Chris Talgo: San Francisco’s Ludicrous Reparations Plan Will Beget More Government Dependence

The San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee is done. Reparations PlanThis is a legal action to correct the problem. “institution of chattel slavery” And “combat the ongoing, explicit, anti-Black discrimination that Black citizens in San Francisco continue to experience” San Francisco residents 18 years and older who are eligible for lump-sum payments of $5 million will be issued. “identified as ‘Black/African American’ on public documents for at least 10 years.”

It also contains provisions that allow for “Supplement African-American income of lower income households to reflect the Area Median Income (AMI) annually for at least 250 years ($97,000 in 2022),” “Finance a comprehensive debt forgiveness program that clears all educational, personal, credit card, payday loans, etc.,” And “Convert public housing units into condominiums with a $1 buy-in for qualifying residents,” There are many other handouts.

The committee didn’t include an estimate of the total cost of the plan, which is convenient. San Francisco currently has approximately 45,000 residents of color. It would cost the city approximately $500,000 if the plan was approved by 10,000 San Franciscans. $50 billion. This is $50Billion that San Francisco is currently unable to afford, given the challenges facing the city. $728 million Budget shortfalls over the next two-years

It’s absurd that San Francisco would have to pay $50 billion to compensate for chattel slavery. California, however, was a free state.

However, reparations can be argued for any kind of slavery, according to the report. The report states that “the purpose of reparations” should address “atrocities committed by this country during the era of chattel slavery,” The “role of government in creating and perpetuating poverty by codifying racist practices in housing policy, particularly during the postwar era of urban history in the 1950s through 1970s known as urban renewal.”

Cities in the United States that were not slave-free have to pay for slavery reparations, even though slavery was outlawed more than 150 years ago.

Isn’t it unfair to make today’s generation pay for the sins of past generations? Perhaps that is the point.

Aside from the affordability and moral issues associated with this half-baked plan, it also should be clear that this will likely do little to improve the plight of San Francisco’s 45,000 black residents.

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, San Francisco, which not that long ago was a pristine and prosperous city, has turned into a crime-ridden hellscape in recent years.

The public schools system is failing to educate. city’s black students. The city’s police force is unable to protect the city’s black residents. And the city’s uber-generous welfare programs and social safety net has made poverty among black families worseIt is better than the alternative.

Suffice to say, despite its very progressive municipal government that has a long track record of championing leftwing redistributionist policies, San Francisco’s black residents are still wallowing in poverty.

This could be because welfare payments such as food stamps or a universal basic income, housing coupons, or stimulus checks do not address the root causes behind poverty.

Although it might sound absurd, it is better to create policies that encourage self-reliance and not dependence on the government.

Since the advent of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, the federal government alone has spent close to $25 trillion There have been many redistribution programs. However, the rate of poverty has not changed over the same time period.

The 15-member team “experts” who authored the San Francisco Reparations Plan are most likely well aware that giving poor people other people’s money does not solve the underlying reasons that poverty is so prevalent among San Francisco’s black population. These people are not content to promote these unproductive plans repeatedly. This makes me wonder: Are these really the best plans? “experts” They may be hopelessly out-of-touch or have other sinister motives. For example, they could continue the cycle of poverty by receiving ever more government handouts and increasing their government dependency.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.