Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenRivet
it fascinates me that African American culture seems to embrace conservative christian ideals, but when it comes to politics, their vote - almost unanimously - does not reflect this idea. The same could be said however, of virtually any race in America. 
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That's because of three things, the first being the allure of "free" stuff. It is remarkable how many people think that money grows on trees, or that there is an as-yet untapped stash of it somewhere (usually in successful business leaders) that we could fix everything with if only we could get our hands on it. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, and we both think as much, but try telling it to the factory worker whose plant is being shut down because of foreign competition. Just a little more money in the form of subsidies and a few tariffs would keep his plant open. He thinks it no great imposition on you to get just a few pennies of your tax money, or to make you pay a fraction of a cent more for a tariff, but there are over a hundred million workers in this country and when they all ask for a "few dollars more" they quickly overwhelm the economy's ability to generate a suitable tax base. It is a problem of perspective and incentive.
The second problem is that politicians know that, but their job is not guaranteed by performance. You know the rest. Again, it is a problem of incentive.
And finally, the problem comes right back to free stuff. Something given has no value, and even though the Federal government doles out billions in the name of assisting minorities, it rarely does any good. Indian reservations and subsidies, housing projects, rent controls, affirmative action, about ten-thousand initiatives aimed at minority education, public schools themselves, healthcare, social security, etc, etc ad nauseum. You name it, it's expensive and it doesn't work for most people. There are successes, of course; there damn well better be when that kind of money is spent, but I doubt that a single person in this community would point to any of the things I named above as a success.
Yet again, incentive is the problem. Cuban blacks in New York have very nice communities, but they aren't eligible for aid until they become citizens. Clearly, the money thrown at the problem is not the solution.
Yes, many blacks go to church, and for the most part, like any people, they are good people. They have values and morals and principles like any good people do, but without incentive they will have a hard time amounting to anything. This is particularly true of those who really are at a disadvantage to begin with due to disability or inability or a poor social clime or whatever. Same goes for everyone, just stop at the first welfare-financed white-trash hovel you can find and see for yourself, y'know?