Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
what's lost in all this of course is the actual study.
so this study concludes that wealth---which they define quite exactly and which excludes house ownership, which no doubt would have made the results worse---is distributed in a radically unequal manner in the united states. that inequality--which is by far the worst in the industrialized world, and which is roughly compatible with that of guatemala--- sadly--and to our collective shame--runs along racial lines. so taken collectively, within a context that disadvantages ALOT of people, african-americans fare *far* worse than whites. period. full stop.
|
Maybe the average wealth for African-Americans is lower than whites. I'll take your word for it. Cities like Detroit have problems. Other inner city areas of large cities have problems.
What I don't buy is the claim this brief makes that the predominate reasons for this are unfair taxes and interest rates, especially to the exclusion of other reasons, some of which are self-imposed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
1. what are the motives that animate folk from the right to pretend this data--which is not out of nowhere, which does not break with previous data about the distribution of wealth in the united states once you look at reality as it is and not as conservatives would prefer to pretend that it is---what is the motivation behind pretending this data must be wrong?
what are you defending when you make that move?
|
This chatter sounds like a solution looking for a problem. If there's enough chatter from the liberal camp about this poorly structured brief and others like it, that turns into an 'Oh my God, we have to do something to help those poor people' and my taxes go up. In the meantime, wealthy liberal hypocrites who think it's society's job to help the poor continue to accumulate their millions, or in some cases billions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
2. what do you think are the *policy* explanations for this inequality in the distribution of wealth? what are the structural explanations for it?
|
Seriously? I don't think the welfare programs helped much at all, with the problems of multi-generational welfare in the 70's and 80's, either the incentives for it to be easier for black males to walk away from their families, or the disincentives for them to stay married.
As an aside, the victimhood of African-Americans is getting rather old after 50 years. Want to see to real victims? Check out the Native Americans. Been to places like northern New Mexico or northern Arizona anytime lately? Why don't we hear much about them?