Pirate's Cove

An interesting piece at the Huffington Post by Peter Drier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College (via Hot Air headlines)

Can We Head Off a Long Hot Summer of Riots and Rebellion?

The nation’s attention has been focused on the recent riots in Baltimore, but the harsh truth is that they could have happened in any major city. Indeed, we could see a long hot summer of urban (and, as in places like Ferguson, suburban) riots that would make the two-day disturbances in Baltimore seem trivial in comparison.

We can surely expect more turmoil next year, too, if social and economic conditions continue to deteriorate, and if candidates for president and Congress fail to make specific suggestions for addressing the suffering and hardship facing the nation.

Huh. Interesting that he pretty much excused Obama for these deteriorating social and economic conditions, and failed to mention that these problems are occurring in deep Democratic areas.

But promises can only quell riots for so long. Hope soon turns to frustration, and then anger, unless there’s real action to change conditions.

He just described Democratic Party policies since the late 1960’s.

Fixing racist police practices and bias in our criminal justice system is important. But the underlying cause of riots is the hopelessness that comes with persistent poverty, unemployment, slum housing, widespread sickness, underfunded schools and lack of opportunity to escape such intolerable conditions.

Forty plus years of Democratic Party policies and control in these areas. Mr. Drier goes on to describe how to fix all this. Did you guess that all his ideas revolve are more of the same programs and policies that have failed, essentially doubling down? He really, really wants to “Invest in Grassroots Organizing and Coalition Building”, giving these same people a “voice in their cities and the larger society”, noting “that voluntary associations and interest groups today are titled toward affluent Americans”, so, framing this in terms of class warfare, a notion that has certainly helped increase strife in the United States, particularly the last 6 years under Obama.

He goes on to note how they have won some “significant victories” over the past few years, with things like an increase in the minimum wage, such as in LA, which just raised the rate to $15 an hour (which will ultimately hurt low and middle class consumers), free full day kindergarten in NY, and, wait for it….

In California, there are significant efforts to curb carbon emissions and explicitly link those efforts to job creation and investment in low-income communities.

Sign. Of course Mr. Drier had to bring Hotcoldwetdry into the mix, but, he fails to mention that these policies hurt the poor, and destroy jobs and income. They can help the big 1%ers who are able to lobby for choice grants and loans from the Government, though.

He provides more complaints about how bad the economy is (without mentioning Obama and Democratic Party policies), leading to his specific ideas, which are the same ol’ same ol’, like

• Guaranteeing Good Wages and Benefits. Requiring every job in the United States to meet a minimum standard of quality — in wages, benefits, and working conditions — and offer unhindered access to collective representation and a real voice for workers. (they love giving away other people’s money, and don’t seem to care that this will raise the cost of living for the poor)
• Unlocking Opportunity in the Poorest Communities. Investing resources on a large scale to restart the economy in places where racial bias and sustained disinvestment have produced communities of concentrated poverty. (they’ve done this for 40+ years. What have they achieved?)
• Taxing concentrated wealth. Funding new investments in job creation, care, and economic renewal by taxing those who benefit most from the current economic model – investors, financiers, wealth managers, and individuals in the highest income brackets. (you knew this one had to be there)
• Valuing Families. Ending the systematic devaluation of care work, which disproportionately keeps women in poverty, by making high quality child care available to all working parents, raising the quality of jobs in the early childhood education and care fields, transforming homecare and providing financial support to unpaid caregivers. (from the party that pushes irresponsible sex and abortion on demand)

and, of course

Building a Clean Energy Economy. Using the large-scale investments required for transition to a clean energy future to create millions of good jobs that are accessible to all Americans, especially those hardest hit by hard times — workers of color, women, and economically distressed communities.

Perhaps we could just raze these cities, replace them with wind turbines and solar farms, and move all these folks to areas which aren’t double and tripling down on Liberal stupidity. Transitioning to alternatives is good for the environment, and will eventually replace much, if not most or all, of the current use of fossil fuels. But, right now, this won’t help the poor at all. First, it raises the cost of energy and the cost of living, hurting the poor. Second, the jobs have been shown to only appear in small numbers, not the big numbers constantly predicted. Third, how does this help unskilled poor folks in Democrat inner cities with poor educations? They won’t get hired. And, as costs go up, companies will hire fewer people.

It’s no wonder Democrat cities are failing, particularly those that are majority-minority.

Read: Say, Can We Head Off A Long Summer Of Riots? »