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Isaiah Jones vs the Sea (A 21st Century Odyssey) chapter 25 “The Contract” by the African American, poet, playwright, and novelist, Joey Cloudy.

Isaiah Jones vs the Sea (A 21st Century Odyssey)

Chapter 25 The Contract pt 1 of 2

“All money ain’t good money.”

-Old Negro Saying

(while playing dominoes)

Mara Alveraz Diaz parked the 17-year-old 2006 red Subaru Impreza in the Key West Perry marina parking lot, as Beatrix Ovejero Torres checked her make-up in the visor mirror once more before they exited the vehicle, and the two ivory clad Cuban American teens made their way to the docks the roar of the power boats that ferried the guest out to the ship drowned out the cry of spiraling sea gulls as they boarded the water taxi. The 20 ft powered cat was empty except for the dress whites wearing captain an Afro Cuban like Beatrix, the old charter captain they recognized, he spent his days sitting at the corner table with the other old men playing dominos, smoking cigars, and nursing bottles of coca cola they clandestinely topped off with rum.

Good evening, Comandante Abuelo, Beatrix shouted when she saw the old man in his crisp white naval shorts and dress shirt waiting at the pier. “¡Saludos, picaronas!” (Greetings, little tricksters!) he replied with a grin as they boarded his boat. The old man would spend the remainder of the evening shuttling guests to and from where the nearly 100-foot carbon fibre sailing catamaran SS Asmodeus was anchored. Beatrice and Mara had been busy all week being interviewed about the videos they posted that went viral.

Beatrix wrote the code for their sites, but it was Mara, with her exquisite eye for color, design, and style, who did all the hard work of editing and uploading their content. The last seven days had flown by since the gathering last weekend onboard Isaiah’s 44 ft sloop, the Exodus, and now, they were on their way to meet with Savanah Nikola Svensson onboard the behemoth SS Asmodeus, a 97-foot carbon fibre solar powered sailing catamaran where the evenings all-white only party was being held. They had attended a few events at Savannah’s invitation over the last year on other super yachts previously, but this was their first time being invited aboard her yacht.

Savanah Nicola Svensson, now age 27, had made her first million before she was 11 years old as a model and lost it all to an embezzling manager by the time she was 12. During the trial, it was discovered that the manager, the photographer who launched her career, her mother’s older brother, Magnus Dahl, was not only a thief and a fraud but an incestuous pedophile. The scandal rocked the fashion and modeling industry to its core and forced Savannah to restart her career with nothing. Magnus was found guilty and imprisoned, and soon after, her mother hanged herself. By the time the stain of the scandal was over, she had reinvented herself and returned to the world of high fashion, 3 years later to become the highest-paid supermodel in history by the time she was 17.

The tall, lanky tomboy had grown up in a tiny fishing village with her mother and father, but even as a child, she always hated Norway’s weather, the cold, the snow, and the homogeneity of the populace. The only thing she loved about her life in Norway was its proximity to the sea. Her father and grandfather after a day of fishing would watch old Star Trek episodes together and that is where she developed her first crush on the actress Nichelle Nicols, the black woman that played Lt Uhura, season 2 episode 10 ‘Mirror Mirror’ the thigh-high boots, midriff exposed, dagger wielding black woman took her breath away at 6 years old she was smitten. That was her first crush, even though by the time she watched the episode on DVD, the actress was old enough to be her grandma, a it didn’t matter. She decided since she couldn’t be black, she would live her life on a ship like her hero, only her ships were on the ocean beneath the sea of stars. Her first lover, Kedija, was pre-med, an Eritrean girl she met at university while in the UK. They dated all through college.

The diminutive bobbed haired girl Kiko handed them each a glass of sparkling white Prosecco before she guided the duo to the poop deck “I saw your video from the party last weekend!”, she said excitedly. Kiko never said whether she liked the post because at that moment, Savanah saw the two of them on deck, she screamed like a high school girl, abandoned her guest mid-sentence, making a beeline across the teakwood deck to embrace Beatrix and Mara. The 6 ft tall platinum blonde Norwegian woman air kissed the two younger women before leading them below deck to her private quarters. “Welcome aboard, now please follow me, we must chat first. Savanah led them through the companionway to her personal quarters in the aft beam spanning cabin.

“Drink?” she asked, heading to the bar on the far side of the spacious quarters her Norwegian accent heavier than usual since she had been drinking and always felt relaxed with the girls.

“No, thank you, we still have glasses filled with bubbles,” Beatrix said as she surveyed the massive state room.

“¡Qué chévere! This thing is bigger than my parents’ master bedroom in our apartment.”

“I am delighted the two of you could make it, with all the excitement this week, I honestly was not sure if you would join us tonight, considering everything that has transpired since we last spoke. So let us get right to business shall we. I do not like to have people waste my time, and I do not waste the time of others. I know what it is like to get fucked over in this bussiness so understand that I will never do that to you. Do we understand each other?

Yes, ma’am Mara said meekly.

Savanah threw back her head and laughed. Please relax, we are going to be partners, so I insist you call me Savanh, or if you need to address me formally, I have a doctorate from Cambridge, so you may address me as Madame.

Mara and Beatrix both giggled at the word Madame.

Savanah smiled, “Good, we are just 3 friends discussing business, now agreed?” Yes,

“we are both a little nervous, this vessel is sorta’ intimidating.” Beatrix confessed.

Relax, Savannah said casually, the fact of the matter is you have a lot more leverage now, and I will not insult your intelligence with a lowball offer, time is of the essence. We need to get our people in marketing on this right away. Do the two of you still have your hearts set on purchasing a new Sun Reef 60, a €4,699,000 Euros boat, that’s about 5 point 1 million US? Correct?”

“Yes, Beatrix said with a self-satisfied smirk. 5.175 Anything smaller would not have the effect our brand Black Lotus needs to project for our future clientele, plus it will not just be a place of business, but where we live as well. Like you do here.” The teen was out of her depth, but there was no need to let her know that.

“So, Savannah said, pouring herself a vodka tonic. The two of you believe you will be able to make that sort of money in only 3 years with your plan, eh, tell me, just between us girls, what did you gross last year?”

“Only 250k,” Mara said proudly, gently swirling the sparkling wine in her flute.

“How does that get you to 5 million in 3 years at that rate?” Savanah asked as she sat cross-legged on the settee across from her berth, sipping her drink and absentmindedly clicking her perfectly manicured nails.

“We ran the numbers. Beatrix stated confidently. We were only working part-time after school, so we figured we could double that working full time.”

“It still does not add up if the two of you only made 250k total last year.”

“No, we averaged 250k each last year,” Mara stated confidently, clarifying the issue.

Savanah was stunned. She took a long pull on her drink, draining the contents of the glass in a single gulp. “How exactly do two high schoolers manage that, side-hustling, as weekend warriors?”

“We each pull in between 12 to 15 hundred dollars a day, doing everything from sexting and phone sex to foot fetish work on OnlyFans. NSFW (not safe for work) content, but nothing we have done is illegal on OnlyFans since it’s just photos and videos of a pretty girl’s (Mara) feet.”

Beatrix sipped her sparkling wine before adding boastfully. “We use VPN, dark ware encrypted burner phones for NSFW accounts. We even use AI voice scrambling software, so no one online has ever seen our unmasked faces or heard our real voices. In real life, we both have our parents’ Cuban accents. In the virtual world, the computer voice modulating app gives Mara, our ivory-skinned resident dominatrix here, an upper-class British accent and me a gentle French accent. I happen to speak French as well.”

“We choose those nations after conducting surveys on what accents men found sexiest. Mara said, continuing. Black Lotus is a completely legitimate corporation; we have dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts on this, consulting online with professionals along the way. We use ghost LLCs to transfer funds from one account to the other, wash the money, pay our minimum share of taxes when applicable, and it’s all perfectly legal in the end. We keep our money safe from the taxman in accounts in the islands. We got into crypto early, made too much money, and we got out early. Other than that, we maintain a low-key, conservative, diversified stock portfolio.

We even read your book ‘Diary of a Day Trader’ and took some of your advice, but mostly we listen to old timers like Warren Buffett as far as long-term investment trends go. Your book was a fun read, but your strategy was a bit too risky for our blood.” Beatrix concluded. [Note 2.] “We make our profits by investing in low-cost index funds. “Your recommendations in Tech Bro companies are extremely risky Mara added solemnly. We tend to stay away from investments that produce no widgets. That is a red flag.”

“The reddest of flags, it is usually an indicator of some sort of fraud. Beatrix added between sips of sparkling wine, Ponzi schemes, pump and dump, churning. Big numbers with no real-world product are always a sign of some sort of behind-the-scenes shenanigans, a bubble about to burst; Airbnb, Lyft, bitcoin, block chain, NFT, all garbage investments long term.”

Mara added we make our profits investing in low-cost index funds. “Invest in regular intervals, and let your money compound,” she says. “It’s a strategy that is simple, boring, and the key to investment success.” -Warren Buffett

We even invest in OnlyFans as well as other platforms and apps that we like and actually use, like GoPro, Instagram, and Grubhub.

“The two of you figured this all out Savannah queried, when you were in 11? 12?”

“Yeah, Beatrix replied, and that was a Graham quote, not Buffett.” Beatrix replied confidently, a wisp of a smile on her lips. We took college business classes online, from Harvard free on YouTube. when we were 11 while ouir friends were obsessing over tic tock dances around that time, we were starting to get bored with stealing rich boys’ boats and joyriding sailing around the Caribbean and the Bahamas, so we used the internet to research how to make and invest money, read the 10 best books on investing and came up with a plan to get cash to buy our own boat. I have two cousins who make more stripping at places like Lollipops, Angels Erotic Lounge out in Clearwater, and Oz’s on a weekend than my parents earn in a month. The tall, skinny Afro-Cuban girl stated matter-of-factly.”

“Beatrix lives in a 2-bedroom shit-box apartment in Stock Island, her dad’s a carpenter, and her mom cleans houses. My mom is on welfare scrubbing rich retirees’ toilets in Miami, I live in a small beach front million-dollar house in Sunset Key with my aunt Giselle; growing up my mom was the good catholic girl, got good grades but got pregnant too young and married my dad before he went to prison for possession with intent to distribute. Mom is too conservative to work in a bar or a club, has no education beyond high school, no skills, and is religiously conservative.

My auntie Giselle is a completely different animal, she’s done it all to survive, everything from exotic dancer to call girl until she found her niche and now the woman is worth millions,” Mara said proudly, “I’ve seen old pictures from the 90s when they were our age, and she wasn’t even the hot one when they were growing up. Giselle is retired; she made her money doing old-school phone sex.

My mom is too catholic to do anything like that, so she sent me here after she moved into a homeless shelter after Hurricane Wilma destroyed the trailer park where we lived in 2005, I was only 3. Growing up with my aunt, I saw how she lived, and we decided to learn how to do what she did, but in the modern era, post dial-up modem. The weird thing is that my mom actually believes she is a better person and morally superior to my aunt because she is a maid instead of a sex worker, yet she sent me to live with her because she can’t afford to take care of me. She doesn’t see the irony. It’s a very common sort of arrogance you see amongst religious conservative holier-than-thou types of almost every faith.”

Beatrix chimed in, changing the subject.

“We read about you in Forbes 30 under 30 last year.”

“But you copied, dare I say cloned, my website 5 years ago,” Savanah said with a smile.

“We just copied your aesthetics, your look, but we didn’t clone your site. Beatrix said defensively, Black Lotus is a 100 percent legit business with no/zero criminal activity, not even a copyright infringement.”

“So, you two little moguls have, what, half the money for the boat already?!” Savanah asked refreshing her drink.

“No.” Beatrix replied, “We only worked our way up to 250k last year, the year before half that, and the year before half again. So, we are nowhere near what we need to pay cash for our boat.”

“So let me get this straight, the two of you have nearly a million dollars in the bank, and you are saving up to buy a 5-million-dollar boat with cash.”

“Yes, Mara said tersely, that is the plan. We never touch the boat money except to make even more boat money, like these outfits we are wearing, we dipped into the boat fund, figuring we would make it back with interest. We rationalized the cost as an investment in the business, kept all our receipts, and sent everything to the accountants. My guess is they will find a way to write them off as business expenses, she giggled, they are very knowledgeable and creative. But as a rule of thumb, we never touch the boat money. But this is business, so we made an exception.”

“You both look fantastique this evening. Savanah said, turning to face the two girls after topping off her drink. I have a collection, she said smiling, a fleet if you will, of sailboats that I live on when I am away from work in ports around the globe. I live there when I travel, and am in a city near the sea, I stay in one of my boats. On the east coast, I have a Royal Huisum, an aluminum hull prototype cat from a Dutch shipyard.

Now that you are old enough to legitimately work for us, I insist you use it as your office as well as your home while you are in the employ of our new agency, Wave Maidens. We will provide the operating capital, and you will pay Mara 10 percent as your agent; we will take 15 percent as manager, other than that same deal as before. By the way, I love what you have done with your hair, the cornrows look magnificent on you, Beatrix.

The Zinc white infinity scarf is magnifique, the perfect accessory, especially considering who our guests are this evening, very classy, very old school, Grace Kelly chic. This whole black girl, white girl, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio vibe you two have going is marvelous. I simply adore it. You do not have to sign anything tonight. In fact, I insist you have your legal team look over the contracts when I email them to you, and if everything is in order, we begin work immediately. You must forgive me for asking, but have you fallen in love with the boy?”

“What? Who?” Beatrix stammered. Caught off guard by the personal question.

“The tall, green-eyed black boy in the video you uploaded. Savanah said, laughing. The one whose boat you were on after we talked last week. The mathematician Jones is his name.”

“He’s an engineer, not a mathematician,” Beatrix said, correcting her. No, I’m not in love with him, I like him, but he has a girlfriend back home.”

“She likes him a lot. Mara added mischievously. You’ve been talking about him nonstop all week. It’s been nothing but “Izzy this and do you think he will call and should I send him a message omfg!” Mara laughed and leaned in, making exaggerated kissy faces. While Beatrix, embarrassed, pretended to ignore her friends’ antics.

“Well, he may be working as an engineer, but he completed the double major program offered at Dedman College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degrees in both engineering as well as physics. He has won numerous math and science contests when he was younger. Youngest to win the Fields medal at age 9, and it looks like he’s in line for a Nobel next for his work in manipulating electromagnetic fields.” Savanah said, looking at her laptop screen sitting on the desk in her quarters.

“Mara vetted him, but just to be sure he wasn’t a criminal or dangerous, I didn’t really pay much attention to his academics other than the fact that he graduated from college at 15. I thought he attended Southern Methodist University.”

“He did, Savannah said in agreement, Dedman College is a part of SMU, the physics and engineering departments. You are the only young woman I have interviewed who wanted to be yacht girls that have ASA ratings and classes under your belt already, both ASA 105, which is very impressive. Most view this job as a way to make contacts in the modeling world and get access to wealthy men. You two are the only ones I have met who have their own company and a realistic work plan. You will need to drop out, get your GED, and take the rest of your university courses online as you work as crew on my ships between gigs. Kiko will tutor you.”

“The mouthy shit talking little French girl?” Mara asked. ¡Ella está hecha una tremenda manguita! No me gusta ese tipa.”

“Yes, Savannah said with a grin she is French with a Japanese mother. She is a task master adept at prepping for equivalency testing as well as having superb organizational skills, eight languages, and already has her bachelor’s, same age as you, nowhere near as smart as either of you. From my understanding of what she does, she knows what credits transfer to what college. Her path leads to a degree in business from a small midwestern liberal arts college, after that, you transfer to any university you want for your graduate work. Apparently, many of the equivalency tests you take for high school will also count for college credits. She has a system worked out to get you your degrees quickly. I will let her bore you with the details. I assume the two of you have your passports in order?”

“Yes, we are vaccinated and ready to travel,” Mara replied. Blushing from the rush of the alcohol.

“Good, Kiko has been my PA for the last 2 years. She will be your liaison. If you have any questions or need anything at all, you contact her.”

“Why are you being so nice to us?” Mara asked suspiciously.

“I am getting too old for this business; this will be the last time I work for anyone else doing this. I am starting my own agency while my name still has top value, models we age like beached fish, I want to get out before it starts to smell bad. Nothing is more pathetic than an old woman past her prime trying to compete in a young girl’s game; all that plastic surgery just makes them look sad. The time to start my own agency is now, while I am still young enough to be relevant in the industry.

I have been in this business for twenty years. It is time for me to move into the background, behind the camera, behind the desk. I know this business, and I am good at predicting trends. With proper guidance, your friend Beatrix is poised to make us all a great deal of money in the fashion industry as well as the nautical hospitality business, we are all sailors. The sea is a merciless, unforgiving monster that devours the weak. You know that life is the sea, you live with no illusions about the world, unlike a lot of the beautiful, empty-headed girls that I meet in this line of work. They have an obscene amount of confidence in their nonexistent talents and abilities, while you have actual marketable skills as a sailors, programmers, and engineers, and yet you are two of the most modest women, I mean that in the best way, I have met doing this.

This business is full of delusional young women; it is our job not to become one of them. I have seen you two zipping around the Keys for years now, every season I see this tall skinny black girl at the helm of a bigger boat, always a sailboat, usually a catamaran. The boys all talk about Beatrix, this beautiful black girl who sails circles around them with her white girlfriend Mara all over the islands every summer.

I listen, I hear how they talk about you; they all adore you, but even more important is the fact that they all respect you. You have never slept with a single one of them. They all acknowledge that you are the superior sailor than they; you can make their boats go faster than they can, it is a turn on for some, intimidating to others, and now, now they see you making out with a beautiful black boy. A boy with a big black yacht, like nothing they have ever seen.

Collectively, white men have very fragile egos, and now they see you with someone they can never be, coming from a place of privilege, they find it unsettling. You play your cards right, and we can use this newfound notoriety as a springboard to your career as a model to get your brand international exposure.

In the coming weeks, you will be invited to New York to be interviewed by the bigwigs of network news MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, as well as have your face on all of the major news and fashion magazines Vogue, Elle, Mademoiselle, Cosmo, ect… I would recommend you stay away from the right-wing fascist fascist-leaning networks like Faux and Brightbart publications. Hate fueled racist propaganda mills are bad for business and the brand that stuff is the staple of death spiraling boomers and neo nazi, there is no such thing as both sides in moral questions such as this, there is a saying in Germany [note 1]

“If there’s a Nazi at the table and 10 other people are sitting there talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis.”

-David Foster Wallace.”

“What do you need us to do?” Beatrix inquired.

“I need you to be able to follow instructions, things are going to be happening fast and if you have any concerns, I need you to trust that I am working towards your long-term best interest of as well as my own. I like to train and promote from within, keep things all in the family as much as possible. When I bring Hemisphere into my fleet after she comes out of dry dock refit and overhauled, she will be my/our flagship, and you will be the ship’s chief stewardess until we get you enough experience to make you her captain. Mara will be the chief engineer if she is as good as you say she is.

They like brains and beauty, so once you finish university, we will add degreed professional to your resume before Super model and Captain of a sailing ship, is that not quite the resume, eh? Being well educated makes you more powerful, and power is an aphrodisiac even for men, especially for men.

So, ladies, what do you say? I am still short of staff, 2 girls. Are you interested in the job beyond tonight? My newest ship, a Fountaine Pajot SAMANA 59, has a chef, a sous chef/bartender, a chief stewardess, and a captain/engineer in La Roche, France, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive before they begin her sea trials. Your tickets to France are in an envelope with Kiko, but I need to know by the end of business tomorrow if the two of you are interested, or else, I must contact the team in La Roche to start the shakedown cruise shorthanded to get the ship to her destination here in Key West. But, enough talk of work for tonight. Please, go have fun, we will talk more later.”

“Are we here tonight as employees or guests?” Beatrix asked.

Savanah laughed, “The two of you are the most famous people here. Tonight, you represent yourselves, being the women who uploaded the most popular viral video of the year so far, the numbers on the post are still going up. I cannot believe you did not know he was the youngest person to ever make the 30 under 30 list 6 years ago.” Savanah chuckled.

“I think we were 11 or 12 then, we were still just a couple of boat-stealing little Cuban kids,” Mara said, laughing.

“Well, he is 2 years younger than you, so he was only 9 or 10 when he made the list,” Savanah said, sipping her vodka tonic like tea.

“He told me he was on the spectrum, a high-functioning autistic, Beatrix confessed. But I had no idea he was like the Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein of the 21st century or something.”

Savanah smiled, “There is virtually no footage or photos of him other than the People and articles outside of academia. And an old AP (Associated Press) article about him and his mother surviving the sinking of the SS Disparo Horizons when his twin sister died 10 years ago in the Mediterranean when he was 5. You girls are too young to remember, but it was the biggest nautical disaster of the decade. 28 dead after a 129 ft cutter lost her bolt on keel capsized, and sank in a storm on her maiden voyage. They survived all night in 20-foot seas until search and rescue found them the next morning. Tragic. You girls are the first to get him on camera doing anything outside of a lab. In academic circles, they have teams at universities studying his notebooks from when he was 7 or 8 years old. He is a math prodigy of the highest order and notoriously reclusive. The two of you have stumbled onto something bigger than you can comprehend. This ‘Decolonization-101’ is trending off the scales. The algorithm on this post is going mad.”

Beatrix and Mara spent the rest of the evening topside chatting with guests while nibbling on cocktail crackers blanketed with artisanal cheeses and sipping sparkling wine on the deck of Asmodeus. The 97-foot catamaran was the largest sailing vessel they had ever been aboard. Beatrix and Mara didn’t recognize anyone here tonight, they assumed the 3 middle aged Arab gentlemen gathered near the stern were the guest of honor, rich but not famous, the best kind of rich to be, they were surrounded by the ship’s hostesses, a half dozen willowy eastern European blondes each dressed in all white ensembles.

When Beatrix and Mara arrived from below deck after their meeting with Savanah. The three Arabic-speaking men peeled away from the blonde yachties and made their way across the deck to the table midship, where Beatrix and Mara stood holding court, chatting with the ship’s guests, and the conversation soon shifted to talking about Isaiah. They, too, were fascinated with the very idea of him, curious about the nautical adventures of the young black sailor. They were genuinely pleased to see a black girl like Beatrix on board and were charmed and enthralled by her, and they, too, like everyone else, seemed to know who they were.

They were amazed that both she, a black girl, and Mara, a white girl, identified as Cuban even though they were both born in Florida. Last week’s party onboard Isaiah’s Monarch Ti-44 sloop was all anyone here wanted to talk about. Electra, Carlos, and Isaiah, complete strangers, were talking about her friends as if they knew them better than she did. It had been like this all week at work at Fritas Cuban Burgers, customers lining up to order their food and see the girls from the viral video. They had taken hundreds of pictures with young longboard riding fans, most wearing all white with their hair in cornrows. Mara pulled her away from the crowd and drunkenly whispered in her ear. “Have Savannah add the boat to the signing bonus!” she said, smiling smugly. Beatrix did a spit take.

“You’re joking, right?!”

“Naw, Chica, I’m serious, you heard her say it yourself, we have all the leverage, Necesito buscar balas pronto. She doesn’t want us to go to another agency, and we don’t want to work with anyone else. She doesn’t know the last part. She might suspect it since we are fangirls, but I promise you she will do it. Call them, tell the lawyers now. Mira, the boat market’s taken a 30 percent hit in the resale price of the types of cruisers we’re shopping for. a lot of yacht owners were conservative anti-vaxer, conspiracy theorist and they were old, the average age of a yacht owner being in their mid to late 50s and 60s, covid plowed through their pasty ranks like a sharp scythe through dry grass and now the after markets flooded with elderly white widows selling their dead husbands boats for whatever they can get. Some boats are now half of what they had been asking for a year ago. Now is the time to buy, before the prices begin to rise. Call them or tell her now. The worst thing that can happen is that she says no. But she won’t. Do it, or I will.”

Beatrix knew Mara was right; she was a great dominatrix because she could sense the weak spot, the way a shark smelled blood in the water, it turned her on, and she knew just how much pain to deliver without breaking her sub’s spirit. Beatrix sipped her drink, adjusted the zinc white scarf that framed her face as if fluttered gently in the ocean breeze, to the north of the bow flashing lights of blue and red rose into the darkness over the invisible naval air station as distant jets rose silently into the night.

“Ok.” She decided she would add their boat to the deal the next time she saw Savanah. As Beatrix finished her third glass of the sparkling wine, she wondered what Izzy’s girlfriend Aeon was doing, and a twinge of white-hot jealousy surged through her blood. The unexpected emotion shocked her.

“I am not in love.” A little drunk, Beatrix didn’t realize she had said that last sentence aloud. Mara turned to her best friend.

“I’ve been watching these old documentaries ‘The Decline of Western Civilization’, ‘American Hardcore’ or maybe it was ‘Time Life history of Punk’, they are interviewing the lead singer of the Hive near the end, and he says if you have to say “Punks Not Dead” then you already know it actually is or you wouldn’t have to say it like that.”

Beatrix looked at Mara and exhaled a long sigh. “If you weren’t my best friend, I’d call you a cunt.”

“Bitch! Mara laughed. I am your only friend. ¡No te rajes!”

[Note 1] on fascism: The 14 Characteristics of Fascism by Lawrence Britt Spring 2003 Free Inquiry magazine Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism (“Fascism Anyone? ” Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine’s policy. The 14 characteristics are:

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Supremacy of the Military Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Rampant Sexism The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Controlled Mass Media Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Obsession with National Security Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Religion and Government are Intertwined Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

Corporate Power is Protected The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Labor Power is Suppressed Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Obsession with Crime and Punishment Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Fraudulent Elections Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Copyright © 2003 Free Inquiry magazine Reprinted for Fair Use Only. This article was based upon the article “The Hallmarks of Fascist Regime” by Skip Stone, at http://www.hippy.com/php/article-226.html. back to CAH | ratville times | rat haus | Index | Search | tree 0

[Note 2] “The Intelligent Investor”

“Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger”

“The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns”

“A Beginner’s Guide to the Stock Market: Everything You Need to Start Making Money Today”

“Investing QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Successfully Navigating the Stock Market, Growing Your Wealth & Creating a Secure Financial Future”

“Rich Dad Poor Dad”

“How to Money: Your Ultimate Visual Guide to the Basics of Finance”

“Get Good With Money: 10 Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole”

“Broke Millennial Takes on Investing: A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up Your Money”

“The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness”

“The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness”

-About the author

JD Cloudy’s poetry has disappeared in the literary journals; Fatfizz, Mad Swirl, Texas Beat Anthology, Danse Macabre, Du Jour, and Death List Five. He has won no literary awards, entered no slam competitions, and never completed college. He lives to write in Dallas, Tx.