The other day on Marginal Revolution, Steve Sailer was holding forth on an IQ topic in the comments section. As is often the case, the comments drifted into the areas of race. Steve responded to someone with this:

One way or another, white America is going to be paying the Slave Trade Tax for, roughly, ever. Therefore, I don’t mind giving racial preferences to the 12% or whatever of the population who are the direct descendants of slaves in America, and I don’t mind the 1% who are American Indians having casinos or whatever.

On the other hand, I’m not at all happy about ethnic preferences for immigrant groups, such as the 17% (and rapidly growing) of the country who are Hispanics. They chose to come here. And I’m not at all happy about the business breaks that Asians get, which are so valuable that in 1982 Indians got the government to move them out of the Caucasian category and in with the Orientals so they could get minority business development breaks on government contracts and low interest SBA loans.

My sense is Charles Murray is right and we will be clawing each others eyes out in the not too distant future as a result of the racial spoils system. It is one thing for the dominant group to buy off the minority group to keep the peace. Once you get into competition between groups for a share of the spoils, the result is predictable. As Steve notes, immigrants are jumping on this system, which will accelerate the problem. The suicidal whites in charge now will be pushed aside one way or another.

A way out of this trap is reparations for slavery. Reparations pops up from time to time, but no one takes it seriously. The reason is the people making the case are ridiculous or simply illiterate. The lunacy is compounded by the difficulty of calculating a fair number. In civil suits, the actual damages have to be proved. Punitive damages are usually done by a formula of some sort. If we were actually settling up with real former slaves, that would be a good starting point. The last slave died in 1971, but most were long gone 100 years ago. One of the unreported facts of Reconstruction is black life expectancy fell dramatically after slavery.

Then there’s another problem. If you were living in sub-Saharan Africa in the 17th or 18th century, life was going to be short and brutal. Slavery sounds awful, but it turns out to have been better than living in Africa. Slaves had value to their owners so they took care of them. In Africa, life, as it is today, was cheap. Today, there is no better place to be black than America. The decedents of slaves are reaping a huge reward for being the decedents of slaves. If we are going to build a case for reparations, you have to factor in that huge benefit, as well.

All that said, what’s the price of a clean conscience? My people came here after the Bolshevik Revolution so I have no guilt about slavery or racism. But, the whites in charge at least pretend to be racked with guilt. Settling up with black people may very well be the best solution to finally close the books on this issue. It may also be the only way to dismantle the racial spoils system before it tears the nation apart. Given the push for open borders, we may have but a few more years before things get very tough.

My proposal is simple. Everyone descended from slaves, over the age of 25 gets $10,000 per year, distributed on their birthday. To get on the payroll, they must do a few things. One is you must provide a genealogical history showing you are directly descended from former slaves on both sides of the family. That means if you’re Barak Obama, you’re not getting reparations, but his wife would be eligible. The kids would not be as their father is not a descendant of slaves.

Another requirement would be DNA testing. We know enough at this point to confirm the basics. Weeding out the hustlers and con-men would be a little easier with DNA evidence. Someone who is 50% Chinese, indicating a Chinese parent, could look like Tiger Woods and thus try to get on the payroll. This would also be a service to people who cannot piece together their genealogical records completely. If you are the relative of someone who has established their line, you can use that information to fill in your family tree.

Finally, the criminals would lose their entitlement. Sending checks to prisoners or their families is asking for trouble. Once the person has paid their debt to society and been crime free for a number of years, then the benefit can resume. Using this programs as a nudge to obey the law is a low cost choice with some obvious benefits.

I think I’d want the data on recipients to be public. That way the public can help supervise the program by spotting and reporting cheaters. It could also have value to scientists researching DNA, evolution and so forth. I’d also want the Civil Rights Act  and the Voting Rights Act repealed as part of the program. The savings on mischief from those programs would off-set the cost of reparations. The books would then be closed on slavery and segregation. Blacks could have a tangible benefit to help even the playing field and whites would be free of the guilt.

One way or another, white America is going to be paying the Slave Trade Tax for, roughly, ever. Therefore, I don’t mind giving racial preferences to the 12% or whatever of the population who are the direct descendants of slaves in America, and I don’t mind the 1% who are American Indians having casinos or whatever.

On the other hand, I’m not at all happy about ethnic preferences for immigrant groups, such as the 17% (and rapidly growing) of the country who are Hispanics. They chose to come here. And I’m not at all happy about the business breaks that Asians get, which are so valuable that in 1982 Indians got the government to move them out of the Caucasian category and in with the Orientals so they could get minority business development breaks on government contracts and low interest SBA loans.

– See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/05/do-social-problems-cause-economic-problems-or-vice-versa.html#comments

One way or another, white America is going to be paying the Slave Trade Tax for, roughly, ever. Therefore, I don’t mind giving racial preferences to the 12% or whatever of the population who are the direct descendants of slaves in America, and I don’t mind the 1% who are American Indians having casinos or whatever.

On the other hand, I’m not at all happy about ethnic preferences for immigrant groups, such as the 17% (and rapidly growing) of the country who are Hispanics. They chose to come here. And I’m not at all happy about the business breaks that Asians get, which are so valuable that in 1982 Indians got the government to move them out of the Caucasian category and in with the Orientals so they could get minority business development breaks on government contracts and low interest SBA loans.

– See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/05/do-social-problems-cause-economic-problems-or-vice-versa.html#comments

One way or another, white America is going to be paying the Slave Trade Tax for, roughly, ever. Therefore, I don’t mind giving racial preferences to the 12% or whatever of the population who are the direct descendants of slaves in America, and I don’t mind the 1% who are American Indians having casinos or whatever.

On the other hand, I’m not at all happy about ethnic preferences for immigrant groups, such as the 17% (and rapidly growing) of the country who are Hispanics. They chose to come here. And I’m not at all happy about the business breaks that Asians get, which are so valuable that in 1982 Indians got the government to move them out of the Caucasian category and in with the Orientals so they could get minority business development breaks on government contracts and low interest SBA loans.

– See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/05/do-social-problems-cause-economic-problems-or-vice-versa.html#comments

One way or another, white America is going to be paying the Slave Trade Tax for, roughly, ever. Therefore, I don’t mind giving racial preferences to the 12% or whatever of the population who are the direct descendants of slaves in America, and I don’t mind the 1% who are American Indians having casinos or whatever.

On the other hand, I’m not at all happy about ethnic preferences for immigrant groups, such as the 17% (and rapidly growing) of the country who are Hispanics. They chose to come here. And I’m not at all happy about the business breaks that Asians get, which are so valuable that in 1982 Indians got the government to move them out of the Caucasian category and in with the Orientals so they could get minority business development breaks on government contracts and low interest SBA loans.

– See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/05/do-social-problems-cause-economic-problems-or-vice-versa.html#comments