M.C. Newberry

SLAVERY KNAVERY

by M.C. Newberry

Sunday 30th May 2021 2:57 pm

Slavery equates with knavery -

Who today would argue with that?

Evil is as evil does...

And wears its evil hat.

But every buyer needs a seller...

Market forces in the murk;...

About who was buying and who was selling

Sees one-way forces at work.

Across the world and throughout time

The two have conspired as one,

Without their cruel complicity

The deed could not be done.

So when the dread word slavery

Raises up an accusing finger,

Remember the seller's knavery

And don't let ignorance linger.

..................................................................

🌷(7)

◄ FLIGHT

BE COMFORTED ►

Comments

M.C. Newberry

Wed 2nd Jun 2021 14:23

A famous French philosopher stated:
"Judge a man by his questions rather by his answers." And from the same source: "There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times."
It is essentially the trait of today's "liberal mindset" to find it uncomfortable to address or mention anything that is contrary to the cosy one-way
version of modern received wisdom. Can anyone let me know the
last time any public reference was made to the activities of the sellers
of slaves in terms of "guilt". A failure to consider that aspect of a
pernicious trade is as much a failure of moral courage as it is a
failure of human intelligence to confront history "in the round".
Humbug takes various forms and that is one especially egregious
example.
End of story.

Marsha

Mon 31st May 2021 18:40

For the sake of clarity I'll spell it out, I don't like the poem there is nothing new or anything particularly revelatory or striking about it.

It's an old conversation piece you might hear uninteresting fellows bantering back and forth in Pubs and Golf Clubs. It is also very much a diversionary side show utilised by some to avoid accepting the colonial tactic of exploiting human nature, a standard Colonial SOP I would imagine.

I use the term "permitted to speak" to highlight that there are those believing themselves to be righteous who would not permit the expression of unpalatable (to them) opinions, those types have little understanding of exactly what the greater injustice is or how it would ultimately feed further injustice, also they are rarely the ones who suffer because of their naivety.

It's a shame really because this is supposed to be a poetry site, this particular poem has little merit other than to cause division. Maybe that was the authors intent, and maybe that should be one of the purposes of art and poetry.

Like many things it is individual choice that really matters, especially when someone else might wish to obliterate yours.

M.C. Newberry

Mon 31st May 2021 14:07

In the cause of freedom of speech, I regret Phillipos's decision
leave WOL. Not least when that freedom is under pressure as
never before when it sits uncomfortably with present attitudes
and expressions of opinion that shout down anything contrary.
The various comments here are welcome in the cause of "voicing" varied views - thank you, one and all..
I was especially intrigued by a remark from "Marsha" who states:
" I don't appreciate the poem so much but it is a voice that should
none the less be permitted to speak." "Permitted"? Hmm.
I am somewhat confused. Is this about the technical merit or
otherwise I employed - or about the content and its intent.
The former is arguable but the latter can hardly be refuted in
the context of what is witnessed or heard all too often now.
Onwards and upwards!
MC
.

Graham Sherwood

Mon 31st May 2021 13:45

I have stated this before and I will (with a heavy heart) say it again. 'Most' of the kerfuffles we experience here on WOL appertain to members comments and NOT the actual poems themselves.

Personally I think the MCN poem is quite a balanced statement of (as Leon says) it takes two to tango!

I don't believe it shows Philipos in a good light to bring any other comments about his issues with 'non-locally born' neighbours into the equation. Sorry P.

If comments stuck to the work and not members proclivities, WOL would be a better place and it would then be up to the moderators to review anything untoward.

kJ Walker

Mon 31st May 2021 08:51

I now feel compelled to stick in my twopenneth.

The poem itself was about slavery, and didn't mention race. It could have been set in any time or place. Historically people of all races have been enslaved.

This poem is anti-slavery, and sets about pointing out that the buyers and sellers are equally at fault, and therefore is not racist in any way.

Some of the comments did have a racist undertone, and while I am a supporter of free speech I believe that Greg was right to call them out.

In my opinion there are three levels of racism
1. The person making the comments
2. The people who support the comments
3. The people who hear the comments, and don't call them out.

I hope that I don't fall into any of these categories, and am glad to see others like Greg, seem of the same opinion.

WOL is a great site. And I enjoy most of the postings on here.

John Coopey

Mon 31st May 2021 08:39

You’ve certainly stirred the pot here, MC. Personally, I favour alternative views of history, even though I may not agree with all of them. Likewise, I am sad to see Philipos go.

Marsha

Sun 30th May 2021 23:05

As repellant as some truths are they are never-the-less truths, even if they are merely the truth of another's opinion or belief (fact or otherwise)

The greater danger is silencing a voice which speaks its mind...the danger being we can never comprehend a mind we refuse to engage, therefore we can never change or educate a mind which might benefit from that engagement.

Those that silence voices in a manner which is merely suppression are storing up a volcano of hate that their bloodline may have to deal with.

Some people who say they value freedom of speech are really only referring to their own, they are destined to at some future point be deafened by those they silence....and not in a good way.

PS, I don't appreciate the poem so much but it is a voice that should none-the-less be permitted to speak.

Anyone who has ever lived in a place where freedoms are truly oppressed would know this truth, I doubt some of those with influence at WoL have ever ventured into such territory in real life.

Oh, and here's an after thought from the front line all you frontline scribblers...words are easy..easy, easy, easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XdLNqWYgGI

<Deleted User> (30611)

Sun 30th May 2021 21:27

I'm sorry to see Philipos go for expressing an honest view. That's his choice of course, he could have stayed and continued to express a view that whilst unpalatable to some WOL members is however widely supported in the country as a whole. And I do not believe the view to be racist or bigoted, just honest and realistic.

As for the poem itself, MC has rightly pointed out that it takes two to tango.

Aviva Rifka Bhandari

Sun 30th May 2021 19:53

J. D I've got that 'probably going to regret chiming in' feeling too...

It seems to me that Philipos was saying that there are two types of immigrant, the type that doesn't seem to contribute much positivity to the society about them, and the type that does... and Philipos seemed to think that the type that isn't contributing positively is also the type that breeds large families, whereas the implication seems to be that the type that contributes positively is the sort that isn't doing that... because he says there are equal amounts or importance to each type of immigrant - (uses the word Equally) - so if there wasn't that polarisation then the overbreeding would balance out?...
The gap that I note in this concept is that truth be told, every population of people (every nationality or group) has people that contribute positively and people who don't, and people who have large families and people who don't...
It isn't that immigrant populations are any different than the nations they emmigrate to in that respect, its just that people seem to complain more about that due to biases of perception and attention?... which I suppose is what bigotry means, right?

Oddly enough, the same basic principle is the answer to the question about buyers vs sellers (not the bigotry aspect, but the existence of various types of people within any population)..
In the lands where slaves were taken from, whether of the same nationality or of any other origin, there would be a smallish number of people behaving illegally, to better themselves regardless of the cost to those around them... and some of those decided to be slave traders... There are people of that type in every country that's why there are justice systems and prisons in every culture.. .. but the point is that in the lands where the slaves were taken to, to be bought and used (which would motivate the traders to act illegally and with disregard to others).. buying and having slaves was not a criminal activity, it was legally endorsed. That's the difference as I see it, and I think it is a very important one. ?

J.D. Bardo

Sun 30th May 2021 19:32

I am probably going to regret chiming in, however one opinion would be to blame our own greed for slavery. One of many examples is the early American colonial farmers needing cheap labor to work the tobacco fields and bring the crops to market to fill ships going, (guess where?)... Just saying........ J.D.

Philipos

Sun 30th May 2021 19:25

Have just been leaned on by 'One of the WOL Management' team for my views on this, and decided to quit the site as a protest against their opposition to free speech.

Will spend more time catching up on my other emails, but I would like to say a big thank you to all who have supported my Blogs in the past, plus the shared comradeship.

Keep writing the muse.

P

M.C. Newberry

Sun 30th May 2021 19:18

I'm not sure about the direction or the motivation of the comments
but find their presence interesting.
The point of my little poem is that there is a tendency to focus on
the buying rather than the selling back in the day when such
things were the accepted "goings on" of those times, long before -
and even since those days. Little is heard about the fact that the
sale of human traffic had its willing sources. Today's revisionist
reviewers of the (selective) past actively neglect any mention of it at all and that certainly deserves to be discussed/challenged.

Philipos

Sun 30th May 2021 18:16

Greg, I shall happily take up your challenge. Bye WOL

Greg Freeman

Sun 30th May 2021 18:07

Why are these people 'dutifully' working in the NHS, Phil? Is that the deal that allows them to stay in this country? I may be misinterpreting your point, but the tenor of your comments strays towards rank bigotry. It is easy to think, oh, leave these appalling old racists to their own devices, anything for a quiet life, but such views are not what Write Out Loud stands for, and I feel obliged to say so. We have been poetry friends in the past, and it grieves me to make these comments. However, if you don't like them, the option is there, as you put it, to 'sling your hook'.

Philipos

Sun 30th May 2021 17:55

Absolutely correct, the people traders of earlier years were Arabs, well and truly preying around the coasts of Africa.

Now, where I live, we are being out populated by those none locally born, who stand in the town square fist waving and shouting about the unfairness of everything, as they encroach everywhere by stealth of over population.

Equally, I know of others from such parts settled over time, and having adapted to the ways of the country they were inspired to come and dwell, dutifully filling the slots of our over challenged NHS, and wondering why on earth these rapidly growing malcontents don't go and sling their hooks.

Planet earth will be unable to sustain the rapid growth of such foretold catastrophic events. All earthlings are living on borrowed time due to depleting resources.

Just ask David Attenborough.

And thank you for having the courage to say it.

P ?

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