I totally heart this kid.

Here's a great podcast: Because Kmele Foster —while thoughtful and sincere— is one of the blowhardiest figures in American life, you can go ahead and skip the introduction and start listening at eight minutes. (McWhorter is also a favorite on this show.)

"African-American" is still a hoax.

"Also, you should meditate on why this is so important to you to begin with."

I can name that tune in two notes: Free money!

I saw this pointed out somewhere yesterday:
* We must grant citizenship to Dreamers, who were brought into the U.S. illegally, because they are not responsible for the sins of their parents.
* Whites must pay reparations, because they are totally responsible for the (real or supposed) sins of their great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.

A data point. The state of Alabama decided, at one point in the 1990s, that it needed to pay reparations to the state's historically black colleges and university. What did the local historically black university do with its reparations money? They built a new football stadium.

Annnnd moar thoughts from Loury, a participant in the podcast linked above.

Annnnnnd a link from Kmele Foster about Hughes.

Well, that's a kick to the pants.

Burgess Owens, an author and former NFL Player who was a witness at a congressional subcommittee hearing on reparations, suggested that the Democratic Party should pay "restitution" for the "misery" it brought to his race in the past.

Burgess was referring to members of the Democratic Party who supported slavery in the Civil War era and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Burgess, who opposes reparations, explained that he was a registered Democrat until he learned more about its history.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/owens-on-reparations-how-about-the-democratic-party-pay-for-all-the-misery-it-brought-to-my-race/

I'm okay with it unless we pay reparations to the enslaved Irish.

Those people are grossbuckets.

The issue of reparations sparks a few questions:

1. What societal problem will reparations solve?
2. How will reparations better the lives of those receiving them?
3. How will reparations make up for past injustices?
4. Is it morally defensible to hold today's citizens financially responsible for yesterday's injustices?
5. Why are those specific past injustices eligible for reparations when so many others are not?
6. Who gets the reparations payments and what are they obligated to do with them?
7. How do we hold the recipients of the reparations payments to account for what they do with the payments?
8. Were not Affirmative Action and various Civil Rights bills intended to atone for and correct past injustices?
9. If so, why were those laws and programs not enough? How did they fail?
10. Would reparations augment the aforementioned programs, or replace them?
11. What if the generation receiving reparations squanders them? Does the next generation get further reparations? Define "squander" in this context.
12. If reparations fail to remedy the specific past injustices for which they are intended, what next?

"...the Center for Disease Control reports homicide as the number one cause of death for young black men."

Since most of the young black male homicide victims are killed by other young, black men, would they be the ones paying reparations?

Thomas Sowell points out that reparations invokes blood libel--that you are a sinner (or guilty) because of something your ancestors did. This is one of the excuses for hating the Jews all these centuries--2000 years ago their ancestors killed Jesus. Sowell also points out that if you could not have prevented some harm (due to lack of time travel or geographic distance) then you cannot be guilty. Our constitution even prevents children from being liable for their parents debts (all debts are dispensed with upon death).

After the Civil War (itself a pretty huge "reparation" with 1 death/injury for every 6 slaves freed), slaves were given land. Not enough land? Well,the whole country was pretty bankrupted by the war. Then we had the Great Society and Affirmative Action. I would say the debt it pretty well paid. Any remaining injustice can be laid pretty firmly at the feet of democratic city governments in our major cities over the past 50 yrs.

Cousin Dave, don't you know what every red-blooded American knows and accepts - that sports are twice as important as academics (sarcasm)?

I swear, though, I seem to remember a documentary on PBS, a few years ago, about exchange students - from Hong Kong, maybe? - and the kids were shocked at how much time and money Americans put into campus sports.

Thank goodness MY family didn't worship sports that way...

"The issue of reparations sparks a few questions:" Conan the Grammarian.

It only sparks one question which I already know the answer to.

Will this be enough to be the end of it?

If not, then it should not be considered at all.

> Thomas Sowell points out that
> reparations invokes blood libel
> --that you are a sinner (or
> guilty) because of something
> your ancestors did

This many years old before learning what 'blood libel' means.

And yes, that business with the governor of Alaska a few years ago was very confusing here

> They built a new
> football stadium.

It's at least possible that this is how the old white-guy network was working in Alabama that year... A bunch of guys in the legislature wanted to send some money to a particular construction company, so they said Yeah, that's it! This is all about "reparations"!

I mean, the first mission of government employees, whether they're in the legislature or academe, is to suck moneymaking capitalist dick.

In your heart, you know this is so.

> 2. How will reparations better
> the lives of those
> receiving them?

First of all, I think this is going to happen. I'm almost too old to care at this point... It's like, okay you silly little children, do whatever the fuck you want to do, but don't come crying. You didn't ask for my opinion, so you're not going to get it.

But Conan's question is important.

I'd wager right now that we're going to see some incredible scams perpetrated upon minority communities in the years ahead. We're going to see organized crime grinding with a sophistication and scale that makes Google look like a 19th century medicine show. Step right up....

How did I not know you had a blog Radwaste? All these years.

Bookmarked.

Reparations as in dealing with the prison and crime issues makes sense. Handouts to everyone descended from slaves doesn't.

According to 23andme I've got a drop... would I get some? It wouldn't make sense. How would it be determned, by blood quotient? someone who was 50% descended from slaves would get half of the 100%? How do you determine a 100% black person is descended from slaves and not from more recent immigrants?

Dealing with the crime issue isn't reparations. Just good governance. And if you really delt with the crime issue the related prison issue goes away at the same time.

The hard thing is the crime is mostly local and cultural. Despite repeated claims it isn't economically based. So it is really hard for someone outside of that community to do anything. To a large extent black communities have to help themselves for the simple reason no one else can.

Cousin Dave, don't you know what every red-blooded American knows and accepts - that sports are twice as important as academics (sarcasm)?

I should have added:

And that learning to make big bucks by playing and/or designing video games is THREE times as important as academics?

See here:

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180323-how-video-games-make-some-teens-millionaires

I also seem to remember a news story about a father who allowed his son to leave school so the son could earn a LOT of money playing video games - and it was working.

The only counter-argument I can think of, offhand, when talking to kids, is that you reportedly have to be very good at math to make that kind of money. (I don't know the details.)

More than that you have to be lucky Lenona. The video game industry is flooded with people. There are far too many people who want in than there are jobs. So you have places like Electronic Arts getting their doors padlocked by OSHA. People with bachelor degrees getting abused by employers because they are willing to do everything and anything to stay in the industry.

In that sense it is very similar to sports. A few people make millions and all the rest make peanuts.

Radwaste you need comment sections.

"Radwaste you need comment sections."

Nope. Decided against them - as I mentioned in the first entry - because they each represent a starting point. I link to them in other fora, each of which starts an argument differently. If my linked article is inadequate, then it can be edited as I find necessary or explained to the complainant. I wanted as brief a presentation as possible on each topic. You will note that the site is not monetized.

As you can tell from this blog, some commentary is waste. Winner, content/syllable: Andrew M Garland. Loser, content/syllable: Artemis. Best prose: Crid. Most quotable: Conan. Most serious: Patrick.
These are regulars at Our Lady of Advice, many of which I have admired but not credited here, and I am still bothered by the noise level sometimes, even as we are a sort of family -- so I avoid comments at radwasteusa to raise the signal/noise ratio.

I want my article to be the point, not a litany of links to tweets.

I appreciate your interest!