Posted on Aug 2, 2016
The next battle for Black Lives Matter: Economic justice
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SPC Andrew Griffin
Maj John Bell thank you for responding brother! Have you had the Opportunity to read the Article?
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Maj John Bell
SPC Andrew Griffin - Sorry this is a long one. I have. I am going to admit that I brace myself for a lot of heat in these social and economic justice discussions. Anyone who has read much of my postings on RP knows that I simply do not think well of government. Don't care who is in charge. We have a government machine designed by giants, maintained and operated by cartoon characters. I understand the metrics. I do not doubt the accuracy.
What I doubt is:
__the applicability of scientific method to the analysis. You cannot isolate, or in some cases even measure the variables.
__the ability of government to impose a solution that doesn't exacerbate the situation in the long run.
I am going to state three of my opinions/assumptions. I will be blunt and honest and speak in gross generalizations that I believe tend to be more true than not, but please believe I do not intend to be bigoted. If my opinions/assumptions are not somewhat based on truth, I cannot meaningfully contribute until I learn the truth. Please comment on your opinion of the truth of what I say.
1) I believe family stability is probably the most important factor in a child's social, scholastic, physical, and emotional well-being; and subsequent success as an adult. In my opinion the Great Society programs and social welfare programs do not now or did not in the past nurture family stability. To the contrary, the presence of a male potential income earner penalized the female/mothers potential for financial aid. Men became cast asides. I believe this adversely affects Black and White low-income families in general (gross generalization) more than Asian, Latino, and Middle-Eastern families who have stronger cultural and religious traditions intolerant of absentee, deadbeat dads. It is my belief that Black and White low income families are less stable now than prior to the advent of social welfare programs.
2) I believe the war on drugs, and resultant justice system actions also contribute to the instability of low income families. The Bulk of this repercussion is borne by Black and Latino; juvenile and young adult males. (The fixing of that is another lengthy post). Once again this contribute to instability of low-income families and adversely affects the chances of success for families affected by the incarceration rates. It is my belief that the racial disparity in prison populations was not as pronounced before the war on drugs.
I believe that the lack of family stability forces single mothers to spend much of their time providing basic needs (Food, shelter, clothing). Many of them are completely spent when it comes time to provide more esoteric needs (discipline, leadership, mentoring, tutoring etc.) The earning disparity that Black and Latino mothers face even compared to White and Asian mothers further pushes the burden disproportionately onto Blacks and Latinos. I believe when there are two parents, regardless of gender identification, there is a far greater possibility that someone will have the energy to deal with the "bundles of MOSTLY joy" that children are.
In each of the above opinions/assumptions I do not credit one race as being inherently better at avoiding the pitfalls because of DNA. No argument, Whites as a demographic have always been better off economically after the first thriving colony in North America. That economic difference has meant that the non-government safety nets have had more resources to better take care of Whites.
It is going to take truly determined mothers, (or single fathers) and/or exceptionally talented, intelligent, and/or prematurely wise children to overcome a lack of family stability. Regretfully, most of us are not that determined, talented, intelligent or wise? What say you? Am I an ignorant ass? or a thoughtful citizen? or somewhere between the two?
In my opinion the solution does not lie with the government. It NEVER will. Government doesn't change culture. Culture changes government. The first step to a person improving their child's chance of success, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity is to not have children until they are in a committed emotionally and financially stable relationship. Unfortunately those decisions are made by people who are caught in the middle of 15 year long hormonal tornados where the brain is on auto pilot.
The real authority lies where it always has within society, young women of child bearing age. They have always been the most important factor in civilizing males. (Not to be crude, they sit upon the world young men wish to conquer.) When young women decide that they deserve better. When they decide not to engage in conduct that may produce children before there is a stable family ready to receive them. The racial economic disparity will begin to dissipate.
What I doubt is:
__the applicability of scientific method to the analysis. You cannot isolate, or in some cases even measure the variables.
__the ability of government to impose a solution that doesn't exacerbate the situation in the long run.
I am going to state three of my opinions/assumptions. I will be blunt and honest and speak in gross generalizations that I believe tend to be more true than not, but please believe I do not intend to be bigoted. If my opinions/assumptions are not somewhat based on truth, I cannot meaningfully contribute until I learn the truth. Please comment on your opinion of the truth of what I say.
1) I believe family stability is probably the most important factor in a child's social, scholastic, physical, and emotional well-being; and subsequent success as an adult. In my opinion the Great Society programs and social welfare programs do not now or did not in the past nurture family stability. To the contrary, the presence of a male potential income earner penalized the female/mothers potential for financial aid. Men became cast asides. I believe this adversely affects Black and White low-income families in general (gross generalization) more than Asian, Latino, and Middle-Eastern families who have stronger cultural and religious traditions intolerant of absentee, deadbeat dads. It is my belief that Black and White low income families are less stable now than prior to the advent of social welfare programs.
2) I believe the war on drugs, and resultant justice system actions also contribute to the instability of low income families. The Bulk of this repercussion is borne by Black and Latino; juvenile and young adult males. (The fixing of that is another lengthy post). Once again this contribute to instability of low-income families and adversely affects the chances of success for families affected by the incarceration rates. It is my belief that the racial disparity in prison populations was not as pronounced before the war on drugs.
I believe that the lack of family stability forces single mothers to spend much of their time providing basic needs (Food, shelter, clothing). Many of them are completely spent when it comes time to provide more esoteric needs (discipline, leadership, mentoring, tutoring etc.) The earning disparity that Black and Latino mothers face even compared to White and Asian mothers further pushes the burden disproportionately onto Blacks and Latinos. I believe when there are two parents, regardless of gender identification, there is a far greater possibility that someone will have the energy to deal with the "bundles of MOSTLY joy" that children are.
In each of the above opinions/assumptions I do not credit one race as being inherently better at avoiding the pitfalls because of DNA. No argument, Whites as a demographic have always been better off economically after the first thriving colony in North America. That economic difference has meant that the non-government safety nets have had more resources to better take care of Whites.
It is going to take truly determined mothers, (or single fathers) and/or exceptionally talented, intelligent, and/or prematurely wise children to overcome a lack of family stability. Regretfully, most of us are not that determined, talented, intelligent or wise? What say you? Am I an ignorant ass? or a thoughtful citizen? or somewhere between the two?
In my opinion the solution does not lie with the government. It NEVER will. Government doesn't change culture. Culture changes government. The first step to a person improving their child's chance of success, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity is to not have children until they are in a committed emotionally and financially stable relationship. Unfortunately those decisions are made by people who are caught in the middle of 15 year long hormonal tornados where the brain is on auto pilot.
The real authority lies where it always has within society, young women of child bearing age. They have always been the most important factor in civilizing males. (Not to be crude, they sit upon the world young men wish to conquer.) When young women decide that they deserve better. When they decide not to engage in conduct that may produce children before there is a stable family ready to receive them. The racial economic disparity will begin to dissipate.
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MSgt (Join to see)
Teenage motherhood specifically and unwed motherhood generally limits the economic earning potential of the woman. That lower economic potential of the mother puts a high hurdle in the path of the child. Some people can overcome it (both my husband and I included) but statistically it is much harder to accomplish.
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Who pays for the reparation? Since the government cannot create wealth the money has to come from somewhere. Are they going to tax only white people? Do you think that is fair? My family wasn't in this country until the early 1900's. My ancestors had nothing to do with slavery and being in the north east when they finally arrived, they had nothing to do with jim crow laws either. When you penalize one group of people based purely on race it is discrimination no matter if it is white people being punished or black people being punished. You cannot punish a group of people for the sins of their ancestors. I think job training and bringingn back vocational high schools would help young people of all races. Give young people the skills they need to succeed in life. My civilian employer has a hell of a time hiring trained mechanics, welders, machinists and electricians. The wait list for employment for general factory production workers is 2 years until even getting called for an interview. Skilled trades people is only a few months. We have an incredibly diverse work force that looks like the population in the local area. If we want to help people move up the economic ladder skilled trades are a good plce to start.
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I would agree with SSgt (Join to see). I have read the article, it is a collection of political pandering's.
What I do not understand is the emphasis on reparations as a solution to the problems, nor do I understand why it should be listed as the first item.
To be very blunt about the subject of reparations - Who is going to pay, and who is actually going to get the monetary value? Who reaps the benefits?
Once you understand that "reparations for slavery of blacks" is not just a US phenomenon but a world-wide subject, and look behind the scenes, you may question this yourself. What about other ethnic or racial groups that have suffered slavery, do they deserve reparations also, and if so who pays for those reparations?
What I do not understand is the emphasis on reparations as a solution to the problems, nor do I understand why it should be listed as the first item.
To be very blunt about the subject of reparations - Who is going to pay, and who is actually going to get the monetary value? Who reaps the benefits?
Once you understand that "reparations for slavery of blacks" is not just a US phenomenon but a world-wide subject, and look behind the scenes, you may question this yourself. What about other ethnic or racial groups that have suffered slavery, do they deserve reparations also, and if so who pays for those reparations?
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