If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of these topics tie into socialism and leftist economic policies. There is regular evidence that the “well-intentioned” social programs of the left really promote poverty cycles, but somehow arguments persist.
Well, some new information is available, and it puts the nail in the coffin for good. We have unquestionable proof that the economic policies of the left perpetuate poverty, and it’s vastly worse than you think.
The Study
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston did a study on the economic standing of Bostonians. They filtered their findings by race, and what they found was genuinely astounding.
The median net worth for a white Bostonian was $247,500 in 2015. In that same study, the median net worth for a black Bostonian was $8. Let that sink in for a minute. This isn’t average net worth, where a few outliers can distort the whole view. It’s the median — which means half of all black Bostonians have a net worth of less than $8.
Other minority groups were also found to be struggling. Dominican-descended Bostonians had a median net worth of $0. Puerto Ricans, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities were all reported to have a median net worth of less than $20,000. Compare that to the number for white Bostonians one more time.
In other words, being black in Boston is financially worse, on average, than being black in any country on the planet. Think of the most destitute places you can imagine, and the median net worth of those in abject poverty is still better than Boston.
Now might be a good time to mention that the city has been under the unflinching iron rule of Democrats for more than 70 years. There have been only Democrat mayors, and the other governing positions have been held by Democrat super majorities the entire time. But, before we wholly fault identity and social politics for this situation, let’s compare a few other places.
Other Cities
The cited study investigated net worth in five cities, including Boston, Miami, Washington D.C., Tulsa and Los Angeles.
Boston fared the worst for wealth inequality by race, but D.C. and Los Angeles weren’t much better. In fact, if we look at cities across the country, we’ll see that the most liberal locations are practically another world compared to their conservative counterparts. Cities like Detroit and Baltimore have long been under fire for the awful conditions of minority residents. Meanwhile, locations like Dallas, Colorado Springs and Omaha have wealth inequalities of less than 50 percent. If Boston were up to those same standards, the median wealth of non-whites would be $123,000 or better. For those keeping score, that’s 15,468 times better than Boston’s actuality.
While there is no singular study to compare every city, different studies can still help us loosely rank cities. In that ranking, four of the top five are conservative cities in Texas. Houston reigns supreme with an equality score of 70.3 percent. That means the median wealth for minorities in Houston is 70.3 percent of that seen in the white population. The rest of the to five sit just over 50 percent, but they include Dallas, San Antonio and Ft. Worth.
Things get even crazier when you look at national averages. The inequality score for the nation is 73 percent. That means that even in the best cities, the scores are way below what we see in suburbs and rural locations. If you’re starting to notice how this coincides with other trends, then you aren’t alone.
The Politics of it All
It always comes back to politics. Even in the most conservative cities in the country, there are strong progressive crowds that are able to push too much regulation and too many social programs. We’ve long been saying that those programs are destructive, and now we have solid numbers to prove it.
Boston has the longest, uninterrupted Democratic rule of any metropolitan area in the U.S. They also have the worst wealth inequality in the country. Staunchly conservative cities do much better, but they still drag behind the national average. That shows us that the truly conservative baseline of the country, rural America, has such overwhelming wealth equality that it is able to drag the national average way above what we see in any city.
While socialism claims to be the arbiter of equality, it has proven itself to be the source of the most effectively racist ideology in America. The leftists who claim to be the only ones who care about minorities are actually the source of wealth inequality. Meanwhile, the regions that ditch identity politics and strive for true freedom are seeing minorities succeed in tandem with their white counterparts. This is true equality.
Unsurprisingly, when minorities are treated as equals, rather than incapable and inferior handout cases, they quickly overcome historical disparity and achieve the American dream.
~ Liberty Planet