| One of the things that confuses me quite a bit is the focus on laws that expired or have been abrogated 50-60-70-150 years ago and make it as if everything wrong with contemporary American society is caused directly by such laws and nothing else. * GI Bill: adopted in 1944, expired in 1956. * Social Security: adopted in 1935, unclear what the impacts were at the time. Unclear what the impacts are today. * Redlining: created in 1934, illegal since 1977. As an immigrant that landed in US post 2000 with $1000 to my name and a tenuous F1 situation, all this sounds like ancient history. Much more stringent appear, in no particular order and not pretending to be exhaustive: * the whole F1/H1B situation, which depresses the domestic labor market in technical jobs, especially software, but also research at large * global competition, especially with China * the over financialization of the economy * the profits accumulating at the very top since the 2008 Great Recession * the explosion of real estate market in big cities, way above what we pretend the inflation rate is * manufacturing decline * offshoring of entire industries to East Asia * right now, the covid19 lockdowns which are destroying the service economy, which was supposed to be the future of jobs * the decimation of small business America due to same covid19 lockdowns. * specifically for the black community, the lack of academic achievement * the rise of the gig economy and Amazon warehouse jobs * the opioid, homelessness and suicide crisis * the obesity crisis, and the related food deserts Again, not a young black guy or gal. But if I'd were, there'd be 10 high priority items on my worry list before I'd get to the Civil Rights Era. As a nation we seem to have abandoned the middle and working class of all colors. The public discourse is obsessed with Instagram influencers and race histories half a century old if not older, sometimes much older. |