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I pay for a lot of services I don't use. And I can guarantee that I've never owned a slave, so I don't owe anyone anything. Do I get to "opt out" and get cash in hand?
Yes, but what would you have against black people opting out of public services? How much money does this personally cost you? Zero. So again, why would you be against reparations if it reduced the overall tax burden in America, and actually saved the country a ton of money. And what would you have against legalizing drugs which would bring in a new billion dollar market?
But they impact black people more. The funny thing is majority of the drug users are white, but incarceration rates does not reflect this. So drug laws are incredibly biased towards blacks as black communities are over policed. So if you really wanted to do something for black people, I would be all for just legalizing drugs. Things certainly couldn't get any worse
Right but that wouldn't be reparations because that still affects ALL groups.
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Originally Posted by branh0913
black people don't pay for a police department? Actually they do. Black people don't pay for welfare? Actually they do. That is why I say "opt out". Just because they're paying for these services doesn't necessarily mean they're using them. So a great gift from America to blacks would be to give them an opt out clause
No, my point was that the majority do not avail themselves of government benefits. Further, in practice, the above would be virtually impossible.
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Originally Posted by branh0913
Blacks mention them too.
Again, most do not. Just a few randoms. Whites discuss reparations more, which is strange.
Right but that wouldn't be reparations because that still affects ALL groups.
Do Reparations have to be specific for black people? Why can't reparations be due to black people, but still benefit the entire country as a whole? You can certainly spin it that you're legalizing drugs to reduce the incarceration rates of blacks. And in that respect you would be helping out blacks, but the entire country would also benefit.
I'm not sure why there is this idea that other people can't benefit from reparations.
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No, my point was that the majority do not avail themselves of government benefits. Further, in practice, the above would be virtually impossible.
Again, most do not. Just a few randoms. Whites discuss reparations more, which is strange.
Impossilbe how. Just have the IRS give blacks a form, and give them the option of opting out. When blacks get their pay checks they keep this money on their check. It's really not that hard.
It may be hard politically since I'm sure no politician would ever allow people to opt out of public services. But hypothetically speaking this would be the best reparations you could give blacks.
The only time reparations for slavery would have made since was during Reconstruction when some Republicans wanted to give former slaves "40 acres and a mule". If they had been able to enact that, and not abandon freedmen in 1876, as the GOP did in a political deal to retain control of the White House, Southern history would have been quite different.
In my opinion, reparations in 1865 would have been justifiable. Now, 150 plus years later when the former slaves, their children and almost all of their grandchildren are in their graves, it's pretty ludicrous.
It is against the law. But if they deny a black tenant, they don't have to give a reason. All you can go by are housing trends which shows that landlords are a lot less likely to rent to black tenants. And most blacks couldn't get loans to buy propety in some neighborhoods.
There are a lot of ways to discriminate and still be within the letter of the law
same can be said for employers or any other category. you can't go around claiming something is a law when it's not.
The only time reparations for slavery would have made since was during Reconstruction when some Republicans wanted to give former slaves "40 acres and a mule". If they had been able to enact that, and not abandon freedmen in 1876, as the GOP did in a political deal to retain control of the White House, Southern history would have been quite different.
In my opinion, reparations in 1865 would have been justifiable. Now, 150 plus years later when the former slaves, their children and almost all of their grandchildren are in their graves, it's pretty ludicrous.
So you would be against reparations if it didn't cost you any money? What if it saved you money?
same can be said for employers or any other category. you can't go around claiming something is a law when it's not.
That's the slippery slope of discrimination. No one knows why people get denied for things. All a person can do is quantify it. Redlining unfortunately has the outcome of housing disparities among blacks.
Anyway I'm not here to argue what discrimination looks like. You seem to want to argue that public services have been beneficial for black people, and then try to justify this with 2 of the most undersirable cities for black Americans. It has me kind of scatching my head. But statist will defend government no matter how ridiculous the defense sounds.
How is legalizing drugs and giving people the ability to opt out of social programs dumb? Wouldn't this REDUCE taxes?
right, lets legalize the very same drugs that irresponsible people who have no desire to stay away from these drugs can get them at any drug store. yeah, thats a good idea
and no being able to opt out of social programs is not going to reduce taxes. at best i might have no affect on them, but do you really think that some people are going to opt out of what they consider free money?
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Originally Posted by branh0913
So you would be against reparations if it didn't cost you any money? What if it saved you money?
none of your ideas will save money. they will cost money in the long run in a variety of ways.
right, lets legalize the very same drugs that irresponsible people who have no desire to stay away from these drugs can get them at any drug store. yeah, thats a good idea
and no being able to opt out of social programs is not going to reduce taxes. at best i might have no affect on them, but do you really think that some people are going to opt out of what they consider free money?
As a black man, I would opt out of it with no problems. Pretty sure majority of the black people who work don't want to pay for social programs. So since there is less funding for social programs if everyone opts out, then it is just a matter of time before the government shuts them down.
So do you think that people don't do drugs because they're illegal. I don't drugs, never have, more than likely never will. But I don't use drugs because drugs are stupid, I like having my mind, and I see no benefit in using drugs. I'm pretty sure no one has said "Man I really want to snort coke. Too bad it's illegal, or I would snort the hell of it". People who want to snort coke right now are snorting coke. Drug laws have done NOTHING to stop this.
So what are these mythical bad things that are going to happen if you legalized drugs?
So you would be against reparations if it didn't cost you any money? What if it saved you money?
It's not the money. It's been so long since that era it would be impossible to administer. Do you include persons of color whose ancestors weren't American slaves, but migrated after the Civil War? If not, how do you separate them out? How many bureaucrats would you have to hire to try to administer this clusterf**k? How do you determine eligibility when the slaves never had birth certificates and records are spotty or non-existent? What about mixed races? Do they get 1/5 th or 1/20th of a share or whatever? I'm a liberal, but the idea of reparations 150+ years later is a non-starter.
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