Slavery Was Not A "Choice" But It Was Made Possible By Mind Control, Not Just Violence

This week, Kanye West sparked media outrage while making the claim that "slavery was a choice".  Obviously, this is a very offensive thing to hear for many people, as it seems that he is suggesting that slavery was voluntary, or that the slaves were somehow to blame for their own condition.

I don't think this is what he was trying to say, and if you listen to the entire interview, you can see him try to walk the statement back, and clarify that he was trying to express the idea of mental slavery.

In most cases where people are oppressed, they usually outnumber their  oppressors by a wide margin, and could end their enslavement in a single  day, if they were to all decide to topple it all over  collectively..unfortunately, there are cultural barriers in the way, all of which are figments of the imagination, although they have real-life  consequences.

Slavery is mental,  today and in history, it is not the chains that keep us enslaved, it is the ideas that justify the relationship between the oppressors and the oppressed. The cultural justifications that gave social permission for  slavery, played a bigger role in keeping slavery going than the overt  violence against the slaves did. Even the overt violence was actually a form of psychological warfare, which again creates chains in the mind  that are more powerful than chains on the body.

 It's not a "choice" but its something people were forced into accepting  until the point that they could no longer imagine living another way. I really think that is what he was trying to express.  He just happened to say it with the worst choice of words that  he could have possibly chosen, because he is just likely starting to think about these types of ideas for the first time, so he can't articulate  what is running through his head

As for his support of Trump, I don't think he cares for Trump's policies, Kanye just wants to  be president, and Trump has set the precedent that celebrities can be presidents, so he sees Trump as his spirit animal in some weird way, while intentionally disregarding Trump's policies. Let's  remember, all of these rappers and celebrities that supported Obama also disregarded his policies also, and instead supported the cult of  personality, Kanye is doing the same thing.

I don't agree with  those types of ambitions, and of course, I'm against anyone being  president, but that's my read on it after watching a few of the  interviews.

Below are two quotes from the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, to better illustrate the mind control that was used against slaves in early America.

Photo:Wiki

"I had very strangely supposed, while in  slavery, that few of the  comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries, of life  were enjoyed at the   north, compared with  what were enjoyed by the  slaveholders of the   south. I  probably came to this conclusion  from the fact  that northern  people owned  no slaves. I supposed that  they were about  upon a level  with the  non-slaveholding population of the south. I knew  they were  exceedingly poor, and I had been accustomed  to  regard their poverty as   the  necessary  consequence of their being non-slaveholders. I  had  somehow imbibed  the  opinion  that, in the  absence of  slaves, there   could be no wealth, and very little refinement. And upon  coming  to   the  north,  I expected  to  meet  with a rough, hard-handed, and  uncultivated  population, living  in the  most  Spartan-like simplicity,   knowing nothing of  the ease,  luxury,  pomp, and grandeur of southern  slaveholders. Such  being  my conjectures, any  one  acquainted with  the appearance  of  New Bedford  may very  readily  infer how  palpably I  must have  seen my mistake.” 

"I have been frequently asked, when a slave, if I had a kind master, and  do not remember ever to have given a negative answer; nor did I, in  pursuing this course, consider myself as uttering what was absolutely  false; for I always measured the kindness of my master by the standard  of kindness set up among slaveholders around us. Moreover, slaves are  like other people, and imbibe prejudices quite common to others. They  think their own better than that of others. Many, under the influence  of this prejudice, think their own masters are better than the masters  of other slaves; and this, too, in some cases, when the very reverse is  true. Indeed, it is not uncommon for slaves even to fall out and quarrel  among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters, each  contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of the others.  At the very same time, they mutually execrate their masters when viewed  separately. It was so on our plantation. When Colonel Lloyd's slaves  met the slaves of Jacob Jepson, they seldom parted without a quarrel  about their masters; Colonel Lloyd's slaves contending that he was the  richest, and Mr. Jepson's slaves that he was the smartest, and most of a  man. Colonel Lloyd's slaves would boast his ability to buy and sell  Jacob Jepson. Mr. Jepson's slaves would boast his ability to whip  Colonel Lloyd. These quarrels would almost always end in a fight between  the parties, and those that whipped were supposed to have gained the  point at issue. They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters  was transferable to themselves. It was considered as being bad enough  to be a slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a disgrace  indeed! 

The full context of the interview can be seen below:

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:

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My name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance, I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze : The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free Humans

I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon.