The Democrats’ dependence on blacks for votes means that they must keep blacks dependent on them….Black self-reliance would be almost as bad as blacks becoming Republicans, as far as liberal Democrats are concerned. All black progress in the past must be depicted as the result of liberal government programs and all hope of future progress must be depicted as dependent on the same liberalism. – Thomas Sowell
Liberals’ apparent antipathy for black self-reliance makes me very angry. It’s why I was fired up against John Kerry during his failed presidential campaign whenever he’d speak to black crowds about government programs (See John Kerry’s Racist Rhetoric). It’s why my blood boils whenever I hear white liberals advocate one government-dependent plan after another for black people.
Then again, maybe I’m too prideful. I break out in hives when I’m around people who talk about government as though it were a savior.
From where I’m sitting, liberalism is an ideology without hope, pride or expectation of excellence. My position is by no means lofty. I’m out here trying to make a living just like everyone else. I’m not rich and privileged, nor do I receive special favors from powerful and influential people. I’m someone who’s had an awakening, going from politically apathetic Democrat voter to Bible-believing Christian and advocate of the conservative cause. My pride, good or bad, will not allow me embrace the kind of thinking one needs to vote for liberals. Sowell sums it up:
What blacks have achieved for themselves, without the help of liberals, is of no interest to liberals. Nothing illustrates this better than political reactions to academically successful black schools….Achievement is not what liberalism is about. Victimhood and dependency are.Black educational achievements are a special inconvenience for liberals because those achievements have usually been a result of methods and practices that go directly counter to prevailing theories in liberal educational circles and are anathema to the teachers’ unions that are key supporters of the Democratic Party.
Many things that would advance blacks would not advance the liberal agenda. That is why the time is long overdue for the two to come to a parting of the ways.
Related posts: The entire “BC Wisdom” category.
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You know…suprisingly, I agree with 100% of this article…and that is why as much as I hate republicans…democrats disgust me equally if not more so…
But in a democracy, where the majority has ultimate power, can you really expect a party that has a power base of collective interest (the Republican base is alot more homogenistic) to actively pursue and allocate resources to truly solve the social problems of one group within it’s segmented base? No it is unpractical from a power perspective, particularly when you consider blacks will vote as a block now regardless…because Republicans do a terrible sell job that consist more of assigning blame (as abundantly evident on this site) than actually being creative and relationship oriented in building a base of black votes…
As I told you before, I have worked with our Republican congressman Lee Terry, here in Omaha, and I have provided one of the Black members of his staff an outline of how to increase the black republican vote over the next 15 years if that is truly what they want to do…the question is do they really?
I personally don’t think the black experience and the current republican mentality fit…and I have long been an advocate of mass black vote boycotting of the federal elections during a presidential year to force both parties to legitimately compete for the black vote like they are currently for the hispanic vote…
People don’t understand…a vote is a means to power supposedly through representation…if you are not achieving power through your vote…does it really matter if you vote?
As much as I dog Sowell on other issues…he hit this one 100% on the head…
Sowell’s greatl–I never meet people who think like him. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will ever happen: “…the time is long overdue for the two to come to a parting of the ways.”
“…to force both parties to legitimately compete for the black vote like they are currently for the hispanic vote…”
Both parties are guilty of phony pandering. How about, as a novel experience, having our elected officials compete for the votes and the confidence of AMERICANS? You know, the ones without the hyphens.
lol…
Some people just can’t see the trees thru the forest and thomas sowell has been blind for a while now… i know people like to jump on his bandwagon as a “black freethinker”, but he’s nothing more than a economist posing as a social scientist and a poor one at that. As with most black conservatives, I sense a ton of self loathing in his pieces and I almost feel sorry for him.
That being said, Sowell’s been using stereotypes in place of scholarship for a while now and this article is no different. As usual, no consideration whatsoever is given to the fact that Black’s “racial fears” just might have some justification given the history of this country. No consideration given to the fact that blacks see the white Southern male dominating the current political scene and reflexively oppose anything coming from them, which is completely understandable if you look at the South’s history. It’s more of the same old “stop being a victim” routine. Thank God this guy never had a job as a rape hotline operator.
I almost wanted to cry when I read the part about liberals never focusing on the FEW black schools in america that have outstanding academic records.
Yet this is the same person who hates when liberals showcase a few black students who got a jumpstart on their careers and life due to affirmative action when they try to defend it. The cherry picking is a classic conservative tactic and Sowell uses it well.
He also goes on to state that black achievements are in direct contradiction to liberal educational policies. I guess AA was and still is a conservative policy.
As usual, conservatives seem to think that one black person who makes it to a CEO, Sec of State, SC Justice position somehow erases over 200 years of racism and its impact on current black america.
I guess it’s progress if you’ve been stabbed in the back and it’s only pulled out 3 inches. Let’s focus on the 3 inches, not the back stabbing.
The key difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives see a Colin Powell, a Condi Rice, a Rich Parsons and say, “hey all is well in black america because these 3 made it so lets focus on them”. Liberals see them and say, “hey that’s great for those 3 blacks, what about the millions of others?”
From the first comment – “But in a democracy, where the majority has ultimate power, can you really expect a party that has a power base of collective interest (the Republican base is alot more homogenistic) to actively pursue and allocate resources to truly solve the social problems of one group within it’s segmented base?”
This is a good example of what’s wrong with people’s thinking. It is not up to the government or a political party to truly solve the social problems of any group. It is up to the *group* to do it or the solution will not work. That’s why all this liberal social engineering produces failure after failure.
Then why do you have a donation thing on your blog and a wish list from Amazon?
Accepting gifts from PRIVATE individuals who want to compensate me for whatever it is they enjoy about this site, which is done on my own time, is not in any way similar to existing on government hand-outs paid for involuntarily by American taxpayers, “buddyhackett.”
Sorry. Just asked.
Why am I a liberal?
When I was growing up, my mother raised 4 kids on her own…
she struggled to put food on the table, a roof over our heads…
I am not ashamed to say that we benefited from food stamps, housing vouchers, government cheese, and a whole range of welfare support to get us through those rough times when my mother had a literal choice between food or heat.
Fortnuately, we got through those rough years… my mother indoctrinated her children that for us, EDUCATION was the only way out of poverty… so with the the help of financial aid (oops… more evil, socialistic govt help that breeds dependency), all 4 of us graduated from college, one of us, myself, even earned a PhD… all 4 of us are in our 30s with excellent jobs… we are all proud TAX-PAYERS now…
Oh, but you never hear stories like that… it’s always how welfare breeds dependency… as LaShawn said: no “pride, hope, or expectation of excellence.”
Look… welfare has problems… I’m all for making it a more effective tool to help people out of poverty, so if liberals and conservatives have more ideas on how to make it more effective… I’m all for it. But all this conservative gnashing of teeth over “socialism” to help struggling families get out of poverty is counterproductive.
Jab, without dealing with the real issue – the breakdown of the black family – getting people to change their thinking about government hand-outs will be tough. If women are raising kids on their own, especially with no financial support from the father, they may consider welfare a viable option, although support can also be found in their local church. If they don’t have a local church, that’s another issue and also may be part of the problem.
While I certainly understand that people may feel they have no choice but to accept welfare temporarily, FAR too many LIVE with it. The government SUBSIDIZES out-of-wedlock pregnancies, which only perpetuates the cycle of dependency. It is and SHOULD BE a very shameful thing. I commend your mother for stressing to you and your siblings that education is the way out of poverty. Did she teach you to grow up to be a welfare bum? No, but too many mothers on welfare teach it to their children by the lives they lead. I stand firm on that, no matter how loudly you rant and rave on this blog. I will continue speaking out against government dependency.
And why is it the government’s job to “help people out of poverty?” The government has no money of its own to do that. They jack money out of my paycheck. What about that old-fashion notioned of “helping yourself out of poverty?” THIS is the dependent mentally that I’m talking about. An entire sub-culture is groomed to believe that everybody else is responsible for their care and feeding, failures and successes. Absolutely repugnant!
Buddy Hackett would like to apologize for asking
that question earlier.
Thanks.
[quote]This is a good example of what’s wrong with people’s thinking. It is not up to the government or a political party to truly solve the social problems of any group. It is up to the *group* to do it or the solution will not work. That’s why all this liberal social engineering produces failure after failure.[/quote]
Laura, without external GOVERNMENTAL prevention, slavery, sharecropping, jim crow, suffrage, etc. wouldn’t and couldn’t have been changed by the minority group. That is idealistic, as Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowells hero said, the government exists to referee the game in all other instances the free market and de-centralized governmental power should be the mantra. But when the government was decentralized the most, the most barbaric acts of racism were being done to minorities.
Buddy Hackett…. Eulalie…. can Professor Harold Hill be far behind? We got trouble right here in River City….
The Algebra Project.
Marva Collins.
KIPP.
I learned of all of these through “liberal” MSM.
When Charles Murray attacked the effectiveness of Marva Collins’ schools, without even looking at the college attendence rate, although he said their college attendence rate was minimal, not one conservative group stepped up to defend Marva Collins.
The college attendence rate of kids graduating her school was greater than 90%.
1)DS-
It’s not that branch of liberalism that hates them, it’s the “liberal” teacher’s unions who fear competition to get the job done.
2)”But in a democracy, where the majority has ultimate power, can you really expect a party that has a power base of collective interest (the Republican base is alot more homogenistic) to actively pursue and allocate resources to truly solve the social problems of one group within it’s segmented base?”
I have several issues with this statement. First, it is disingenuous to propose that the government continually step in to solve the problems. Our government has a terrible record at solving social and economic problems. Then the government proposes a wonderful idea to solve their problems: more government programs and handouts. Government assistance, no matter what it is for and where it comes from does promote dependence of some kind. The difference is in how long people want that dependence to last. For many of us, the shorter amount of time spent dependent upon the government, the better. The best solution does come from within. Even the most well meaning programs had unintended consequences. Desegregation was a wonderful thing, but did anyone stop to think the effect on the black businessman now that blacks could shop at Macy’s, etc. Instead of working to find a new market for these businessmen, the GOVERNMENT’S solution was a welfare check and more projects. Did that really solve the problem?
The best solutions for a social group have to come from that group, and not from some government entity. Remember that a bureaucracy exists only to serve itself. Our government has become a bureaucracy. Are we so naive to think that the government will really solve our problems?
No matter what our background is, we have to find ways to do things ourselves. Even if it means that we don’t aquire much wealth, if we can pass the tools and values on to our children, then they can improve upon our work and pass it on to the next generation. That following generation improves their lot and they pass it on. That is how the cycle of poverty is broken. It often takes a long time. While it doesn’t make today any easier, aren’t we supposed to pass on hope for those who come after us? Isn’t that part of our obligation, to prepare the way and sacrifice for those who will follow? Right now, among the poorest of the poor, the only thing that gets passed on is how to live off of a program. Our society has become so self-serving, that individuals see no logic nor reason to sacrifice so that the next generation will have it better than them. All that does is prevent the next generation from having a chance.
And that trouble would start with t? And rhyme with p?
Ahem. Sorry for the distraction, La Shawn; sometimes the urge just overcomes me.
“I break out in hives when I’m around people who talk about government as though it were a savior.”
Some of the overblown “US military as the world’s last hope” must have really thrown you for a loop.
Redbeard-
There’s a great burger joint in my neck of the woods by the name of Cap’n Billy’s Whiz Bangs. It was a regular place for lunch in my college days.
Thanks for bringing back some memories.
Not to be picky,
but I believe you have me to thank for that.
You’re welcome.
Well, I stand corrected.
Thank you eulalie.
Double meat cheeseburgers and curly fries. Heart attack in a sack!
David Rossie wrote: “Some of the overblown “US military as the world’s last hope†must have really thrown you for a loop.”
David, if you’re having that much difficulty understanding the difference between domestic social welfare and the U.S. military / foreign affairs, that might be an area for you to explore. I suggest Google as a starting point, with added resources available at your local library.
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