And so the absurdity of what defines our politicians goes on. Focusing on a crisis from 150 years ago with victims that have long since passed away in order to generate attention, votes and power.
Focusing on a made up climate crisis with a manufactured future catastrophe that supposedly threatens the planet and the existence of humans beings........as the planet greens up during the current climate OPTIMUM.
Made up energy schemes for the future that would put us back into the Stone Age and would collapse the economy based on absolutely no rational, common sense thinking/plans or numbers that could ever come within the vicinity of working.
While at the same time............ignoring the real crisis at our southern border, as hundreds of thousands of illegals cross into this country ........errr, not ignoring it but actually blocking efforts to manage it properly.......intentionally.
Welcome to the alternate universe here in the year 2019, where up is down and down is up.
Where 2 year investigations that clear you of the crime you were investigated for using the governments best resources and 35,000,000 actually mean that you did commit crimes and need to be investigated even more.
Where a porn lawyer is interviewed every day for months on major news networks as part of their top story because he has dirt about the person that they want to destroy.
The alternative universe of 2019.
Where non problems are the end of the world as we know it. Where innocent people are deserving of prison for crimes that can't even be identified orrrr to pay consequences for a crime that a person with not a shred of evidence, thinks happened when you were in high school.
And crimes committed 150 years ago to people long since gone by people long gone, suddenly are top priority before a presidential election.
While a verifiable crisis, major by any objective standard right here and right now with every statistic, data source, pictures and witnesses screaming for help.......... escalates and the "gate keepers"/politicians try to sabotage efforts to make it better.
My sister, Patti, adopted 2 Kenyans. They were aids orphans.
One is an emergency room doctor in Toledo, Ohio, Calvin. The other one is in the US Marines, Joash. Both have wonderful lives in America compared to what things would have been in Africa.
Her position on reparations is this.
Instead of this current generation of blacks/African Americans being deserving of reparations for something that happened a couple of centuries ago, she says jokingly, that the rest of the African population should be filing a lawsuit against the United States because their ancestors were not brought over here and now they have to live their lives in poverty with no hope of escaping.
Her point is obviously that the Africans living in the US today, have the massive benefits of the best economy, opportunities and freedoms in the world..............but the problem is that we have a group of people trying to tell them..........no, don't focus on that. Let's instead, dwell on the atrocity of what caused your great, great, great, grandparents to come here a long time ago and hold people today accountable!
http://www.pattimaguirearmstrong.com/2012/03/our-sons-from-kenya.html
pretty darn difficult to listen to one of the most privileged blacks men in history {sparticus himself} rail about reparations without just laughing out loud. What fools every dem running for Pres has become.
mcfarmer,
That's why I told you what my sister said (and she did and actually said it almost as I stated) because of the flack somebody like me would get for saying that.
I had asked her several months ago, during a previous discussion here on this, if it was ok to repeat what she said on the forum and she said it was.
So the point is this. All these people claim to be representing blacks or blacks from Africa or poor people or representing group X or group Y with their opinions or their agenda to do this or that, while their past actions reveal they have never lifted a finger to do a dang thing to help the group of people they claim to suddenly represent passionately.
BTW, her son, Luke lives in Guatemala, where he has dedicated his life to helping children and families there.
So opinions are worth a dime a dozen from people that use words but don't follow thru with actions.
If there ever was a person that used their actions to prove they genuinely care about Africans(past or present) she is the quintessential example. If you or I or whatever political geniuses coming out suddenly with emphatic opinions and proposals to address this issue think our opinions are better qualified than hers............then we are delusional.
So she is my "source" for that opinion. I obviously agree and can defend her position but am not qualified as an expert and in fact, if you read the story and if I told you much more about her and her husband(they met in the Peace Corps in the Marshall Islands in 1980) and these 2 young men from Kenya, you could appreciate how proud that I am of her and amazed that she did something that almost nobody(including me) could have done.
That also applies to the southern border issue.
If these politicians are suddenly telling us its a moral issue and we should have open borders...........then what have they ever done to help these people in the past if all of a sudden its become compelling to them?
As I mentioned, this is my sister Patti's son Luke, described in this thread:
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/32353/
Do you think that his opinion or her opinion should get some weighting on this issue vs those that only see these people as pawns for their political agenda?
How about border patrol people that live this every day?
These are the people that walk the walk.
This is also one reason that it matters to me how much politicians have donated to charities in the past. If they truly believed what they say they believe, then they would go beyond just using words or political positions.
.....
A black writer was booed Wednesday for testifying against slave reparations in a congressional hearing.
Quillette columnist Coleman Hughes said reparation payments to the descendants of slaves would insult black Americans, further divide the country, and make him and other descendants of slaves “victims without their consent.”
The public present for the Democrat-led hearing did not take his opinion well, prompting Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen to tell them to “chill.”
.................................... rest of information in this article is very revealing as is Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen
screaming, immature response which was revealed with his action in telling them to “chill.” , this is glaringly ,improper usage of Parliamentary Procedure.
And yes, the inflow of illegal migration is an apparent Pandora's Box that must be revealed before our Nation's
security is further breached .......
...... please click on link below
I'm not incensitive to the horrific atrocities of slavery. It was the worst thing that our country has ever done.
Obviously, if blacks deserved reparations(do they only go to poor blacks and not rich/successful blacks?)then American Indians would deserve reparations.
But what about reparations for the many millions of American soldiers families that died in wars, some of them really dumb wars, like the Iraq or Afghanistan war.......... or the Vietnam war in which they were DRAFTED?
Not only was their freedom taken away, instead of having to work and be somebody's property like a slave(which was bad) but survive and have generations of offspring, US soldiers killed on the battlefield were forced to fight men they never met, in foreign countries, in wars that they did not want to be part of, started by politicians and got killed........never to have offspring or even having a life.
The reparations thing right now by democrats running for president is clearly an attempt to get attention and black votes. If you really want to help black people, don't single them out and demean them with bribes intended to get their vote. Push for policies that help educate minorities and provide jobs.
The best thing for the black communities is having the lowest black unemployment rate in history. The violent crime rate of blacks is 6 times higher than whites. Teach accountability for ones actions in the black community vs blaming cops, almost all who are good cops and not racist. Push for better laws, especially drug laws that discriminate against poor people.........since there is a higher ratio of poor blacks vs poor whites.
Look for opportunities and programs for advancement of blacks. Opportunities for law enforcement to engage with leaders in black communities so they are seen as their protector and trying to make their community safe not enemies.
Teach good work ethics and make parenting classes available to black males, even mandatory in inner city high schools, the key to stopping the vicious cycle of violent crimes and lack of male role models for blacks growing up.
Those are potential solutions that could pay dividends longer term ..............not just with a bunch of votes in 2020 from blacks that are for getting reparations.
So what about the whites that did not have slaves? How about the whites that fought for the north in the Civil War and died? So their families too should be just as responsible for the reparations the same as slave owner families numerous generations later? As if there would actually be some accurate way to identify them. Imagine the amount of fraud and misrepresentation, trying to identify victims from 200 years ago and pass it on to their distant offspring? and to fairly hold accountable slave owners(which would of course not be the path to take).
Why are we even having this silly discussion?
Great post Mike! The bottom line: way, way, easier said than done. Regarding the idea I heard, the idea is not that individuals would get reparations. But rather, one idea is that groups or organizations would get them. I have no idea which organizations. Or they would be distributed as welfare of sorts to the downtrodden of any race. And the money would come out of everyone's taxes rather than just from whites' taxes. We don't even reveal race on our taxes, regardless. So just whites paying reparations would not even be feasible. More would come from richer folks.
A good argument can be made that today's white Americans shouldn't have to pay for the sins of white Americans from hundreds of years ago. What I heard as a rebuttal is the idea that whites today are on average in better shape than they'd otherwise be had there not been slavery. So, the whites of today are supposedly economically "privileged" as a group and that it would be fair for them to pay for being better off financially than blacks on average.
Regardless of how fair the idea may sound, it would lead to even more divide in the country. I bet many far right wing whites would rebel before paying these thus leading to even more civil unrest than we have today. As a country trying hard to remain intact, the US cannot afford to take this chance. Fortunately, it won't pass the Senate. But what about when the Senate becomes Dem controlled? It will at some point with almost certainty. Then what?
"What I heard as a rebuttal is the idea that whites today are on average in better shape than they'd otherwise be had there not been slavery."
I would very much enjoy seeing a coherent argument for this statement/claim.
It would address, among other things, the facts that many of today's US "whites" ancestors were in other countries during this time, (Some of them slaves),and that much of the "wealth" created by slavery was decimated in the war to end slavery.
I always kind of figured 1 million dead Americans fighting that great war was reparations enough. We righted a wrong long ago.
Thousands of years ago, according to the Old Testament, the Jews were slaves in Egypt.
So when do I get my cut ?
Chances are pretty good we all have ancestors who were slaves, but looking at the history of Jews, there are plenty of countries that "owe" reparations starting at the Holocaust and working back.
The Japanese Americans of WWII probably have a few bux coming, and let's not get started on American Indians.
In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim.
T remember an old Japanese woman being interviewed … and she needed an interpreter after almost 50 years !
In 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent
If I was ever aware of that, I guess I've forgotten. Thx Carl
This is a great point carl, as emphasized by your underlined words...........each surviving victim.
Would it make sense to pay reparations to a distant generation of those victims, in the year 2100?
Funny too about the Israelites in the old testament and their ancestors never getting reparations. Actually, you should be getting reparations too from Germany and maybe some Muslim countries so you and many other Jews could be rich just from reparations (-:
But seriously, the Jews have never been people that need special assistance or the Japanese(not to stereotype). Put them in an environment that allows for every race to become successful by applying themselves and they do well..........not so good in concentration camps )-:
What these reparations for votes politicians are ignoring are the many social programs and organizations that have been in existence and applied for decades to assist African Americans......and seek justice and fair treatment for blacks in our country today.
Ever hear of the NAACP?
https://www.naacp.org/about-us/
"The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons."
How about the National Urban League?
Affiliate offices on the ground
300Communities Served
2MPeople Served
11000Volunteers Engaged
28 Organizations That Empower Blacks
Affirmative action programs have been applied for decades...............as an effective form of reparations for disadvantaged blacks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action
"Affirmative action describes policies that support members of a disadvantaged group through education, employment, or housing that have suffered past discrimination.[1][2][3][4] Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has sought to achieve goals such as bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, promoting diversity, and redressing apparent past wrongs, harms, or hindrances."
metmike: So these democratic candidates running for president trying to bribe black voters are around 100 years too late to touch the lives of any victims that were ever slaves and many decades late for contributing substantive ideas that strengthened the premier civil rights organization in this country. Here it is again.
https://www.naacp.org/nations-premier-civil-rights-organization/
Founded February 12, 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s foremost, largest, and most widely recognized civil rights organization.
Good for them if they are for civil rights but treating blacks as votes that can be bought in this manner using a reparations marketing scheme is demeaning.
My Dad was a civil rights activist in Detroit in the 50's and 60's...........BEFORE it was popular.
Ahhh, Affirmative Action. Government sanctioned racism that denies opportunities to more qualified candidates based on race, so that less qualified candidates, based on race, can be set up for failure all because their "non-racist" supporters believe that "These poor negroes can't possibly make it without our help".
Great idea </end-Sarcasm>