Saturday, March 28, 2015

Chauncey DeVega on 'The Big Picture' Discussing America's Police and Their Debt Peonage Racket


In the interest of sharing, here is a link to my guest segment on last night's The Big Picture on the RT Network.

[And if you haven't had a chance to listen to my conversation on the latest episode of The Chauncey DeVega show where I chat with sex educator Dr. Roz Dischiavo, you are really missing out.]

The more opportunities I get to touch the football, the better I am able to recover from a fumble or missed hand-off from the center.

I had three things that I wanted to communicate in 6 minutes last evening: Ferguson is not an isolated problem; there are deep connections between the shakedown schemes used by America's police against non-whites, and the poor more generally and Jim and Jane Crow; and that "hands up, don't shoot" is the truth.

Because time is a variable in a TV segment, I was not able to get to my last point, but I did pivot to the context of Austerity and Neoliberalism as two of the primary driving forces behind the nationwide violations of civil rights by the prison industrial complex in the United States and elsewhere.

Plus, I got to mention "social control", "the carceral society", and "goons" all in one segment.

[Thom Hartmann's segment--which immediately follows mine--where he discusses Ferguson, "hands up, don't shoot", O'Reilly, and white privilege closely echoes much of what I have written about as of late. I take that as a complement.]

There are two gremlins still hiding in the system, but I think I did okay in this most recent TV spot. As always, any thoughts, suggestions, insights, and/or other observations are welcome and encouraged.

7 comments:

joe manning said...

A most illustrative expose of the big picture. An explosive 6 minute primer on vicious circle of cops, victims. and prisons, that sensitive whites will walk away from stunned. You made the connection between slavery and the modern debt peonage system crystal clear. Also most private prisons contract with their host municipalities to require 70-100% occupancy which incentivizes the whole "stop, frisk, and jail" system and necessitates folks to plead "don't shoot." That's wrong on the face of it, a matter for critical legal studies. thinkprogress.org/.../2658701/private-prison-firms-quotas. www.motherjones.com/...2013/09/private-private-prison-occupancy

chauncey devega said...

Recovered from the fumble and tried to go home as best I could. If I had 2 more minutes I could have cut the promo I really had in mind.


Is what I said that shocking or surprising? Seemed matter of fact to me.


We who can see often take it for granted me thinks...channeling a They Live allusion.

kokanee said...

Yes, you fumbled the snap! That's something I would do. Guess what? You're (we're) human and you recovered nicely. It's the message that matters.

Modern-day debtors' prison
Nicely done. Also, once you get a criminal record, you are usually excluded from voting, food stamps, a federal job and many, many other forms of employment. Basically, it takes a tremendous toll on one's life generally designed to make you a repeat customer of the prison-industrial complex. It's sick beyond measure.

Social control
Yes! I would be interested in hearing/reading more about this. ;)

Question: Does Mike Papantonio's Ring of Fire now have a permanent spot on RT or was he substituting?

kokanee said...

In NYC, "Stop and Frisk" was struck down as illegal by the courts but it has been replaced by "Broken Windows" which is pretty much the same thing.

"The King is dead. Long live the King!"

"Yeah, meet the new boss. The same as the old boss."

chauncey devega said...

When I heard myself introduced with the wrong affiliation--a complement nonetheless--I had a what the heck moment. That when coupled with realizing that I had less time than I thought, meant another course correction. Mike handled it well and I had the space to regain altitude.


Like I said last time, I treat every opportunity as an audition for next time. Thus, my being a perfectionist. Fingers crossed I didn't botch the spot too much.

joe manning said...

You and Tahisi Coates have opened a window on white supremacy that is jarring to white moral sensibilities. You enlighten us about our own culpability, overt and covert. We want to feel good about ourselves but you remind us of the racist establishment that we're a part of.

joe manning said...

As much as I like Michael Eric Dyson and Glenn Ford you're comments have much more thrust and bite.