Flight Pundit

In a post I did the other day about Bill Bennett’s comment about using abortion for the benefit of reducing crime and the reaction on both sides of the aisle reacted differently but also predictably. Below are the comments with the context of the conversation.

CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I’ve read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn’t — never touches this at all.

BENNETT: Assuming they’re all productive citizens?

CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.

BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don’t know what the costs would be, too. I think as — abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.

CALLER: I don’t know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.

BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don’t know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don’t know. I mean, it cuts both — you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well –

CALLER: Well, I don’t think that statistic is accurate.

BENNETT: Well, I don’t think it is either, I don’t think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don’t know. But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

I have read and re read this to make sure I understand what is being said. I don’t know if I got it write but this is what I think. Bill is reviewing a book that talks in hypothesis about different current social issues. The language Bill used could be construed as both pro and against this the topic they are discussing. I have listened to Bill on the radio once in a while when I am up very early (Arizona) and he seemed to be a very articulate person. Previous to this issue I believed that Bill dealt with tough issues in a very precise manner that would not leave people questioning what he said. (I am no expert in meaning of words). So I have been kind of confused by this discussion and given human nature on seeing and hearing what you want to I can see how people on each side of the race issue could see it in a way that supports their cause.

I expected some arguments on this topic but instead of this had a very insightful question that might lead us all to a better understanding of each other. I think that hearing different view points will allow us to become a better people.

So Lisa made brought some information that I did not know and asked a question that might bring some light to the race issue. Me being a tall white male, I can say that I don’t know how to put my self in her shoes and see the world from her point of view. I hope she helps me with that a little.
so here is the question:

I would like to know how many conservatives grew up around us? I know about these modern liberals already, but how many of you grew up around us too?

My answer is this; Their were two black kids in my school of 700 graduating class. Not a lot at all. They were not related. The Girl “Michelle” was a volley ball, track, soccer, star. She was also on the student counsel. “Gerald” was an outsider, he liked auto shop, metal shop, but not wood shop. Michelle was a part of the in crowd, she was always happy and positive. She was cute and was nice to everyone around her. Gerald was strong and tough and didn’t have many friends. Gerald lived two houses down from me and we were friends from eighth grade to after graduation. Michelle went to collage and was happily married with two teenagers at our twentieth reunion. Gerald was a no show so I don’t know what happened to him. I went into the Marine Corps and he went into the Army and we never talked after that.
While Michelle was accepted in our school and I don’t ever remember seeing any prejudice against her, I did see lots of prejudice against Gerald. Most of that came from parents at school events. Gerald and I would often be doing stupid kid stuff like all of the others but because he was black they were openly hostile and angry with him. This returned the anger in Gerald’s life and made it hard for him to make friends with even my other friends, who were also outsiders.

Race is an still an issue that brings strong feelings to the surface in both blacks and whites. We all need to admit to the fact that we treat people different based on their skin color. It is a fact I am not a racist but I see myself looking differently, changing my expectations of people and reacting differently based on race. I now have a group of friends that are black and I see them treat each other differently based on who is around. And they are very different when they are not around any each other.

It is going to take all of us to get over this. Racism is learned trait that starts very young and we need to make strides in stopping it before it rips America apart.

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