Day 3ish: Panhandling for Reparations

On October 10, Damali Ayo and scores of others went out on the streets of America to panhandle for reparations.

Have your buttons been pushed?

Though the ostensible purpose of this action was to bring the issue of reparations into the sphere of public discussion, the National Day of Panhandling was clearly designed to stoke liberal guilt and conservative irritability.

After all, reparations for slavery and the rest of institutionalized racism in the United States will never ever happen. It's just too much money. It's possible that a portion of these reparations could have been paid if George Bush hadn't run up the federal credit card so badly these past years. But even if the funds were available, deciding how much money should be paid out and to whom would be an unsolvable puzzle. The question would end up in congressional committees for the next hundred years.

But the underlying point of the reparations discussion is that black people in the United States are still on an unequal footing as a result of slavery, segregation, and simple racism. If this is the problem, then there are many solutions to choose from. Education and business subsidies for minorities are not unaffordable, in the balance of things. Incentives for businesses to help with economic inequities are also possible. These are just ideas. With a little creativity and a lot of good faith, solutions can be found. Reparations, however, are not the least bit practical.

A basic truth of negotiating theory is that you begin by asking for more than you want. We are in a pregnant phase of our political cycle. Electoral candidates and the media all have an unquenchable need for issues to talk about. It's clever of Ayo to throw the reparations issue into the mix at this time and in this fashion. No doubt she will receive an abundance of sharp criticism for it, but that is completely beside the point.

If we can wind the Stupid War down in a way that makes America stronger, not weaker, and also see fit to elect a president who is interested in managing the economy in a responsible way, we may find ourselves with enough slack for everyone.

Reparations will never solve anything. What we need instead is general prosperity. Still, a little discussion doesn't hurt, even if it includes poking at sore spots.