Real Substantive Change: How Do African Americans Achieve It?
Dr. Brooks Robinson\ Black Economics.org Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons All around the world a call is heard for real and substantive change in the way we live our lives and the way the systems that control our lives function. Change is desired so that what has become meaningless, hopeless, and fruitless can be reversed, and we can all experience a sense of meaningful purpose. We want to feel good about what we do and achieve, and to know that not only have we benefited from this mysterious life process, but that others, too, have benefited. This brief essay explores the subject topic and offers guidance on how we (Black Americans (Afrodescendants)) can resurrect our purpose and restore our vision of what constitutes a good life. Those who are grounded in a favorable life purpose and vision experience happiness and joy, and they are motivated to perform at a higher level and to enjoy greater productivity—economically and otherwise. We begin with a straightforward question about life today. “Is life as difficult and complicated as implied by current and selected media headlines and topics: Wars, military attacks, and skirmishes; global economic volatility and uncertainty; the larger US nation at a “boiling point;”[i] and the “Dooms Day Clock” advancing by four seconds this year?[ii] Most probably not! However, what we all know is that each of us, and especially the autocrats and plutocrats of our world, adhere to the fundamental first law of nature: “Self-preservation.” Like everyone else, autocrats and plutocrats have a great aversion to relinquishing their power. Much of the world’s population operates under a “great confusion.” Most People of the world are well in over their heads in life’s strategic game that distracts them from the simplicity of life that may be best characterized by the Hawaiian—”hang loose.” The media is at the heart of this “great confusion.” It never fails to bombard us with a constant barrage of crises, problems, and efforts to convince us that our best response to crises and problems is to “protest.” Protests permit some “leaders” or “experts” to speak. These talking heads become an additional layer within autocrats’ and plutocrats’ factors of control that sustains a “divide and conquer” paradigm, and these “leaders” and “experts” are offered an opportunity for “stardom.” Don’t we all want our 10 minutes of fame—even if it is ever so fleeting? But this paradigm, this cycle mimics BlackEconomics.org’s analysis of the Black American condition as described in a 2023 submission immediately after the death of Tyre Nichols:[iii] It was characterized as a circular ramp that begins with a status quo position that drives us off the ramp when crises arise and toward protest actions, clashes with authorities that reach a fever pitch with injuries/deaths, a cooling off period, negotiations, pacification agreements, and then back up on to the circular ramp and a new status quo. Although not clearly and explicitly stated in our Tyre Nichols’ submission, it was certainly our intent to suggest that Black Americans (Afrodescendants) should exit the circular ramp once and for all by adopting a plan with a linear path that can provide real progress.[iv] Now it is transparent that the same is true for society writ large. We now suggest that the entire society (every nation everywhere) should depart the circular ramp paradigm (CRP) for a road/path that leads to real human progress. We must thoroughly eradicate the CRP. The root of the CRP includes autocrats and plutocrats, who control wealth and power—including government and its attendant press apparatuses. In 2022, BlackEconomics.org identified a method for destroying the CRP root: A process that can lead to a “purer democracy” (PD) that reflects a unilevel framework.[v] The PD that we describe eliminates government representatives and transforms Presidents/Commanders in chief, Governors, County Executives, and Mayors from elected officials with vast power to elected officials with only ceremonial powers. Who then is to govern/manage our society? You!!! Importantly, the new one-person-one-vote, “purer democracy” paradigm (PDP) that we advocate will permit us all to help determine how wealth is produced and dispensed. In other words, the PDP can not only effectively destroy government and media agents, who constitute the upper tiers of the CRP root, but also “autocrats and plutocrats,” who are at the very bottom of the root.
Black News 
Dr. Brooks Robinson\ Black Economics.org
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
All around the world a call is heard for real and substantive change in the way we live our lives and the way the systems that control our lives function. Change is desired so that what has become meaningless, hopeless, and fruitless can be reversed, and we can all experience a sense of meaningful purpose. We want to feel good about what we do and achieve, and to know that not only have we benefited from this mysterious life process, but that others, too, have benefited. This brief essay explores the subject topic and offers guidance on how we (Black Americans (Afrodescendants)) can resurrect our purpose and restore our vision of what constitutes a good life. Those who are grounded in a favorable life purpose and vision experience happiness and joy, and they are motivated to perform at a higher level and to enjoy greater productivity—economically and otherwise.
We begin with a straightforward question about life today. “Is life as difficult and complicated as implied by current and selected media headlines and topics: Wars, military attacks, and skirmishes; global economic volatility and uncertainty; the larger US nation at a “boiling point;”[i] and the “Dooms Day Clock” advancing by four seconds this year?[ii] Most probably not!
However, what we all know is that each of us, and especially the autocrats and plutocrats of our world, adhere to the fundamental first law of nature: “Self-preservation.” Like everyone else, autocrats and plutocrats have a great aversion to relinquishing their power.
Much of the world’s population operates under a “great confusion.” Most People of the world are well in over their heads in life’s strategic game that distracts them from the simplicity of life that may be best characterized by the Hawaiian—”hang loose.”
The media is at the heart of this “great confusion.” It never fails to bombard us with a constant barrage of crises, problems, and efforts to convince us that our best response to crises and problems is to “protest.” Protests permit some “leaders” or “experts” to speak. These talking heads become an additional layer within autocrats’ and plutocrats’ factors of control that sustains a “divide and conquer” paradigm, and these “leaders” and “experts” are offered an opportunity for “stardom.” Don’t we all want our 10 minutes of fame—even if it is ever so fleeting?
But this paradigm, this cycle mimics BlackEconomics.org’s analysis of the Black American condition as described in a 2023 submission immediately after the death of Tyre Nichols:[iii] It was characterized as a circular ramp that begins with a status quo position that drives us off the ramp when crises arise and toward protest actions, clashes with authorities that reach a fever pitch with injuries/deaths, a cooling off period, negotiations, pacification agreements, and then back up on to the circular ramp and a new status quo.
Although not clearly and explicitly stated in our Tyre Nichols’ submission, it was certainly our intent to suggest that Black Americans (Afrodescendants) should exit the circular ramp once and for all by adopting a plan with a linear path that can provide real progress.[iv] Now it is transparent that the same is true for society writ large. We now suggest that the entire society (every nation everywhere) should depart the circular ramp paradigm (CRP) for a road/path that leads to real human progress. We must thoroughly eradicate the CRP.
The root of the CRP includes autocrats and plutocrats, who control wealth and power—including government and its attendant press apparatuses. In 2022, BlackEconomics.org identified a method for destroying the CRP root: A process that can lead to a “purer democracy” (PD) that reflects a unilevel framework.[v] The PD that we describe eliminates government representatives and transforms Presidents/Commanders in chief, Governors, County Executives, and Mayors from elected officials with vast power to elected officials with only ceremonial powers. Who then is to govern/manage our society? You!!!
Importantly, the new one-person-one-vote, “purer democracy” paradigm (PDP) that we advocate will permit us all to help determine how wealth is produced and dispensed. In other words, the PDP can not only effectively destroy government and media agents, who constitute the upper tiers of the CRP root, but also “autocrats and plutocrats,” who are at the very bottom of the root.
Technology is now available to create a PDP where we all have an equal probability and opportunity to determine how our society functions. This technology can eliminate the CRP and produce at worst, a potentially very favorable change in how we manage our society, and at best, a complete, effective, and successful destruction of the CRP and an opportunity for Black Americans (Afrodescendants) to move toward a path that enables us to become self-reliant, self-determined, and liberated (free).
Dr. Brooks Robinson is the founder of the Black Economics.org website.
Endnotes
[i] Shane Goldmacher (2026). “America at a Boiling Point: Deaths, Threats, Protests, and a Town Hall Attack.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/us/politics/trump-ice-protests-omar-attack.html (Ret. 012826).
[ii] Ben Kellerman (2026). “In 2026, the Doomsday Clock Is the Closest Ever to Catastrophe.” Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/culture-current/apocalypse-soon-see-where-doomsday-clock-puts-humanity-2026-01-30/ (Ret. 012826).
[iii] Brooks Robinson (2023). “The Economics of the Tyre Nichols Case.” BlackEconomics.org. https://www.blackeconomics.org/BELit/teottnc.pdf (Ret. 013126).
[iv] The Tyre Nichols case occurred at a time when the Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America (LTSPFBA; https://www.ltspfba.org/LTSP/fin_ltspfba_071223.pdf, 1.5 MB) was unavailable, but BlackEconomics.org was participating in the development of the LTSPFBA.
[v] Brooks Robinson (2022). A Purer Democracy under Cyber Governance: Future Implications for Black America’s Political Economy. BlackEconomics.org. https://www.blackeconomics.org/BEAP/apdbape.pdf (Ret. 013126).
