“Is It Time For Socialism?”


Dallas Cowboys, Marvin Berry and Thomas J. Henry

Don’t misunderstand me, I have always and will always believe that a person willing to work should have more than a person unwilling to work! And, I think that someone who sacrificed time and money to get a meaningful education should have more stuff than someone who decided they’d rather hang-out with their friends and party rather than going to college. Basically, I have little respect for lazy, non-productive people. But …. reality has taught me that not everyone who isn’t a millionaire is lazy – truth is, some folks, due to cultural circumstances and other things beyond their control, just didn’t have the opportunity, the upbringing, to see the value of things like an education. And, some people are just incapable of passing a Bar Exam…. It’s just the truth that no one wants to admit to. Take me for instance. I have trouble learning from a book, but I learn quickly from hands-on experience. I’m not stupid — far from it. But for me, success had to come through the working ranks. And one of the things I like about Capitalism, IS, the opportunity to flourish and improve yourself through hard work.
I give you this lead-in because I want you to understand the depth of thought I have given to what I’m about to say. That, and I want you to know that I have an open mind in the argument of Socialism verses Capitalism. I ain’t taking sides, but I am beginning to question all that I’ve been taught, all I’ve believed in, and I am beginning to see that SOMETHING just ain’t right.


Dallas Cowboy’s

As my readers know I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan, for my European readers, the Cowboys are an American Football team.
Now, the Cowboys are at present in contract negotiations with their starting Quarterback, Dak Prescott; it is a heated issue. The issue is this – the Cowboys have offered to pay Mr. Prescott 35 million dollars a year to play football – he, Mr. Prescott, has refused the offer, he wants to be paid 40 million dollars a year. 35 million a year isn’t enough! He wants 40 a year – which of course isn’t actually a year; he MIGHT have to do six months of actual work. Let’s put $40,000,000 into perspective.
If you my reader, made, lets say, $50,000 a year, that means it would take you TEN years of hard labor to make $500,000 – one HALF of one million. Yeah, ten years worth of work to make $500,000, think about that. This of course means that after TWENTY years of labor you’d have made $1,000,000 – twenty years!!!! At that rate of $50,000 a year, which I hope you understand, one hell of a lot of people make less than $50,000 a year, you’d have to work for…. guess how long… give up? Well you’d have to work for 800 years! just to earn what Mr. Prescott wants to play 16 games of football. 800 years! Think about that. Is that fair? I mean don’t you think that’s just a little too much! Is this what we’ve become as a nation?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been brainwashed into somehow thinking that this type of labor inequality is, ok. But, like I said earlier, I’m beginning to reevaluate my life, my beliefs — the sacred cows of what I’ve been taught, and I must tell you under the light of truth, … that I’ve been wrong about one hell of a lot of things.


THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

I hope that you know that I’ve always tried to be honest with you and that hasn’t changed. With this said I know that some of you are saying to yourself – “What about, Thomas J. Henry?” and you have the right to do so. So, let’s go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room.
Tom is a good lawyer, he built, along with the help of my daughter, a huge Law firm, HUGE… but, like you I must question some of his actions. Nope, I ain’t pulling any punches. What’s true for Dak Prescott is also true for me and my family. So let’s air it all out.
Let me start by saying that I have no idea what Tom makes per year – but, I do know a couple of things from TV. I know that he spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $600,000.00 on that Rolls Royce you see him being chauffeured around in, and, I know he spent ten million dollars on an office party.


MARVIN BERRY

I used to work for a man named Marvin Berry. Mr. Berry built and owned (he’s since passed from this life), one of the largest construction companies in Texas – a huge company. I can assure you that Mr. Berry was worth millions. I can also tell you that Mr. Berry drove a Chevy Suburban. I can also tell you first-hand that I went to his home in Corpus Christi and was surprised that his home was no bigger or fancier than my own home at the time. Point is – that says allot about him, Mr. Berry was obviously not caught up in his ego. I always respected that about him.
I will venture to say that Mr. Berry had as much money as Tom, the difference was, how he spent his money, how he lived his life. I can tell you from being around Mr. Berry that he was happy with himself; he didn’t need to feed his ego.
As for me, well, I wasn’t any better than Tom. I too was a fool. I could have done better with my money — no – I never made the kind of money that Tom or Mr. Berry made, but I made enough. I wish I’d been more like Mr. Berry and less like Tom, but, life is about learning, isn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but when I think about folks living paycheck to paycheck, when I think about single mothers working for minimum wage, when I remember working from sunup to sundown for $12 a day picking fruit… I can’t help but think that nobody, not an athlete or a CEO of a big corporation, or… Thomas J. Henry… nobody needs to make $40,000,000 a year and nobody needs a $600,000.00 car to drive back and forth to work in.
Now, I know that some folks are gonna parrot what they’re told, “Football is dangerous” and “A Football player’s career can end at any time” but I have to ask, is playing football more dangerous than being a Construction Worker, or a Fire Fighter, or a Cop, or a damn inner city School Teacher, or a Soldier? No, it isn’t, and anyone of you, from that minimum wage single mom to your average school teacher, can get into an accident and have your ability to earn a wage cut short – accidents happen and folks SHOULD be compensated when it happens. I ain’t disputing that.
Hell, speaking of accidents, you know those two big cases you see Thomas J. advertising on his newest commercials (67 million and the 50 million dollar verdicts) well, you want to know a secret … my son Marco ACTUALLY won those cases – yeah, Marco Crawford, that kid from Ingleside … Tom never set foot in the Court Room … hell yeah I’m bragging on my son … point is, life is dangerous for all folks, not just football players, so, “that dog don’t hunt!” There’s risk in everything.
Forty million a year, Dak? Really! Just how F’-ing greedy are you? Hell, when the average person gets their life ruined in an accident and wins a $40,000,000 settlement, and that’s DAMN RARE, that forty million is a one time thing, for LIFE! Ok, how about this – you want to pay an athlete or a CEO forty million, fine, but not per year, how about forty million one time, for your career. “What!?” you say! Yeah, how about paying them a one time forty million. Not fair you say. Well, let me remind you that forty million dollars is a hell of allot of money – who the hell couldn’t live very comfortable on forty million? Like I said earlier, it would take most of you 800 years to earn that much and I can’t think of anybody I know who wouldn’t rather play sports than swing a hammer in the sun – come on Mr. Prescott, how much is enough? It’s never enough is it! It’s greed, plain and simple, and who do you think pays for this greed? You, the working stiff, that’s who – you. Yep, you’re paying for it every time you buy something from the store, every time you switch on that TV, every time you buy an overpriced jersey, and every time you overpay for a gallon of gas. All that greed comes out of your sweat, one way or the other. It’s all about money, all of it, and the trick is, to keep you soooo entertained you don’t even realize that you’re a slave. Lord have mercy on our souls.

I don’t know what else to say. Hell, my whole life I’ve been taught that Socialism is bad, “look at Russia,” “look at Cuba” and so forth – hell, I’ve been guilty of saying it myself. And I ain’t defending or disputing any of it, because, I simply do not know what the truth is. But what I do know is, that I just don’t think it’s right that an athlete can demand forty million a year and a waitress can’t buy her kids shoes for school. There’s just something wrong with that; reminds me of something the Rapper, Too Short, said when referring to his sister in the song “The Ghetto”, it goes like this,

“600 million on a football team and her baby died just like a dope fiend”

How much is enough?
I have an idea for you to chew on. Why don’t we nationalize ALL sports franchises – after all, don’t they actually belong to us? Shouldn’t they be part of the Public Domain? Let’s nationalize ’em, pay each player a flat rate of, say, 20 years of your labor, one million dollars a year and then a reasonable retirement package upon the completion of their playing time. That would be a good deal, right? It’s a hell of a lot better deal than what’s available to you! Hell, while we’re at it why don’t we go ahead and take control of Face Book, Google and all the other sites that SHOULD belong to us!
I don’t know. I’m just talkin’. I’m just looking around me and seeing, maybe for the first time … the injustice going on around me … surely to God there must be a better way than the greedy shit goin’ on in this country. So, once again I have to ask the question, Mr. Prescott – “How much is enough?” How much his enough Mr. Jerry Jones, Mr. Bezos, Mr. Gates, Exxon and the rest of you billionaires. How can you live on this earth and not be moved by what you see, not feel sorry for the needy. Again I have to ask the question … How much do you need?

Thank y’all for readin’ my stuff. As always I ask that you mass “Share” this with your friends. Plus, for those of you who are new to my work …

I Don’t want to go into it, but I myself have been a victim of lying Police Officers and lying District Attorneys, and yes I’ve been thrown on the ground and had someone put their knee on my back, not my throat, but all their weight on my back. I’ve been handcuffed and lifted to my feet by my arms which were cuffed behind my back and thrown up against a car and been handled badly, I was NOT resisting arrest. I know a little something about anger and Police Abuse … but please, for the grace of God, stop the looting!! Peace be with you. Mark

Three Rivers, 6-1-20