By Mike Magee

For ageing boomers it’s unattainable to not hear echoes of apartheid that come up once more with power 3/4 of a century after the battle for social justice right here and in distant nations was absolutely concerned. The Musk assault, disguised as 'effectivity' is little greater than stealing cash from the poor to present to the wealthy, and broadens a rare revenue hole.

The assault is massive sufficient to make condemnation of a dying Pope Francis, pressured to remind Trump, Musk and their Enablers of the historic Jesus and the rules of liberation theology.

Our college years within the Sixties had been accompanied by chaos and disaster and led by elementary Jewish-Christian values. My lecture, the Le Moyne Faculty led by Jesuit, was activist to the core. The motion was defended by two monks, brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan. With the murders on JFK, his brother Robert and MLK; LBJ's Nice Society Legislative Battles; the civil rights motion; And the struggle in Vietnam, America was actually on hearth on the time.

It was additionally throughout this decade {that a} majority pushed by college students was created to oppose Apartheid in South Africa and rapidly unfold worldwide. A groundbreaking characteristic of that motion was mass schooling and demonstrations with the goal of making financial strain on the leaders of South Africa by disinvesting all shares and investments that improved the nation.

Elon Musk, born and bred in Pretoria, South African on June 28, 1971, is greater than a bit acquainted with that historical past. Silicon Valley, the place Musk would ultimately acquire his monumental wealth, is the truth is additionally the house of Stanford College, a website of nice significance for apartheid motion and the wrestle for human justice. Extra about that instantly extra.

The financial wrestle in opposition to apartheid can be fed unabated for greater than twenty years and attain a head at college campuses within the late Nineteen Seventies. The explosive progress of protests adopted the Soweto rebellion, a infamous occasion within the Soweto Township outdoors Johannesburg in June 1976. The South African police opened hearth on the demonstration of kids. The riots that adopted result in a stream of horrible murders, together with the homicide of the South African Scholar Affiliation chief, Steve Biko, in custody.

However it was a sit-in, staged by Stanford college students to protest in opposition to apartheid, who redesigned the combat by concentrating on the usage of college disinvestment to ship an “financial punch” to the ruling minority.

A choice by the Stanford Board to withstand the proposal of a Ford Motor Firm to withdraw the actions from South Africa, prompted the set off. On the time, Stanford had 93,950 shares of Ford shares. In response to the inactivity, the Stanford college students launched a sit-in (captured by the Stanford Each day Scholar newspaper beneath) within the outdated constructing of the scholar affiliation at 1 p.m. on Monday 9 Could 1977. After they weren’t going to go away 5 hours later, 294 college students and college, Jill, was arrested, secretary Ann.

Six months later, after repeated demonstrations and disruptions on campus, the board issued a press release that every of their managers had a “deep aversion to the observe of apartheid” and adopted a “South Africa-related moral funding coverage”. However, it took till 1985 for the college to “create formal funding coverage that explicitly established pointers for investments in South Africa-related firms.”

The load of the world -induced insulation was in the end the higher hand. Nelson Mandela was launched after 27 years in jail and shortly joined his efforts with President FW De Klerk to achieve common proper to vote. Collectively they shared the Nobel Prize for the Nobel Prize of 1993. And a free election adopted a 12 months later.

Many people immediately, in our 70s and 80s, once more really feel the properly -known tensions of oppression and oppression within the habits and actions of Musk, whereas he emotionally switches between South Africa, the Silicon Valley and Washington.

Violence is once more within the air, together with intense greed, cruelty, submission and the focusing on of the economically oppressed majority. Oligarchal and super-aggressive, sadly there’s nothing new right here. Musk's infantile habits is obsessive about a “superhero” world and visions of Mars whereas destroying the inhabitants of Mom Earth.

Given its origins and path of his life, may he additionally reply to intensive financial insulation? And this time it’s not Ford, however Tesla, that’s on the entrance and within the center.

Musk owns 13% of the Tesla shares (valued at $ 120 billion), which is sweet for 34% of his complete wealth. His worthwhile with Trump is evident, seen and accelerating. A Tesla rejection might be the most definitely option to “free us from evil” equivalent to with South African apartheid on April 27, 1994.

Do you wish to assist? 3 easy steps after which one other.

1. Management – personal your group Tesla shares in no matter type?

2. In that case, set up a instructor to clarify disinvestment (as in SA Apartheid), the aim and usefulness.

3. Flow into and place a web based petition to ask your group to unleash all Tesla holdings.

. . . And one other, copy and share this message with all of your contacts.

Mike Magee MD is a medical historian and an everyday contribution to THCB. He’s the writer of Code Blue: Inside America's Medical Industrial Complicated. (Grove/2020).