Chris Blattman

Search
Close this search box.

One of the most poignant voices on race and inequality in the the US… runs the Baltimore Orioles?

Casting stereotypes aside, here is Orioles COO John Angelos, son of owner Peter Angelos (from a series of tweets, no less):

Brett, speaking only for myself, I agree with your point that the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy, investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible.

That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.

The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance, and other abuses of the Bill of Rights by government pay the true price, and ultimate price, and one that far exceeds the importances of any kids’ game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards. We need to keep in mind people are suffering and dying around the U.S., and while we are thankful no one was injured at Camden Yards, there is a far bigger picture for poor Americans in Baltimore and everywhere who don’t have jobs and are losing economic civil and legal rights, and this makes inconvenience at a ballgame irrelevant in light of the needless suffering government is inflicting upon ordinary Americans.

Hat tip @pbump

39 Responses

  1. Foregrounding the lives of ordinary Americans thus highlights an outcome of Globalisation where pockets of affluence are created in developing countries like India & Brazil in tandem with zones of impoverishment in developed ones at par with extant ones in the former. This poses a question does the current political economy not allow maneuvering for inclusive growth or do we have to be more effective in our communicative skills to convey and convince about its functional legitimacy?

  2. I agree with the beginning and end of the comment, but the middle is wrong both intellectually and morally. Let me explain…

    An “American political elite” didn’t send jobs anywhere. This is just trying to create a boogeyman, as is the ad hominem attack on China. In reality, decentralized market forces led to production moving to areas and workers who had previously been excluded from the market. This led to the historically greatest enrichment of humanity since the dawn of time. Over one billion individuals saw unprecedented gains in standard of living, and we saw a greater reduction in poverty over the last generation than ever before. To spin the greatest era in history — from a global perspective — into a rationalization of rioting or an attack on some unnamed “polical elite” is beneath contempt.

    Granted, there has been a type of harm to first world (aka previously privileged) workers. This is the “creative destruction” of competition as consumers (us) choose to cooperate with more efficient producers. It is effectively a competition over who best to cooperate and is in total positive sum. We gain in better value, and the workers in China (who really were impoverished) gain a steady job and begin to build the incomes to buy stuff from us.

    Standards of living here (considering prices, taxes and transfers) have not dropped on average (though they have for some individuals of course), except as a result of the recession, which was not caused by international trade. There is a challenge of adapting to such an unprecedented influx of labor into the global market. It is going to suppress the balance of supply and demand and lead to lower wages (than otherwise) until such a time as entrepreneurs can respond with new jobs which capitalize on the improved economic efficiency established by the new entrants.

Why We Fight - Book Cover
Subscribe to Blog