and favor US citizens over illegals or H1B (and etc) labor.
Both most successful presidents were former democrats.
Interesting ideas. These points are all good issues for discussion .
But I doubt they will get anywhere with the liberals.
1. Marriage, Family, Responsible Fatherhood — The stigmas surrounding out of wedlock births are long gone. Any who remember the reaction when Dan Quayle brought up this subject, will recall that he was crucified, he was attacking single mothers who do a tough job under tough circumstances, etc. It’s somehow considered an affront to women to mention that fathers or husbands are desirable.
2. Charter schools, school vouchers — The liberals oppose these ideas. The liberal view is that charters siphon off “resources” or money, from public schools, and that public schools have failed because we just don’t spend enough money on public education.
3. Police presence — The liberals and black activists think that bigoted police use young black men for target practice. They see police as the enemy in too many cases.
4. Rent Control — part of this is the lament that housing is too expensive, and not enough landlords even accept Section 8 housing. So this will be a non starter. Also, some blame gentrification for rising rents and pushing out long time residents of certain communities.
5. Stop electing Democrats — Why do blacks vote for Democrats by such huge margins? Do they see any connection between which party is voted into office and conditions in their cities? Maybe they see no connection.
I would love to see some productive discussions on these points, but I doubt that we will ever see these occur. These subjects are either perceived as racist or offend the sensibilities of liberals in some manner.
There's an old joke:
Two social workers are walking down the street when they see a man on the ground. He's been mugged and is bleeding.
One of them says to the other, "Someone needs to help the poor man that did that to him."
Excusing criminal behavior is bad, and enables more criminal behavior. That's one problem. Every gang banger that dies fighting the cops becomes a martyr, and the same people he was terrorizing come to his defense.
There's also the Bell Curve problem, and it's one that's laid out well in the book. It also presents some truths that many don't want to acknowledge.
Back in the days of segregation, smart black people kept the neighborhoods up. They opened businesses, raised families and stabilized the communities. When desegregation occurred, they moved into the much larger "white" society. It created a brain drain on the smaller segregated areas, lowering the IQ of the remaining people.
I'm not an expert by any means, but according to the Army, a person must have an IQ of 80 to be functional in any military role, including janitorial duties. In Haiti, there is no functioning society, and the average IQ is 67. Missionaries go there, but the populace is so violent, it's almost impossible to operate a mission.
Inner cities are facing the same thing. The violence runs off the people who have high enough intelligence to be able to help, continually lowering the IQ of the area.
Pittsburgh’s got ‘em all beat.
The last Republican mayor here left office in 1934.
This is a solid list. I would only add controlled neighborhood borders with checkpoints to enter and exit, with no alcohol sales in residential zones.
No. 6. Along with ending rent controls, eliminate other barriers to construction of new housing, such as restrictive zoning, expensive permitting, and building codes that promote leftist causes rather than safety.
#5 should be #1. It’s prerequisite for all the others.
1. Stop electing democRATS to run the city
2. Stop electing democRATS to run the city
3. Stop electing democRATS to run the city
4. Stop electing democRATS to run the city
5. Stop electing democRATS to run the city
With which I have yet to find anyone sane in either party who disagrees. Admittedly that's a pretty small sample size in the case of the Dems, but when you have rats in the same room with your kids it's awfully hard to blame the guy who says so as a racist.
“2. Charter schools, school vouchers”
Baltimore has charter schools I believe, and Catholic schools.
“3. Police presence”
Baltimore has a substantial police force.
“4. Rent Control”
I don’t recollect Baltimore having rent control. Baltimore rents have shot up to near DC levels without the corresponding nearby availability of DC pay level jobs.
Many places are going to “affordable housing” percentages for substantial developments and large new apartment buildings.
In the UK, Section 106 requires a 30% “affordable housing” share.
In the US, “affordable” might mean around the housing voucher “fair market rent” level amount.
“5. Stop electing Democrats”
Pretty much only a snake is going to slither into a snake den.
That leaves “marriage”, number 1. To encourage marriage requires changes in federal welfare rules, most especially for housing vouchers. From a past proposal of mine:
Housing Vouchers
[Housing vouchers should keep people from becoming homeless, not to pay their rent almost in full.]
1. Cap federal payment for a housing voucher for a housing unit, effective 14 months after enactment, at $0, plus
$250 for a first US citizen adult (age 21+) residing in the unit, plus
$150 for a second US citizen adult (age 21+) residing in the unit, plus
$200 if a male child dependent aged three to fifteen (or in high school and under age 19) of theirs resides in the unit, plus
$200 if a female child dependent aged three to fifteen (or in high school and under age 19) of theirs resides in the unit, plus
$100 for at least one of the above.
disabled adult -> $350 cap (1-bedroom unit)
[the federal government pays about $700/month in disability benefits too]
mom+newborn -> $350 cap (1-bedroom unit)
mom+newborn+dad -> $500 cap (1-bedroom unit)
mom+4-year old son -> $550 cap (2-bedroom unit)
mom+dad+five-year old son-> $700 cap (2-bedroom unit)
mom+dad+3-year daughter+6-year old son -> $900 cap (3-bedroom unit)
Sometimes land parcel assemblers want housing to fall into ruin so an area becomes less “black”.
In Baltimore, a whole area of buildings once packed with “blacks” north of Penn Station was vacated. The building shells were preserved.
In the distant past, substandard housing around many city cores was torn down for parking lots. In DC, these parking lots eventually had ~ten-story office buildings put up on them.
“Maryland spends an average of $15,848 per student annually.”
Some facts about the private Gilman School in northern Baltimore:
“Student-Faculty Ratio: 7:1
“Average Class Size: 15
“Tuition and Fees, 2019-2020:
Upper School (9-12) — $31,470
Middle School (6-8) — $29,390
Lower School (2-5) — $28,700
Prep-One & First Grade — $27,975
Kindergarten — $21,855
Pre-Kindergarten — $16,750
“Financial Aid Budget: Gilman School awarded just over $4.7 million in grants for the 2018-19 school year.
“Students Receiving Financial Aid: 24.4 percent in Upper School; 32.6 percent in Middle School; 22.5 percent in Lower School, total of 25.8 percent.”
https://www.gilman.edu/about/quick-facts
Two points.
1. Those things will never happen
2. People like this well meaning author refuse to see (are afraid to see?) the elephant in the room that insures that those things will never happen - the black majorities in those cities.
Re industrialize the USA. It’s all about restoring economic viability to these once hard working cities.
For a school a few miles north of Baltimore:
Grades 1st-6th:
“Lower Elementary 8:15am – 3:00pm $20,145
“Upper Elementary 8:15am – 3:15pm $20,940
“Dual Language Fee N/A +$400*
“*Spanish Dual-Language is currently only available for Lower Elementary.
https://greenspringmontessori.org/2019-20-tuition/
Grades 7th-8th:
“Adolescent Community 8:15am – 3:25pm $22,660”
“Tuition assistance is awarded to 79% of the Greenspring families who apply.”
The violence of 21st Century Baltimore is a follow-on to the ‘War on Drugs’.
My friend in DC commonly carries a $20 bill and a debit card.
Armed robbery of my friend would typically yield about $20, enough for a fix or two, and possibly a lengthy prison term.
Modern violence is commonly between drug dealers fighting for turf.
“The Baltimore City Public School System currently includes 34 charter schools, serving nearly 12,000 students each year.”
https://livebaltimore.com/city-living-essentials/education-family/charter-schools/
https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-charter-high-schools/m/baltimore-metro-area/
6. Outlaw panhandling