Jon Stewart gets ‘schooling’ from Trevor Noah
Jon Stewart used his new Daily Show correspondent, South African Trevor Noah, to provide a poignant message. The message was great. The video above was trimmed down to relay the message more succinctly since much of the message could have been lost in Jon Stewart’s otherwise excellent comedic satire.
Trevor Noah started with the most prolific story gripping America right now, police killing Black men. “Boy are my arms tired,” Trevor Noah said. “I have been holding my arms like this (hands up/Don’t shoot) since I got here. I never thought I would be more afraid of police in America than in South Africa. It kind of make me a bit nostalgic about the old days back home.”
Jon Stewart shot back asking if Black people in South Africa don’t get killed by police. Trevor Noah responded that they in fact do but now its not solely by White Police officers, “Progress,: he said.
Noah then decided to chide America. “I am still a bit nervous to be honest between your cops and frankly Ebola.” Stewart vehemently objected stating that Ebola was a problem in Africa. Noah reminded Jon Stewart that Africa was not a country and that his country, South Africa had not had a case of Ebola in over a decade. Noah said that his South African friends said he should not go to the US. He then mockingly said it would be ignorant to cut off travel for a few cases of Ebola in the US. It was a prick on American ignorance during the ‘Ebola crisis’ when many uninformed Americans wanted travel bans as if it would present some sort of real solution.
Trevor Noah then proceeded to mock Americans a bit more by showing side by side examples of America and places in Africa. He showed places and infrastructure in America that appeared to be in the poverty stricken Third World. He then showed first world infrastructure in Africa. It is understood that he is cherry picking but it should be illustrative. Many cities overseas are well ahead of the average US cities. We have allowed our infrastructure to fall apart or simply become outdated. We spend money on wars and transferring wealth to the few as many countries slowly and methodically build up their infrastructures, citizen’s education, and much more.
There is a part of the skit that should give most Americans pause. Jon Stewart asked Trevor Noah if he was saying that things are better in Africa than in America. “No, no, no. I am not saying that.” Noah responded. “You guys are saying that.” The screen then went to a CNN program where the commentator said that the United States incarcerated more African Americans than Apartheid South Africa did. The commentator also said that the race gap wealth in the United States is greater than it was in Apartheid South Africa.
Trevor Noah then made a rather poignant statement. “Here is the amazing part,” Noah said. “For South Africa to achieve that kind of Black/White wealth gap, we had to construct an entire Apartheid state denying Blacks the right to vote or own property. But you did it without even trying. We trained for decades and you just waltzed in and won the gold medal.”
Prescient.
What Trevor Noah and Jon Stewart failed to further acknowledge, is that the next stepping stone of the Plutocracy is the aggregate wealth of the middle class. And it has already begun. Bankers encouraging reverse mortgages and student loans as large as mortgages that zap a successful economic adulthood are but a few examples.
Americans better wake up. Americans better unite. The Plutocracy knows how to divide and concur in order to maximize wealth extraction form each and every group or demographic.