The Case Against Reparations

This podcast is taken from Douglas Groothuis, Fire in the Streets (Salem, 2022).

Even if we grant that the free-enterprise system has done a disservice to black people [which I do not], it does not follow that socialism would be any better for them—or for anyone else. Remember that a realistic view of politics is that of the constrained vision [of Thomas Sowell], which aligns with the Judeo-Christian account of our humanity, culture, and the state. Finding injustices in one system does not imply that these injustices will be eliminated or lessened by another system. Other injustices may replace and exceed the previous injustices. This is true for socialism. [Groothuis, Douglas R. Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics (p. 121). Salem Books. Kindle Edition.]

1. Those benefiting from slavery or oppressed by it are long dead and so cannot be involved in any reparations.
2. Reparations as demanded today are not supported by the Bible.
3. It is difficult and often impossible to identify blacks today as descendants of slaves. Many in the US are not.
4. Massive wealth transfers are not likely to be helpful for blacks overall or for society as a whole, as was seen in The War on Poverty in the 1960s and 1970s. On this see, Charles Murray, Losing Ground.
5. Who, among blacks, would receive reparations? What of wealthy blacks, such as Oprah Winfrey and others? If so, this makes no sense.

Conclusion

If the free market were torched for the sake of ending or lessening racism and replaced by socialism, racism would not go away or even decrease. Rather, Americans of all colors would lose treasured freedoms and opportunities. Forcing “equity” economically through the state would spark strife and discontent. Whatever legacy remains of slavery, Jim Crow, or redlining is best treated by the possibilities and opportunities afforded through free enterprise, rather than by insisting on compensatory will-o’-the-wisps notions, such as affirmative action, minimum wage laws, tax increases on “the rich,” reparations, and other political dead ends. If any social system should be committed to the flames on the basis of evidence, principle, and history, it is socialism in all of its forms.

Groothuis, Douglas R. Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics (p. 127). Salem Books. Kindle Edition.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.