Baby bonds

[Belsnickel]

My sister and I were talking about relatives in the way you only do with a sibling you see once a year while you're having to deal with others in the family. As a result, we started talking about politics (we're both pretty similar in our ideologies) and she mentioned a policy option I hadn't known about, before. This notion of baby bonds to close the racial wealth gap in the country as an alternative to what people typically think of as reparations.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/close-racial-wealth-gap-baby-bonds/613525/

Essentially, it is a race-neutral program that provides bonds to newborns based on familial wealth. In two generations, it could come very close to evening out the wealth gap in the country. It isn't a magic bullet, but it is an interesting program.

[Benton]

Interesting idea, but it won't pass any time soon. Too many people get elected off racial divides and income inequality. Plus, giving people money to people who haven't worked for 50+ years? Well, that's socialism.

[BmorePat87]

Great conversation starter for my next unit in sociology. Unfortunately too many people unaffected by this issue believe that acknowledging racial inequality is what perpetuates it.

[fredtoast]

Interesting concept but it would have to be highly regulated. Most of the money would be blown on something other than education, job training, or business investment capital.

It also does not address what I consider to be the biggest handicap to poor children, poor schools. Something has to be done to equalize school funding for poor areas and wealthy areas.

And, finally, while this program is race neutral Blacks will still fall behind because the two-parent family model is just more economical. Right now, if all races had equal amounts of money, blacks would fall behind because the single parent household is an economic drain compared to a two-parent household.

[Belsnickel]

(12-29-2020, 07:24 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Interesting concept but it would have to be highly regulated. Most of the money would be blown on something other than education, job training, or business investment capital.

It also does not address what I consider to be the biggest handicap to poor children, poor schools. Something has to be done to equalize school funding for poor areas and wealthy areas.

And, finally, while this program is race neutral Blacks will still fall behind because the two-parent family model is just more economical. Right now, if all races had equal amounts of money, blacks would fall behind because the single parent household is an economic drain compared to a two-parent household.

This is why I emphasize that it isn't a silver bullet. This was something my sister and I also discussed. It can't be a standalone policy because there are a number of other factors involved. However, as an alternative to reparations, it is an interesting approach.

[fredtoast]

(12-29-2020, 09:14 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: This is why I emphasize that it isn't a silver bullet. This was something my sister and I also discussed. It can't be a standalone policy because there are a number of other factors involved. However, as an alternative to reparations, it is an interesting approach.

Even though it is not a perfect plan it would still have a huge impact on wealth disparity.