Aristotle | Straightspeak

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Empires decay from within, from the grassroots …

By DHughes|2016-12-10T00:40:49-05:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: business, communitywatch, politics, social, trumpwatch, trumpwatchhome|Tags: Aristotle, Fernec Mate, Henry David Thoreau, Jane Jacobs, Niall Ferguson, Todd Buchholz|

and small towns are a window onto the state of the nation Three things you might not know By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will be urban. Urbanites are hyper-susceptible to stress and living in cities they can experience anxiety and mood disorders at much higher rates than non-city dwellers. Walmart destroyed 269 small towns when they Read more...

Photo: VOA News

I give up. Trump wins

By DHughes|2016-10-23T09:38:00-04:00October 20th, 2016|Categories: politics, social, trumpwatch, trumpwatchhome|Tags: Aristotle, Donald Trump, Presidential Debate, Sam Harris|

Trump has exhausted every adverb, adjective, rebuttal, rational analysis and the essence of deductive reasoning (1 minute read) A syllogism destroyed Since the time of Aristotle (384-322 BCE), the syllogism has been a cornerstone of deductive reasoning and logic. Aristotle defined the syllogism as an argument consisting of three propositions, two as premises and one as conclusion, and this deductive Read more...

My personal history is the stuff they write books about. And that's what I am doing. The working title "Five Generations to Freedom."

It's historical fiction because, unfortunately, I can not find enough records to substantiate all facets of the story. I've combed the genealogy, traveled to my father and grandmothers' birthplace, walked the graveyards, searched the churches and ... well, the facts just aren't there. I have written three books based on other families and their genealogy but my ancestors emerged from a journey that left few records – slavery.

My great grandmother, on my father's side, was a "freed slave." My grandmother, Amelia, was born to a white, French plantation owner in Grenada and a black slave named Mary, who worked on the Count de Poulain's plantation. Amelia was raised in her father's home and in adulthood, in an attempt to escape her black heritage, she "disowned" her mother Mary. Once, when Mary visited her daughter, Amelia told her, "Get out and never come back." And Amelia, as a mother herself (twelve children), told all of them, "Marry white." And many did, including my father. My mother was white Anglo-Saxon protestant born in England. They met in Canada where dad became a doctor.

It has taken five generations for the descendants of Mary (we do not know her last name) to free themselves from the bondage and stigma of their black heritage. But today, my children embrace it and are damn proud of it. Unfortunately, the 150 years in between has been a wasteland of bigotry, racism and bullying, Filled with anger, rejection, shame, fear, violence, murder and ... love, romance, kindness, perseverance and pride.