Road to urban despair paved by Democrats, by John Kass 8/20/16
Riots broke out in Milwaukee the
other day, and before that in other cities, each erupting with familiar sights:
fire and pain, anger and looting.
It will likely happen again in some
other urban area, perhaps after a black man is killed by a police officer,
whether the shooting is justified or unjustified. Was the victim a known
criminal pointing a gun at a cop? Or not? These are reasons, but reasons really
don't matter now, do they? The fire is the thing. The anger is the thing. And
all we're doing now is waiting for the next one.
Our media high priests — the
guardians of the political establishment — come to us with reasoned
explanations for the urban tinderbox. They tell us of hopelessness and despair.
But ignore the one thing that binds them all, the one inconvenient truth of
things. We know that institutions have broken down. Generations of black
families have been shattered by the welfare state. We've created government
systems that maintain human beings in poverty and ignorance so that politicians
can count on their votes. And that is a crime against
morality.
You know this. There are schools
that don't work and haven't for decades, schools where teachers are
overwhelmed, where children arrive thoroughly unprepared, where too many
parents are indifferent.
Political corruption is an epidemic,
a hidden tax upon urban economic wastelands, where there are no jobs for people
who aren't trained and educated for work.
During a riot, when businesses begin
to burn and rocks are thrown and guns are fired, political actors in those
little boxes on TV begin to bark in clichés.
They use words like
"empowerment" and "investment" and "social
infrastructure" and "social justice."
Blame is assessed and pressed like
hot iron into the flanks of the rich, or of "corporations," and
others with means, a moronic and frightening misunderstanding of how jobs are
created. It is as if "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" has become
economic policy.
And by such logic all we must do is
lower the rich into a giant cauldron, add salt and bay leaves and boil them
down for soup to soothe the neighborhoods on fire. And while we're at it, why
not find that magical unlimited federal checkbook and a committee of the best
and the brightest to guide us? But we've already had government run by
the best and the brightest. And we've spent trillions of dollars in America's
war on poverty.
And just what has been accomplished? The
crime statistics tell you. The jobless numbers tell you. The graduation rates
tell you. Open your eyes and see the despair. What isn't discussed enough when
riots happen and neighborhoods burn is the one thing most common to all these
decaying urban tinderboxes. They're run by Democrats.
Baltimore is a Democratic city,
Milwaukee is a Democratic city, Chicago, Detroit, and on and on. This is a most
inconvenient truth. This is what binds them. For decade after decade, Democrats
have controlled policy and politics in the broken cities. This is the proof of
Democratic success.
The broken schools have been run by
Democrats for decades. The broken institutions are run by Democrats.
The political corruption in these cities
is Democratic corruption, where government is the hammer used to beat others
into forking over their cash.
The corruption tax presses down upon the
economic wastelands, where there are no jobs to be had. Urban school systems
remain broken for students and families. Yet they feed the bureaucrats and the
vendors who sell goods and services to education bureaucrats. And the well-fed
know what they're supposed to do on Election Day: Vote Democratic.
Big city school bureaucrats are
political creatures, loyal to their sponsors in the statehouse or at your City
Hall. The teachers unions, by definition, are about protecting their members.
Everybody's covered but the desperate. And the kids? They don't have a union.
They can't vote. They don't write campaign checks to politicians.
Those who suffer the most from broken
urban policy are those who are told that Democrats are the only ones who can
protect them. Protect them from what? Poverty, violence, joblessness and bad
schools? All that has been provided.
Those who push broken government programs
and liberal policy aren't evil people. Most intended to work for the good.
But they made a terrible mistake in
thinking that the strong arm of government is the answer. It isn't. It never
was.
Are there alternatives to the
crushing cynicism of the Democratic welfare state? Yes. Liberty is the answer,
not some politician using government to "empower" people. Growth is
the answer, not government control.
People need hope. And meaningful
work — which doesn't mean waltzing around with a clipboard on some government
payroll — is essential for self-respect. So here are some alternatives:
Radically cut taxes and change
workers' compensation and other anti-business laws in urban areas to promote
business job growth. And support true school choice — meaning vouchers — so
impoverished minority students aren't deprived of a future. Democrat bosses,
the trial lawyers and public unions hate such ideas. But then, they're the
muscle of Democratic politics. That strong arm of government helps politicians
to maintain power and control. But as we've seen, the strong arm of government
can also pave the road to hell.
There's a
new episode of "The Chicago Way" with John Kass and Jeff Carlin.
Guests include former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on the
politics of policing and Chicago Tribune reporter William Lee. Listen here: www.chicagotribune.com/kasspodcast.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-urban-unrest-kass-0821-20160819-column.html
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