54 Comments

I dislike the common term "give back." It implies something was taken away. To the contrary, when goods and services are provided in exchange for money, both parties see themselves as better off, or the transaction would not take place.

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You got a subscriber with this announcement. Tying my contribution into a real-world application sealed the deal. Thanks for all you do.

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I've been following many different substack, so many that, if I were to subscribe to all of them, the monthly cost would exceed $100. I can't afford that.

I'm subscribing to yours now, Prof. Loury. After listening to your conversation with Mr. Woodson, I feel compelled to so that a small portion of my offering can be forwarded on to Mr. Woodson's foundation.

Cheers to you, Glenn.

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This is outstanding!

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Thanks for bringing those comments to our attention. They've been deleted.

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January 19, 2022Edited
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Thanks once again. That's clearly over the line. The user has been banned.

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I am deeply pleased that Substack is doing so well. It is a light in our darkness.

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Well done. Have been supporting their work with joy

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Angels on wings.

Angels on wings.

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As Marley would put it, “Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

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You are a good egg Glenn. I will donate to them too.

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One problem is that Woodson's and, by extension, Glenn's activities here contradict their stated preference for a colorblind society (both legally and culturally). Note that the Woodson foundation explicitly targets *black* Americans as the recipients of aid (e.g., Voices of Black (?) Mothers United). Anyone who would explicitly direct funds to only white opioid addicts would be rightly pilloried.

This is asymmetric multiculturalism at work, and I think we'll reach a breaking point in my lifetime past which such behavior is no longer acceptable to the white majority.

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Good call Glenn. If I had to summarize the difference between you and everyone else on race, it’s that you’re emotionally moved by the efficacy and real world effects (or lack thereof) of social policies and know the limits of conversation alone. Way to put your philosophy into practice and set an example.

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Thank you, everyone who follows TGS will support the Woodson Center. May I suggest that the question Clifton Roscoe posed a while back on how to use the philosophy of the Woodson Center to achieve results at scale remains important and that the implementation of these ideas would be a great topic for TGS. Here is Mr. Woodson's response:

"The question isn’t whether there should be more and better support or “coaching” for lower-income black parents; the question is what form should that support take, who should design it, and who should offer it? Both conservative and progressive elites tend to favor interventions designed by and implemented by outside professionals. I would argue that such support should be designed by people who are intimately familiar with the challenges facing particular lower income parents and children (that can almost never be gained without living in the same neighborhood), that it should be designed in partnership with the parents themselves and that it should be delivered by people who have the trust and confidence of those parents being supported. "

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One problem is that Woodson's and, by extension, Glenn's activities here contradict their stated preference for a colorblind society (both legally and culturally). Note that he specifies the recipients of aid as "lower-income *black* parents"; anyone who would explicitly direct funds to only white opioid addicts would be rightly pilloried.

Asymmetric multiculturalism at work...

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In fact, here's Glenn on colorblindness in social policy (59:28): "The limitations, the impediments, the unfairness, the injustices, the disappointments, the lost opportunities that confront us are not racial! They are a part of the human condition. There really is no justification for attacking black poverty independently of attacking poverty."

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KGbyEHtjk

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I don't look at Glenn's approach that way. The fundamental problem of family disintegration has been clearly identified since the 1965 Moynihan Report and has spread throughout society. I am focused on the black community simply because they have been at it the longest and hardest, and thus the most affected. Any solution such as vouchers, addiction treatment, etc. will apply to everybody.

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The Woodson Center doesn't seem to advocate for colorblind approaches to the social problems you mention (e.g., the foundation supports Black Mothers United).

In any case, Glenn would disagree with you that race ought to be referenced at all in the allocation of scarce social aid: at 59:28 [1], "The limitations, the impediments, the unfairness, the injustices, the disappointments, the lost opportunities that confront us are not racial! They are a part of the human condition. There really is no justification for attacking black poverty independently of attacking poverty."

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KGbyEHtjk

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I simply see it as helping those most needy.

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Some of those that are the most needy will also be white, but it sounds like you're choosing to focus on serving blacks in particular.

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I began supporting Woodson Center this past year, having heard of Bob Woodson and the Center's work sometime earlier. I've also begun alerting my friends and associates to the Center. If enough people join the movement, there may be some hope for our country. I'm 80 years old and hope to live long enough to see the US make it through these unfortunate times.

Jane Johnson, Ventura, Calif.

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This is awesome Glenn! Your heart is in all the right places,I love all you do.

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Love it! Great work Glenn. This seems like a good place for additional donations for this who are inclined.

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