American Inequity: It's Bigger Than Police Violence

    artwork by Jonathan Edwards / Website 

It doesn't matter if Antonio Martin had a gun.

It doesn't matter if Eric Garner resisted arrest.

It doesn't matter if Michael Brown had his hands up.

All of this is much bigger than the Police and their version of the facts.

It's a hard truth for many of us to swallow that whether a "suspect" pulled a gun on an officer or not, the majority of our Black and Brown countrymen will most likely not believe the "official" police account of events. And why should they? Beyond the fact that Police have historically been found to falsify statements and plant evidence, we have also seen divisions within high profile departments such as SFPD, OPD, NYPD, and LAPD, literally operate as gangs, running rackets, guns and drugs. 

But, does Law Enforcement have to be overtly criminal to be distrusted? The system after all is set up for officers to target people of color, especially in poorer communities. They are the low hanging fruit of "stop and frisk," "jump outs",  and quotas, and they are the perceived "enemy" in the War on Drugs. In fact, this is not so different than how the majority of Muslims are mistakenly viewed as the enemy in our endless "War on Terror." 

Yet in White America's eyes we often need the victim of Police violence to be a "perfect victim."  As journalist Davey-D recently stated: 

"We need a perfect victim, because anyone else is gonna be seen as deserving of being shot in the minds of the public… The police have corporate cheerleaders, more than 10 reality TV shows that have resulted in people believing they can do no wrong no matter what."

This fact rings truer now than ever before, as even when there is video of a Black man being choked to death it does not even hold enough weight to warrant a trial. 

This is why it does not matter if Michael Brown had his hands up. 

It does not matter if Eric Garner resisted arrest. 

It does not matter if Antonio Martin had a gun.

It's bigger than the Police, it's the system as a whole that is corrupt. 

Not that the Police and Police Departments do not deserve a ton of scrutiny and not that we shouldn't continue to push for more oversight, as well as changes in their approach to Policing communities of color. But to blame all of this on the Police misses the mark on the bigger picture. The Police are quite simply a tool of the system. They are not the "1%." They are part of the 99% that too often operates as foot soldiers for the agenda of the elite. The Police may indeed be "following orders" and in their own minds doing their job to the best of their ability and trying to go home to their families at night. But it is the system, corrupted to it's core, that employs and deploys them that is the larger problem. However, "the system," in a physical sense is often unseen, harder to quantify, and seemingly a much more difficult thing to understand, let alone target with protest. The Police may be the ones clicking the cuffs or pulling the trigger, but they are not the ones calling the shots on Capitol Hill and they are not the ones profiting in the Billions from locking people behind bars. 

This is why many have said that although Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson, he was actually murdered by the system. I even recall someone sharply stating that Wilson may have pulled the trigger but that Brown was killed over 400 years ago. As crazy a concept as that might seem to many White people, when you look at the history of our country through an honest lens, the very cultural and economic fabric of our society has been sewn together and built upon by immensely powerful and racist structures. 

This is why some of the best humans I've ever known, Black and Brown men with graduate degrees and beautiful families, cannot walk down the street without being profiled by strangers who pass them on the street (let alone officers). They are perceived as a threat (often subconsciously) by approaching Whites until they pass by and nothing happens. An instant sigh of relief, shared perhaps by both parties, as they each continue on with their day. Except that the process plays again over and over for these good men every day of their lives. 

With this knowledge, it is no wonder that White Police officers in certain neighborhoods end up seeing young Black males as potential threats, let alone "Demons" with "Hulk-like" strength. Even if this vision is imaginary, when you have systems in place for generations that discriminate based on skin color in regards to housing, access to quality education and jobs, and then put into play policies that target and sentence people disparately, you remove the access to opportunity, you destroy hope, and thus eliminate the existence of peace and justice.

For example, Black America does not do drugs more frequently than White America, but for the past 40+ years they've been targeted and sentenced at an exponential rate in comparison. This "War" against drugs is actually a War on the Poor, the disenfranchised, and most viciously it has been waged against Black and Brown men. As Michelle Alexander has spoken, Jim Crow never really ended, it was simply redesigned. This redesign set forth a more crafty and disastrous path than the original Jim Crow, as it has unleashed an army of "Law Enforcement" on our nations most vulnerable human beings. The resulting forces have literally crippled family structures and thus entire communities by systematically locking millions of men behind bars, accelerating them forward into the system, serving to maintain high levels of self-inflicted violence as well as seemingly warranted Police violence.  So, when 'Conservatives' are quick to chime in that "it starts in the home," they are partially correct, however they ignore the forces at play which have destroyed many of these homes. Unfortunately, it is very easy to quarterback on such issues with such definitive language, when one does so from a much more comfortable and unexamined position. This distance, is one big reason why there is often a total lack of empathy for the plight of the Black community. The other reason is generally more overt racism yet they often work together as one in the same.   

Thus it has to be declared 'long overdue' for fair-minded White Americans to finally wake up and smell the proverbial coffee. Although 'WE' personally were not there hundreds of years ago putting slaves on ships, nor were we fighting for or against Slavery in the South, our denial that these grand inequities continue to exist today only works to further keep these prejudicial systems alive. Because even fair-minded folks become complicit when they see injustice but fail to speak out. Our silence is indeed violence. As MLK appropriately stated: 

"Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere. Therefore, no American can afford to be apathetic about the problem of racial justice. It is a problem that meets every man at his front door."

With that said, it is also important to note that there are millions of poor and working class Whites being duped by the same political and economic forces as Black and Brown, and at the end of the day it is only the color Green that the elite who control this country care about. Until we collectively begin to wake up to these facts and become true allies to our Black and Brown countrymen we only continue to divide America, and fail to deliver upon the promise of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." 

#AllLivesMatter when #BlackLivesMatter 

Happy Holidays 

The SONY Movie: More of the Same, American Shame

AMERICA responded to 9/11 with not only going to war with a country that had nothing to do with it, we also said "you cannot have toothpaste" or "shaving cream" on planes. Forget about the fact that once upon a time we trained Bin Laden and ignored tons of intelligence leading up to that horrific day.

As a country we've also traditionally ignored massive systemic inequity that stems from generations of overt socioeconomic oppression and racist justice systems, and then we blame the general result of those forces squarely on "the parents" or perhaps a young persons choice of fashion or music. I've said it before, it's sorta like dating a woman who was molested as a child and then abused by her previous boyfriends and wondering why she doesn't trust you. That, and you really only like her for her looks but aren't ready to admit it.

So, in regards to this movie from Sony that's supposedly getting shutdown by North Korean hackers, this is simply par for the course. This is not actually the American government getting pushed around though but really just an example of cowardly, visionless, greedy, corporate execs in Hollywood possibly getting punked by a couple hackers who play Halo in their spare time. Even if it was perpetrated by the North Koreans, they are laughing their asses off. Nobody is going to physically attack the US because of a Seth Rogen film.

But, it's our fault as citizens of this country (and consumers) that we don't demand more from our leaders as well as the companies who profit in the Billions off of our toil in this crony-capitalistic quagmire. These companies continue to drive our country into the ground and we are just along for the ride like its an amusement park roller-coaster… Weeeeeeee!

We allowed our music and radio to be gentrified by "Clear Channels" and swallowed whole their mind-numbing, homogenous, sterile servings of candy-coated pop and bamboozling rap. Our parents grew up with CSNY, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and Bob Marley being mainstream. I grew up watching Public Enemy educate me on MTV that for my black and brown friends, "911 is a joke," and was able to absorb hip-hop music on radio stations that featured everything from A Tribe Called Quest to "Street Soldiers." But, the music on the radio now is not the reason for our collective dumbing down, nor the crime in our streets. It's simply a reflection of what we aspire to be together as a society and what the system thinks of us.

We continue to allow 'Wall Street' to run amok without any true regulation and do not force our political leaders to implement real rules to prevent the next collapse (Google: Vockler Rule, or Citizens United), let alone prevent the destruction of the middle class, or the fact that our two-party political system is literally a corporate oligarchy. ‪#‎BushClinton2016‬

That is why all of this talk about not showing the movie in theaters somehow sets a "dangerous precedent," is such a dishonest, unexamined bunch of hot-aired, small-town-thinking bullshit.

We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to support invasion, occupation, and 'endless war' in the Middle East (and beyond).

We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to ignore entire communities of Americans that have been systematically subjugated and violently torn apart by immensely reckless and failed policies like the "War on Drugs," which only works in concert with our for-profit prison systems. Call it: 'Jim Crow 2.0'

We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to glorify 'Guns' as an omnipotent way to solve our problems, and thus remain the most violent nation of any first world country on planet Earth.

We set a dangerous precedent when we spend Trillions on 'Defense' and simultaneously GIVE BILLION DOLLAR BREAKS to entities that champion outsourcing, rather than employ the necessary amount of resources toward our education system. After all, the future is not our children in America anymore, it's our reciprocal relationship with a hyper capitalist-authoritarian Communist government in Asia. Right?

We set a dangerous precedent when we wake up every morning and look ourselves in the mirror and lie about what we believe is truly important in life. Not the future for our children, not the environment, not the unalienable right to life, liberty, and happiness FOR ALL Americans. Nope. Just the daily rat race that has us treating each other like rodents instead of human beings.

NATE MEZMER

Bay Area hip-hop artist and political activist, recent album "Few May Know" is available for free download or streaming at http://FewMayKnow.com 

The Knockout Game: A Media Made Myth

Attention: Do you like being taken advantage of, or, played for a fool? 

No? Ok, cool. Guess what... the "KNOCKOUT GAME" is a phony media-made story! 

It's not a phenomenon. It's not an epidemic. It's f*cking sensationalist journalism built on fear-mongering and racism. 

Look at the video (which I will not post a link to) that's gone viral. Most all the footage is random and not attributed to any specifically defined crimes by law enforcement. 

It's supposed to all take place in Jersey (in that video) but its a random assortment of other cities. One of the incidents is apparently in another country. 

The videos creator also only interviews black teens about the "game" and proceeds to blur out all of their faces. Why are the faces blurred? The local news doesn't blur out the faces of high school kids when they interview them. So, is this normal? No, they are blurred to make it more insidious and insinuate something criminal. As if they have been blurred because they are all somehow complicit.

Moreover, why do these "news" sources keep calling it a "GAME"? Should we also use language such as: "the rape game" or the "touching children game" or "the murder game"?

Hey, we have the "Hunger games" right!?

Now of course with all of this phony sensationalist media hype we will no doubt see some young people mimic what they've been seeing or hearing because its getting so much attention. Just like the crazed men who go on murderous shooting sprees, because they know they will finally get the attention they've been lacking. 

Its all Bullshit. 

We do indeed have real epidemics in this country though. 

• Black youth in inner cities are killing each other every day and nobody outside of the community cares. 

• We have overzealous police forces brutalizing the poor and disadvantaged.

• We have an out of control 'War on Drugs' that's affecting us all but disproportionately black and brown people. 

• We have out of control gun violence when compared to any other first world nation. 

• We've also got a corporate-corrupted political process from the way we are forced to choose our elected officials, to how we receive our mainstream news, and how we obtain our over priced health care. 

If you want to do your fellow Americans a favor, don't fall for fear-mongering and yellow journalism upon first glance. Before you click "share" on something or have some super-energized opinion, think about it from all angles. Don't get played for a fool and feed into these kind of pathetic scare tactics that only seek to sell ad-space, bolster spineless politicians, propagate the prison industrial complex, and further divide us as a nation. 

Be smarter than the Internet.

The Trayvon Martin "Blackface" Halloween Costume

If you have not yet seen the photos I'm sure you will very soon and so I'm not even going to re-post them. I will however comment on the most infamous post by a young female adult living in Florida by the name of "KT Cimeno" (Caitlin Cimeno) who's originally from Oak Bluffs, MA (Martha's Vineyard). She posted a "nice" and happy photo of two young white men dressed up in costume this past weekend mocking the killing of Trayvon Martin. The one white person portraying Trayvon was sporting very dark shoe polish styled "Blackface" with a hoodie on and a blood stain on his chest. The other man (who turned out to be her brother) was dressed as George Zimmerman with a "neighborhood watch" tee, gleefully pointing his finger like a gun at "Trayvon's" head with the caption by Cimeno reading "Happy Halloween from Trayvon and Zimmerman."

(side note: turns out the guy dressed as Trayvon is 25 yrs old and was arrested previously for auto theft)

This sort of ignorance and stupidity, although temporarily shocking, should come as no surprise to us. The idea that we live in a Post-Racial society is one of the bigger lies in current existence in America and that hard truth once again becomes crystal clear at moments like this.

But, this was not even Ms. Cimeno's most ignorant and hateful Facebook post. She had previously in August posted a photo of a young black girl wearing a "Black Girls Rock" tee and attacked the little girl saying "your mommy lied to you." I have posted that photo because I think it is more important than the Trayvon Halloween image in that it shows what sort of person(s) we are dealing with. This is not your average accidental racist or a person with some basic ignorant prejudices. This is a full-fledged, very hateful, very racist, and very ignorant young woman.

While the first reaction to such hatred might be to fire back with verbal attacks and put-downs, that's certainly not the most effective way to deal with this sort of thing. I have heard that the girl was fired from her job due to the negative publicity and complaints from people all around the country (much of this being exposed on Twitter -primarily via #BlackTwitter and #KTCimeno). She should of course face the consequences of her actions but ultimately what will be learned by any of this? She herself may never learn, and may simply become more isolated, more hateful, and more dangerously racist, which sadly is a missed opportunity if that's what ends up happening.

More importantly though, this is a time for ourselves to learn a lesson or at least briefly remind ourselves of who we are and what we stand for. I'm sure many of us, regardless of skin color, just recently enjoyed the company or entertainment of American's of all races over this past weekend. Whether it was through the diversity of a Halloween party, enjoying the musical talents responsible for creating our favorite songs, or the athletic exploits of our favorite sports teams... We are a melting pot of diversity in America whether we choose to embrace that fact or not. You might be the "whitest white person" or the "blackest black person," but most likely you are somewhere in between. Either way we are all citizens, neighbors, and human beings, and I think its important that we collectively face this sort of vile hatred and stupidity head on, and recognize it for its blatant ignorance, and check with ourselves to make sure that we do not in any way support or perpetuate such behavior.

There's always going to be some extremely ignorant KT Cimeno's running around in this world but our job is to make sure that such behavior is not at all accepted or tolerated, and that we do not personally carry or endorse any similar prejudices, even if on a more minor level. Like, the "my friend is black, black joke, Haha thing" is generally not that cool either in most cases (but maybe you should talk about that with your friend first before making the comment next time!?). So yes, if there's a teachable moment that presents itself with such people, and you have that opportunity or ability to drop some knowledge, go for it. However the most important thing we can do is simply take a basic stand and let everyone around you know that you don't stand for stupid shit like this. That should be the American thing to do.

Capitol Hill Shooting Magnified By "Shutdown" Drama

As expected CNN is making this Capitol Hill incident into a REALLY BIG DEAL. 

They're interviewing DC staffers and congressmen who look hella shook over hearing gun shots. That tubby little clown Blake Farenthold (R, Texas) looked like he was going to shit his pants. Maybe he thought someone was mad at him and Ted Cruz (wonder why?) or maybe he just momentarily realized shit could get real. 

This shooting though sounds like basically a lady went crazy and the police shot her and her car. Luckily the child inside is okay. Maybe this had something to do with the shutdown, maybe not? There's probably been 10 shootings across the country since this story broke but "the networks" will be stuck on this one until some other relevant TV drama happens.


I bet "the networks" would secretly love some good old fashioned Republican vs Democrat violence to go down in DC right about now. I wonder if the GOP in DC are prepared for bringing about such violence? I does not look like they are ready for it judging from shitpants Representative Farenthold's interview. They talk a tough game but it's all about their bullshit spinster political reality of tug of war. They don't really realize they are playing with people's lives. It's just a game to them. On camera Mitch McConnell and Paul Rand pretend as if they are really in this for the greater good of the nation but off camera they whisper to each other like petty little girls ganging up on the new girl in school because "how dare she."


Meanwhile, the Tea Partiers that now seem to be dictating the wayward Republican agenda happily push things toward an explosive confrontation with the debt ceiling looming amidst the shutdown. You literally have misguided, misinformed, and moreover nut-jobs, from all over the place ready to hop in semi-trucks and pop-off shots at the White House because they think "Socialism" is taking over... yet none of them could actually define socialism and apply it accurately to our current reality which is conversely hyper capitalistic.


Seeing these people on CNN freak out just now over a few gun shots on Capitol Hill really shows me that these people are very out of touch with reality. The Republicans in DC are truly playing with fire like a punk kid that doesn't know what to do once he "accidentally" sets the entire hill behind his house on fire. 


America is totally unstable right now. People are getting shot every day in poor neighborhoods like its no thing. People are going crazy cuz they don't have proper mental health care. Since 2007 people have been losing homes, jobs, and their minds. And you have politicians and media busy ramping things up with phony "buzz words" adding legitimacy to illegitimate movements and illegitimate solutions. Instead of asking tough questions and working to fix this broken ass nation.


I have friends reaching out to me telling me that they are Conservative but they do not support what the GOP is doing. I have independent folks reaching out and talking about the fact that they can't stand to see our country being divided like this as if we are reverting backward to the days of the confederacy and civil war.


Personally, it's been hard for me to support Barack Obama when he continually sides with Wall Street, Big Business, and Insurance companies, and pushes hawkish foreign policy like the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan. But when I see these Tea Party phonies being controlled by greedy billionaires playing puppeteer and stoking the fires to divide the nation along racial lines and radical political ideology in attempts to either crash the economy and/or the Government for their own reckless gains its hard not to choose a side, even if it is once again the lesser of the two evils.


Maybe we should just not give a shit and let them destroy everything so we can rebuild? But I don't really think that sounds like a great plan at this point.


Ultimately, we all deserve better than this. We deserve much more than the Tea Party and these crooked toothed GOP electeds. But we also deserve more than what the Democrats have been able to give us which is promises of major change but ultimately they cannot deliver and are aligned with many of the same corporate interests as the other side. At the end of the day we are only able to discern one party from the other because the Republicans have been pushed so far right that the right is now the center, and the left mostly only exists if you now consider the radical Tea Party to be a normal example of conservative. It's totally ridiculous and not representative of our nation.


Unless we as a people realize that the phony "right vs left" drama is just divisive bullshit, and that they want us to fall for it so they can better manipulate our minds and our votes... Until we wake up and realize that big business is controlling both parties and that big business does not care about the middle class, or small business, or the poor, or children, or elderly, or schools, or police, or fire, or soldiers, or parks, or beaches, or music, or the future, or America... our nation will continue to spiral downward.

Chewy Gomez, KMEL, and the evil empire (Clear Channel)

My Thoughts on Chuy Gomez and KMEL

Gomez at the Fruitvale Station premiere

Rapper E-A-Ski once said in reference to KMEL... "I've had cats that just really want to say, 'If they ain't gon' support us, then why are we supporting them? Don't let them come out to the streets and the clubs." -HE SAID THIS IN 2003.* 


But, KMEL remains one of the most popular stations in the 4th largest market in the country. Despite the fact that they ceased being the "people's station" in the late 90's, and yet... "the people" keep listening. 


Recently, with the abrupt firing of Chuy Gomez, the Twitters, the street, the hood, are all collectively upset about the Bay Area icon being let go after 20 years on air, but simultaneously I promise you that there's also whispers of... "My boy Q gonna come up tho."  Or, "I'm gonna txt Sana right now and make sure she knows we still cool."


Bottom line is this: if you really care about the Bay Area community and hip-hop music, you would never support KMEL (Clear Channel). Since about 99, the station has systematically disenfranchised local artists, and helped to destroy the local music scene. Meanwhile, for a decade+ the average KMEL listener has been stuck with mostly tired, bland, homogenous playlists of the same 7 songs that they play nationwide on all their other "hip-hop and r&b" stations (thanks to ‪#‎payola‬ and politics).

RATM album cover

But (if you care to know), its actually much deeper than that. KMEL isn't just a crappy mainstream "urban" rap station. If we look into the complexity of it all, the station is actually owned by a group of right-wing evangelical conservatives from Texas  that were instrumental in supporting the Bush administrations quest for war in Iraq and Afghanistan. They even banned songs nationwide by artists such as Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, the Dixie Chicks, and even John Lennon's "Imagine" in the lead up to these wars on their now infamous "blacklist." (editorial note: Clear Channel is controlled by Bain capital, and its failing finances are putting a squeeze on CC & KMEL as described here by Davey-D)

Boots Riley and Davey-D

How is it possible to ban classic songs nationwide? Well, in 1996, Bill Clinton, enabled the Telecommunications Act to pass (one of his many big failures in office), with this passing Clear Channel was able to gobble up almost all of the mainstream radio stations nationwide, thus controlling all the markets. A complete monopoly of how Americans would be able to listen to the radio and get information. They then dumbed it all down in order to boost their bottom line for share holders. But, it didn't stop their of course with conservative agendas creeping into every nook and cranny. Even at good 'ol KMEL. See: the firing of Bay Area radio legend Dave 'Davey D' Cook from the station in 2001 after 9/11 when he had Rep. Barbara Lee and Boots Riley of the Coup on his show to talk about the Bush administrations aspirations for war in the middle east. 


When we look at the station supposedly representing the people here in the Bay, from a "hip-hop" perspective, a youth outlook, and from a black and brown vantage point, we begin to see what KMEL and Clear Channel is all about. We begin to see (and hear) that they do not truly support local music, and certainly do not support any progressive, or conscious rap music on the air. We can claim that the audience does not want more diverse playlists because they keep listening but this is misguided. 


As a youngster when I first listened to KMEL (or KYLD), I was able to get a variety of rap sounds that spoke to many national and local issues of social inequity and injustice (Ghetto Bastard), as well as fun party jams (OPP). Today, kids grow up on those same 7 songs that proclaim "I'm different," when really its just more of the same mindless, blackface rap music. We can indeed blame rappers for putting out this homogenous, often ignorant and shallow content (I am definitely all for calling them out), but its bigger than these mainstream fish. Who is ultimately controlling the dam and polluting the water? That is the major labels, that is Clear Channel. 


Luckily, with the way music is now hosted and shared on the internet, mainstream radio is much less relevant than it once was, but it is still highly influential. This is especially true with young people, and communities of color, where folks don't always have the ease of access to the internet that many of us take for granted. Unfortunately, not everyone takes public transit or Uber's to work, or can walk, like us lucky (spoiled, #blessed) people here in San Francisco, where most people don't really listen to the radio anymore. 

Rush Limbaugh

So, just as we should not assume that radio is no longer highly influential, we also should not underestimate their political power. Clear Channel not only dominates rap radio channels, they also control the news market on rightwing political talk radio that spreads bigoted hate on the air daily with the Rush Limbaugh types (although Limbaugh has cost Clear Channel millions of dollars in sponsorships lately with sponsors dropping like flies due to his consistently hateful speech against women, gays, and people of color). 


(Long F-ing story short) I guess what I'm trying to say is that while things have gotten better lately with the internet expanding our ability to gain access to music and information, we've still got a really long way to go when one company owns most all the stations and controls what we all hear on the radio nationwide. So, if you're pissed about Chuy getting fired, step it up and DON'T LISTEN TO THE STATION ANYMORE. I'd encourage you to go even further and write them and tell them that you are no longer going to listen and WHY. Let Clear Channel know how you feel. 


Contacts -- http://www.kmel.com/pages/CONTACTUS.html

KMEL program director
donparker@clearchannel.com
KMEL asst program director
kenardkarter@clearchannel.com

[note: at the end of the day as long as vulture corporations like Clear Channel, or even worse, Bain capital, continue to control our nations airwaves and finances, we are in deep, deep, trouble. If we want changes, it starts with awareness, behavior, and participation. If you are not happy about something, speak on it publicly. Talk to friends, family, etc. Write a letter to congress, get active, get involved, get organized.]

Looking Beyond The BART Strike: Questions For Bay Area People

BART question(s) for Bay Area people:

1). Would you pay more for "express" service? 

2). Would you be more likely to take BART during commuter hours if it was cheaper? Or, would you ride BART during commuter hours regardless, even if they raised fees (within reason)? 

3). Would you utilize BART, possibly at an increased fee, to be able to ride it between midnight and 6am (start with weekends to accommodate for track maintenance on weekdays), as a fully functional 24 hour transit system? -Thus greatly decreasing the possibility of Drunk Driving accidents and deaths, simultaneously stimulating nightlife/business/culture/community for the entire Bay.

Because looking at BART beyond the threat of strike, the system actually has the 3rd highest "FareBox Recovery" in the nation at above 60%. That means BART covers 60% of the costs of operations via its fares/fees we pay to ride BART. Most of the rest of the money is recovered thru taxes and subsidy (and I'm assuming a bit of advertisement). This relatively high national FBR is all occurring with limited service offerings, over a very widespread map. 

(crowded nyc subway)

Not surprisingly, NYC has the highest FBR in the country (over 70%), and this is of course due to a couple things we don't have here in the Bay Area. NYC's denser population, and close proximity of neighborhoods allows for a much greater efficiency (closer stops, less cars, more riders per capita) and so NYC subway is also able to also charge less. Win, win, win (Imagine if San Francisco had a subway system. No more parking tickets!). 

Well, we obviously can't shrink the Bay Area and make it more densely populated like NYC (perhaps if we got rid of the water but prob not a good idea), but couldn't we encourage more people to ride BART? Currently, only about 05% of the Bay Area's 7.2 million population rides BART on a daily basis, and during the weekend its about 2% (or less) of the overall population. Of course this includes areas that are not currently serviced by BART, however it seems to me that we've still got to be able to increase these numbers with some sensible adjustments and cutting-edge creativity. Although 375,000 people ride BART on average (mon-fri), the Bay, not entirely unlike LA remains very car centric. And while BART is fairly efficient it could be much more efficient, and much more enticing.

In regards to efficiency and enticement, BART could offer services that have different rates/pricing depending on the day/time. I'm not entirely certain how this would look but people are willing to pay more for convenience and necessity. For example, folks in SF pay "peak" prices for uber cabs. I'm not saying BART should spike prices during commutes (perhaps the opposite would make sense?), but maybe prices are raised slightly for express services, major sporting events and concerts, and services after midnight (at least on weekends) when people want to enter or leave major cities such as SF, Oakland, or San Jose. Wouldn't you pay a few more bucks to jump on express train? Or, avoid a DUI? 

(the Key System - before BART)

Moreover, how does BART not have "express" trains? BART claims they do not currently have the track space to accommodate express trains and maintain sufficient ridership for the non-commuters who need more frequent stops. However, during commute hours the large majority of people riding do not need frequent stops but rather access to main hubs. BART literally only started officially "looking into" the idea of express service in 2012 but yet has been around since 1972. (Note: Way back in the day, well before BART, the Bay Area was serviced by an amazingly cheap, clean, and efficient electronic transit rail called the Key system, which ultimately became a victim of the automobile industry and the nations obsession with cars)   

So, to me, the biggest problem with BART is not the employees salaries (avg. employee makes $80,000 with overtime, which mean many make much less than that. 80k is a very good wage but as you've probably noticed, the Bay is expensive!)… The bigger issue is the lack of leadership of the BART board over the years and it's inability to innovate and elevate the Bay Area in terms of transit when compared to other major metropolitan regions of the world. The fact that BART's Fare Box Recovery is the 3rd highest in the country is impressive at first glance but it's not so much the boards doing and much more to do with two basic factors. 

#1. Bart is kinda pricey and people are forced to pay these high fares that contribute to the FBR. 

#2. A healthy chunk of the people who live in the Bay are solely dependent upon BART for their commute, and many of us "Bay-Areans" in general are savvy enough to want to ride instead of drive.

(Tokyo transit agents pushing riders into train)

Indeed it's definitely not the worst system in the world but it could be much better, and smarter. Just because NYC and Paris metro (for example) have the advantage of denser/closer proximity, that doesn't mean BART should settle for the basics. While the Bay will never be like places such as Hong Kong or Tokyo, who have transit systems with over 100% FBR, we also don't desire to be so densely packed in like rats in a cage. That being said, I'd still like to be able to go to see a show at the FOX theater in Oakland or the New Parish and not have to scurry to catch the last BART before I'm stranded without a ride and forced to hail a $90 taxi. I'm sure a ton of folks living in the greater Bay Area would love to travel into the city at night if they didn't always have to drive, or find a place to stay. This would also make night ridership more safe, as more people that ride after 10pm would discourage criminal activity. BART would also be able to hire more transit police to work these later hours (hopefully the kind that are properly trained, and not quick on the trigger as we have tragically seen in the past). 

All of this musing comes as BART employees are about to go on strike again, with their main grievances being that they want safer work environment (less naked-guy ninjas), as well as not having to pay into their pension, or increases in health care costs. It might sound sort of crazy that BART employees don't currently pay into their pension but again, this was negotiated previously by the illustrious BART board and employees would argue they made other concessions. I'd also offer that anyone who pays into a pension currently and says they wouldn't rather have a deal that allows them to not pay, is probably fibbing. There is definitely a happy "extra medium" that both sides can agree upon. 

Overall though I think if we have any major issues with BART, it should be with the boards lack of leadership, and the services less than optimal Metropolitan offerings. Furthermore, if we are going to get upset with income inequality in America, aiming at BART employees who average 80k per year in one of the most expensive places to live in the world, is probably not the best place to start. We might want to first take a look at money in politics beyond "corporate personhood,"  including the revolving door in DC, and the "too big to fail" giants on Wall Street.