Bill Cosby vs Jack Layton

[a_majoor]

Jack Layton and his fellow travellers in the Left would have us think that we are all pawns being manipulated by external influences. Here is a refreshing case fo a celebrity who uses his wealth and media power to lay out the opposite case. We need more people like him

http://freewillblog.com/ 21 May 2006

Don't Be Hatin' The Cos

Bill Cosby has become the subject of national controversy by touring the country, demanding that his fellow African-Americans help bring an end to the culture of victimhood by taking responsibility.

    Bill Cosby had just listened as five mothers who lost their teenage sons to gun violence told their tragic stories. He looked out over the audience.

  "I hope none of you ever has to get that call," he said. "Those of you with children that age need to look at the walls in their rooms, see what they're writing, see what they're listening to. If you don't want to know that your child has a gun or knows how to get a gun, and if you don't want to believe that this could happen to your child, look up here."

    It's stories like these that prompted actor/comedian Cosby two years ago to begin a crusade to spur action toward solving the problems that plague inner-city communities - crime, illiteracy, teen pregnancy. He has held "A Call Out with Bill Cosby" events in about 20 cities so far. They are locally sponsored gatherings aimed at finding solutions for what Cosby sees as self-destructive behavior, and at offering inner-city kids encouragement and better options.

Sounds logical, yet some people are pretty sure that Cosby is all wrong:

    In a National Public Radio interview after his book was published last year, Dyson said, "Cosby's overemphasis on personal responsibility, not structural features, wrongly locates the source of poor black suffering - and by implication its remedy - in the lives of the poor...'If only the poor were willing to work harder, act better, get better educated, stay out of jail and parent more effectively, their problems would go away.'"

Apparently, Dyson believes that we need "structural features" in our society to enable people to fix their problems by being lazy, uncultured, uneducated, criminalistic, and neglectful towards their children.

Good grief.

I'm all for working harder, acting better, more education and effective parenting. Do we need a Nanny State to protect us from all evil and tuck us in bed at night? Come to think of it, isn't the Nanny State itself the external influence which manipulates our behavior?

 

[NavComm]

I believe Cosby's son was shot and killed. This is probably his way of dealing with his loss. I say kudos to him.

 

[Enzo]

What is wrong with promoting the ideal that people should empower themselves and take responsibility for their lives? Why does it have to be an all or nothing thing with people such as Dyson?

Power to the Cos.

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

Yep, I've read a couple of his recent speeches.  Big kudos indeed because it takes a big stones to try to change the scapegoating of external sources and instead turning the telescope to look in.  Jack Layton and his apologist ilk would not be appreciative as the concept of individual responsibility is not high on their priority list.


Matthew. 

 

[aluc]

The fact that Bill Cosby came from a less favourable socio-economic background is a testament to the notion of individual responsibility. Take the bull by the horns and motivate yourself to achieve a desirable standard of living, as opposed to the  the NDP crutch that many people like to stand on - blaming others for one's own misfortune has fostered a culture of entitlement - everyone wants something for nothing.  If you want it done right , you have to do it yourself.

 

[paul_h4554]

I bet bill cosby could win in a fight against jack layton.

 

[aluc]

I don't know about that paul_h4554..... Jack's moustache is pretty fearsome! We just don't know what tricks he has up his moustache!    I wonder if his 'stache is the secret source behind his powers, I bet if you shaved it off his nonsensical banter would subside.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Bill also ripped the ‘Black establishment” and the Gang Rap Culture Gura’s a new one. I liked him as a Actor, comedian and a person.

Bill Cosby for US President!!! 

 

[aluc]

I think Bill is right on with the gang rap BS . I would like to think that people really underestimate  the influence that garbage has on fragile little minds.

 

[George Wallace]

I think Bill is right on with the gang rap BS . I would like to think that people really underestimate  the influence that garbage has on fragile little minds.

It was used quite effectively in Rwanda to incite the Hutu's to kill the Tutsi's.

 

[pbi]

I have heard a couple of  people from Toronto's Caribbean community talk about the same thing: the need to look inward at the attitudes of a lot of their young men towards women, guns, violence, "bling", and society in general. They pointed out that the knee-jerk of blaming the police and society for everything is self-defeatng. I have also heard that during the recent anti-gang raid operation in a Toronto Caribbean community, there was considerable local support for police actions. Needless to say, there is an opposing  school of thought (probably more popular) that accuses these people of being "sell-outs" or "traitors".

As we know in the military, looking inwards can be pretty painful, but sometimes you have to do it.

Cheers