual bearded poor man’s Dick Gregory has just invalidated the entire concept of activism and progressivism with this utterly trifling statement, delivered with a hint of fatalism.
‘Every issue is not everybody’s problem.’ That is true. But – when you choose to go down the path of being an activist, you have made a tacit agreement to be on the right side of justice when confronted with it, whether it’s something close to your heart or not.
You must make this pledge for this reason: If every activist were to put their progressiveness on hold when it came to their business interests, there wold be zero progress on any social issue. Period. Ever. Slavery would have never ended if this were the progressive mindset. It sounds hyperbolic, but that’s an absolute fact. Neither would have Jim Crowe. To keep those laws instated would have been more money for every single white person who spoke out against it. Fact.
What was Reconstruction? A construction project. And those cost money.
There are tons of people who put their money in front of their ethics or morals. A lot of them. Fascists, oligarchs, old money inheritors, dictators, CEOs, stock holders, Swiss bankers, modern day Republicans.
So, be that or don’t, but don’t pretend.
LeBron James has voiced his public statements for the most part on urban police brutality, the murder of unarmed young black men at the hands of police – something that I believe Americans should be keenly aware of – hence there are and have been many protests regarding this continuing injustice.
But, I’m sorry LeBron, how is this my problem? Not everything should be everybody’s issue. Do I look like I spend a lot of time hanging out outside of liquor stores in North Saint Louis with black teenagers?
Come to think of it, I’m not even black, nor a teenager, nor do I live in a particularly crime ridden area with a strong police occupation.
I’m really in no position to be shot by the police, nor are any of my friends or family.
Why should I even care about this?
In fact, I’m thinking about investing in a privately owned prison complex near Akron. Maybe I’ll retweet a meme of a black power fist right up until my stock vests, at which point I’ll lobby for longer sentences for drug possession.
By turning his back on the situation in China, LeBron has inadvertently yet perfectly articulated the reason that civil action in this country has consistently stalled, because people are at the end of the day, self interested.
Republicans freely admit this. They have no ethics. They are nihilists who will destroy another group of people or the entire environment in the name of a dollar. They’ll invest in De Beers. They will support EXXON and start a campaign of misinformation while smugly thinking they’ve won something. They relish in fucking other people over.
Progressives are the other side of this coin. They’re all lumped into one group because they choose to stand on the side of what is right, whether or not it is their problem.
That’s why they encompass people who want to save the whales to people who want to change their gender to people who want to end police brutality to people who want to audit the Federal Reserve to people who want universal basic income.
Frankly, your average progressive doesn’t have much in common with another in terms of what issues affect them directly.
See, there’s this aforementioned tacit agreement among progressives, and LeBron’s recent comment “I also don’t think every issue should be everybody’s problem as well” single handily exposes the reason that they can’t get anything accomplished and are constantly losing elections.
It’s the reason the Democratic party in recent years went from looking out for unions and working people to looking out for people who own private jets want to make money on consulting gigs about climate change.
It exposes the entire infrastructure, the underpinnings of the movement, the reason that Hillary Clinton never made a campaign stop in Wisconsin.
It’s a game of trust and it only takes one person to fold before the house of cards tumbles.
There was a game show in England called Golden Balls, which never became popular in America. It was a show about greed, and trust, and money.
The premise of the show is this: A group of contestants are staked with a large sum of money. They gradually eliminate each other based on deception until there are only two contestants left. The procedure thus follows:
Each contestant is given a set of two balls, one each marked “Split” and “Steal,” and must secretly choose one to indicate their intentions after looking inside to confirm which is which. The contestants may speak to each other and ask Carrott for advice before making their decision.
– If both choose Split, they each receive half the jackpot.
– If one chooses Steal and the other chooses Split, the Steal contestant wins the entire jackpot and the Split contestant leaves with nothing.
– If both choose Steal, neither contestant wins any money.
To my knowledge, no contestants have ever successfully split the money. It exemplifies the worst of human instinct, and features a lot of people who have been screened to manipulate others through fake compassion.
I believe that if a few true progressives, let’s say Abbie Hoffman and Joan of Ark, were the final two contestants in this game, they would trust each other, split the money, give it to their passionate causes, and be done with it.
I’m cynical about a lot of things, but I do believe that global and domestic progress and revolution is entirely possible. I also think that for it to happen, posers and opportunists like LeBron James need to be stripped of their progressive badge.
People like Dr. King gave their life. LeBron James doesn’t want to sacrifice a few untold millions in Nike revenue, of which China currently accounts for 13 percent.
In 2018 LeBron James posted this to Twitter:
“Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere- Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter.”
A great quote from Dr. King. It’s time to call these people out. LeBron doesn’t want to split the money. Let’s kick him out of the club, we have work to do.