Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for John Legend . . .

February 23, 2015

. . . to call for an end to the government’s war on drugs or its war on the black family (a.k.a. the welfare state).  After his musical performance last night at the academy awards, Legend made a little political speech in which he pointed out that there are now more black men in prison in the U.S. than there were black slaves in the year 1850.  The main reason for this is the war on drugs, which has had a dramatic racial (not racist) effect in terms of incarceration.  Legend made no mention of this.

None of the tuxedo-wearing, endlessly self-congratulating leftists in Hollywood is likely to call for an end to the war on drugs because it contradicts their core belief that the cause of all this black imprisonment is white racist cops in particular, and racist “white oppressors” in general.  What we subsequently need, they will say, is an even bigger welfare state focused more exclusively on the black population as a form of reparations for the past sins of earlier generations.

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The Best of Thomas DiLorenzo

Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo [send him mail] is a former professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a longtime member of the senior faculty of the Mises Institute. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books including The Real LincolnHow Capitalism Saved AmericaLincoln UnmaskedHamilton's CurseOrganized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About GovernmentThe Problem with Socialism; and The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Economics