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Exactly. Centralizing resources at the state level - whether it's financial, social or whatever - removes the biggest success factor: what's in it for me? A l

by EricE 5y ago

Exactly. Centralizing resources at the state level - whether it's financial, social or whatever - removes the biggest success factor: what's in it for me? A lot of people tend to look at that phrase cynically. I tend to be more pragmatic - no one is going to care about my needs more than I am. And if I go the 100% selfish path then no one else is going to want to interact with me, so it's in my self interest to NOT be a jerk - self governing. Start to break down those personal interdependencies (and remove some of those self governing mechanisms at the same time too) by inserting shortcuts around them - like substituting resources from government - and you start to see things break down. Just look at the effects of welfare on minority communities. Disincentives for young women from getting married and you have generations of kids, especially young males, without the influence of a father - and the results of that are pretty apparent. As others point out, even crappy parents are often way better than the alternatives. The middle class of the black community in particular was rapidly expanding post WWII - until the "great society" welfare programs kicked in, with pretty devastating results - to them, anyway. It was a boon for politicians who now had power over an ever growing and dependent base.

erosenbe0 5y ago
Your romanticization of post WWII conditions is highly inaccurate. Black middle class expanded because of migration insofar as segregation and maltreatment allowed. Take Silicon Valley. Segregation was legal and often preferred there until 1964 so the growing Black middle class was systematically denied entry in the 1950s to the growing job potential there. How many Blacks worked at HP in 1960s, or Intel in 1970s? How many Blacks worked at a mechanic shop or a cleaning service or a coffee place or any auxiliary business in Silicon Valley in the post WWII era, so their children could gain a foothold in the schools and the massive wealth creation engine? How many Black dental hygienists were there in Santa Clara county? Secretaries? Schoolteachers? Firefighters? How many Black friends did Steve Jobs have in grade school in the 1960s?
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  There was less income inequality between blacks and whites during Jim Crowe than today. You can expand that to almost every measure of well-being like broken families, suicide rates, criminality, etc. This is obviously not a post advocating for Jim Crowe. But it is a post that is asking for an explanation as to why blacks are doing so much worse compared to whites today than they were during Jim Crowe. Do you believe we've gotten more racist?
  - erosenbe0 5y ago
    First of all, your claims about well being are nonsense. Use a real statistic like literacy or average number of lost teeth. The white-Black literacy disparity or dental health disparity is clearly lower than 1950. Also, none of your claimed income statistics are sufficiently granular to start a discussion since the average Black American worker may be something like 10 years younger than the average white American worker and also a weighted average by county of residence shows that Blacks live in places with lower wages compared to whites. Edit: you're not wrong that social problems have changed and some could be due to government interventions but you paint a broad brush that is not accurate and sounds like a talking point blurb

by EricE 5y ago

erosenbe0 5y ago

Your romanticization of post WWII conditions is highly inaccurate. Black middle class expanded because of migration insofar as segregation and maltreatment allowed. Take Silicon Valley. Segregation was legal and often preferred there until 1964 so the growing Black middle class was systematically denied entry in the 1950s to the growing job potential there. How many Blacks worked at HP in 1960s, or Intel in 1970s? How many Blacks worked at a mechanic shop or a cleaning service or a coffee place or any auxiliary business in Silicon Valley in the post WWII era, so their children could gain a foothold in the schools and the massive wealth creation engine? How many Black dental hygienists were there in Santa Clara county? Secretaries? Schoolteachers? Firefighters? How many Black friends did Steve Jobs have in grade school in the 1960s?

Consultant32452 5y ago
There was less income inequality between blacks and whites during Jim Crowe than today. You can expand that to almost every measure of well-being like broken families, suicide rates, criminality, etc. This is obviously not a post advocating for Jim Crowe. But it is a post that is asking for an explanation as to why blacks are doing so much worse compared to whites today than they were during Jim Crowe. Do you believe we've gotten more racist?
- erosenbe0 5y ago
  First of all, your claims about well being are nonsense. Use a real statistic like literacy or average number of lost teeth. The white-Black literacy disparity or dental health disparity is clearly lower than 1950. Also, none of your claimed income statistics are sufficiently granular to start a discussion since the average Black American worker may be something like 10 years younger than the average white American worker and also a weighted average by county of residence shows that Blacks live in places with lower wages compared to whites. Edit: you're not wrong that social problems have changed and some could be due to government interventions but you paint a broad brush that is not accurate and sounds like a talking point blurb