Samuel L. Jackson on Barack Obama.

Samuel L. Jackson, the Hollywood actor, voted for Barack Obama, he revealed in a recent expletive laden interview in Ebony magazine. Now, what struck me as very revealing was why he did so. Can you guess? Well, Samuel L. Jackson voted for Barack Obama for one reason and one reason alone – because Obama is black. That’s it. Samuel L. Jackson declared that Barack Obama’s policies meant nothing to him, really – all that mattered was that he was black. He voted for him because “he looked like me...and that is why people vote for people”. He said, in similar words.

In the same interview he accused the Tea Party of racism since their sole purpose was to get Barack Obama – a black man – out of office.

Now, these words of Samuel L. Jackson are very curious and telling. Mr. Jackson appears to be unaware that his choice of Barack Obama simply because he was black, rather any reason of substance, is, in fact, a racist choice. Samuel L. Jackson is showing an unconscious racism by this decision, whether he realizes it or not. Anyone who selects anyone, above others, for anything, for the reason of race, alone, is being racist. Race should not be reason for selecting for or against someone. Only matters of substance can form reasonable motivations for choosing one person over another. Samuel L. Jackson didn’t choose for any such reason – he chose Obama because they had the same coloured skin. This is the very same kind of reasoning which Jackson views as racist when he judges the Tea Party. They, too, are, it seems, wishing to choose a President, or determine a President, based on race...the white race. Samuel L. Jackson has declared the same motivation as the one he pins on the Tea Party – it is just the mirror image of it.

I hope for a day when race plays no part in political or other choices. People should be measured for their qualities, their abilities, their views, their aspirations and aims, their plans and their experiences – they should not be assessed on whether or not they belong to a particular race. The best candidate, in terms of a summation of all their qualities, is the one who should win – along with the best party as a summation of all they have to offer a country. The race of those politicians (or whatever other class of people is being considered under the circumstance) should not be a part of any rational, fair, humane decision making process. It should always be the best person wins. It should NEVER be – the person most like me, racially, wins. That is a racist decision, no matter who makes it, or whatever race they be.

I don’t think Samuel L. Jackson is aware that his decision was a racist one. I don’t think he has reflected too deeply on it. If he had, he would not have accused the Tea Party of similar thinking, implicitly, for he would have recognized that their views were simply mirrored echoes of his own. No. Samuel L. Jackson most probably does not intend to hold a racist view...but, in fact, he does. Sometimes people are not aware of the true meaning or implications of their own thinking. They don’t examine their own thought processes enough to become aware of them – they just act, almost reflexively. I think Samuel L. Jackson’s decision comes into this category of reflexive thought. He instinctively chose Obama because of the physical race based similarities he has with him. That is all. He never paused to reflect on whether or not such a decision was fair, reasonable or free of racist undertones. He just reacted. So many people do that. So many people “decide” without thinking. We need a different world. A world of more thinking, in which decisions are actually thought through and are not reflexive. We need a world in which people actually consider the context, implications and consequences of their thoughts before making a decision. The only basis on which Barack Obama should have been judged is on the substance of his life and his merits as a human being. No-one should have been judging based on his race. He should have been compared, in a race blind way, with all other possible humans who could have had his job – and being judged accordingly, positively or negatively. I think, had this been done, perhaps he would not have been elected. He seems, to an overseas, impartial, uninvolved eye, to have certain weaknesses as a candidate, which seemed to have been overlooked by the electorate, perhaps because they saw his race first, his suitability last.

Let future elections in America, and elsewhere be race blind. Let the decisions on who is to lead a nation be based purely on who would make the best leader, from the point of view of who would benefit the nation most. If such a person be black, then by all means elect them. However, such a person should never be elected purely BECAUSE they are black, or Hispanic, or Asian or white, etc. As always the winner should be the most optimal candidate, not the most “ethnically correct”.

The future of America is likely to see other Presidents who are minorities. I would be unsurprised to see an Hispanic President, given how quickly the Hispanic population is growing. Again, however, such a President should only ever be selected if they are genuinely the best of all candidates.

I am hopeful that some people might have learned a lesson from President Barack Obama’s election. Many people, I am sure, are a little disappointed at his performance. Yet, they should not be surprised, since many were like Samuel L. Jackson. They didn’t choose him for his capabilities...they chose him for his colour. Colour, alone, is no guide to a good leader. I hope America, and the world, choose future leaders without reference to race – for such concerns only ever corrupt and contaminate the electoral process and give rise to irrational decisions for which the country must pay the price. The world cannot afford to pay such a price – it needs to eliminate racism and choose the genuinely best candidates, in a colour blind fashion.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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How long is my blog?

For almost four years, I have been writing this blog. In fact, it will be four years in three days. At the time, of writing, it did not seem so effortful, nor so copious as it is. Yet, today, out of curiosity, I decided to count the words on ONE blog post and its comments. I chose the first post: "First Words of a Child Prodigy". It is a fairly average length post of 541 words, including its date. Yet, if the comments below are counted, at least half of which were written by me (there are 57 of them), the word count is rather more. Please guess what you think it is, for this single post.

Well, the grand total of words resulting, so far, from that single post is 13,646 words. That gave me pause. That is about one fifth of the length of the typical book. Somehow, in between the rest of my life, and work, and raising a family, I have managed to put together 13,646 words on a single post - and write about 1,400 OTHER posts, each with its own comments section and abundance of words therein.

This simple exercise has prompted me to understand that my blog is rather a large piece of writing. Indeed, I have no doubt that it runs into millions of words, since it would only take about 700 words per post, to take it to the million mark - and I am sure that the average post and comments section is much longer than that.

Then again, that prompts me to reflect that, not only have I written these million(s?) of words, over the past four years - but many people around the world, have read them, too. For comparison's sake, let us convert each million words into book length equivalents. A typical book of fiction on the shop shelves is about 75,000 words or thereabout. Thus a million words is about the length of 13 and one third novels. That is quite some tally...it means that people who have stayed with my blog all these years, have read the equivalent of dozens of novels, of my written words (and those of my commenters).

That moves me to ask: is this the best way to spend my writing time? I could, instead, have written dozens of novels, I suppose, instead of one extensive blog. Yet, I have an answer for that. Novels would embody worlds that never were and never could be, in all probability - but this blog embodies one world that is, and one world that I feel I should record, lest it pass, without record and be lost forever, when I pass on and those I write of, are gone, too.

Thus, though my writing time could be spent writing other things, I feel, from my own way of looking at the world, that this is one of the most valuable ways I can spend at least some of my writing time. This is, I believe, a project worth directing a portion of my attention to. It is to create a structure of my understanding of what I have lived, what I have seen, known and come to appreciate, in founding this one particular family and in raising my own particular children.

Amongst the particularities of my observations, there will be universals, too, that speak for all fathers, for all mothers, for all families, everywhere. I do not know which you might find more valuable: the particularities of my own family or the universals of all that I chance to speak of. Let me know your own thoughts: which is of greater value - the particularities of thought, feeling and experience - or the universals of the same. Comments on this dichotomy would be appreciated, below.

As I consider all the words I have written, and all the words you all have read, thereby, I am left to wonder at their effect. What impact have these millions of words had on you, if any? What have they changed for you? What have you understood by them? In what way are you, or is your view of life, different, thereby? I know I am different. I understand more of what I have lived, by having had to reflect upon it, for these untold pages. So, for me, at least, it has been enlightening in a way. The question is: has it been enlightening in any way, for any of you? Please let me know, below. Thank you.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to:http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)