California is talking about awarding around half a million dollars to each black resident of the city by the bay. The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee, however, is recommending that in addition to a number of other perks, they receive $5 million apiece for the losses they have suffered from their ancestors' enslavement before the Civil War and the "systemic racism" ever since.
Based on the public comments, some see reparations as some sort of silver bullet.
"There's only one thing that would stop our children from bustin' into these liquor stores. There's only one thing that would stop our kids from bustin' into these jewelry stores, stealing watches and jewelry, and that's reparation," one commenter argued at a recent meeting on the subject.
Economist Michael Austin of Project 21 does not see how reparations would stop looting. But considering the runaway inflation and the ever-increasing cost of living, he does see a world of hurt for the entire country if anything close to these suggested payouts are awarded.
"Your trillion-dollar deficit spending on top of a $30 trillion-plus is fiscal suicide," he warns.
Austin also suggests that liberal activists know no money is coming. He thinks they want to keep their communities in a panic as a way to consolidate their power.
"I keep feeling progressives are using reparations on African Americans like Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown," the economist relates. "I think it's just another power trip, and we are the fools who keep falling on our backs."
