When All Solutions are Bad...

Peter Grant, science fiction author, former soldier, now preacher, discusses possible solutions to ongoing black poverty and alienation in response to Fred Reeds article on Milwaukee.

Go read them both.

Peter offers several things we can try to do, but the biggest and most immediate one is this:

I can offer one response to Fred's "What now?" It's based on cold, hard reality, learned in Africa over many years of traveling that continent and seeing what works and what doesn't. It's not politically correct, it's not merciful, and it's not very helpful . . . but it's practical.

Simply put, it's like this: YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET.

Right now, the US government and US society are subsidizing the current mess in our inner-city communities. We're paying through the nose for it, directly and indirectly; and we're getting what we pay for. 

Solution? STOP PAYING FOR IT. 

Cut off the funding. Now. Completely. Not a dime more for failing schools, subsidized programs producing more failures, 'Blackness' orientation/education/promotion/whatever. Shut them all down. 

I can already hear the screams, "But you can't do that! You'd leave a vacuum!" 

So? 

What we have now has always failed, is continuing to fail, and will continue to fail. We aren't doing those trapped in its coils any favors by going on paying for them to fail. We may have nothing worthwhile to replace the programs we're cutting, but at least we'll stop wasting money hand over fist.

One factor to consider is what lifeguards are taught - that many drownings involve two victims. The man who was drowning, and the one who went out there unprepared, and was dragged down, overcome,  by the first victim in a panic. Also - airlines tell you to put your own mask first, before your kids for a similar reason.

You also do alcoholics and addicts no favors by continuing to enable them, sometimes you HAVE to cut them off.

I'm not sure we can rule out "cut them off" - but if all we have is multiple modes of failure, then the one that results in fewer victims MAY be our best course. It at least holds out a hope that in cutting them off from the crutches of dependency, they may get their lives in order if only because they are left no other choice.

Read both articles.