Elizabeth Warren Tells The Root How Capitalism Can Exist Without Racism
https://www.theroot.com/elizabeth-warren-tells-the-root-how-capitalism-can-exis-1839858699
This is an excellent article and well worth a read. There is so much there that it's hard to choose for snippets, but I'll take a stab.
Snippets:
... So I decided to use my 15 minutes with Warren to ask her a policy question that has stumped every well-meaning politician in recent memory: Can capitalism exist without racism?
She didnt hesitate.
I think its all about the rules you put in place, she told me, punctuating her points with moving hand gestures as if guiding me to a place of understanding. And I think thats true, regardless of the system youre talking about. Racism can exist in any system. The question is what kind of rules are you going to put in place and how youre going to enforce them?
So for me, markets without rules, its just theft, she continued. Its just a way to cheat people. Its just a way to steal their labor or steal their money or steal their houses. And weve watched that happen. But its also the case that we can put rules in place that fight back against that and say, You know what? We create opportunity for a lot of folks.
... [Lots of other discussion]
Another major issue facing black America is that of unemployment. The black unemployment rate has averaged twice that of whites since at least the 1950s when data on it was first collected and that gap has not closed much since then.
...
Before we ended our conversation, I asked Warren about the decriminalization of sex work and how her views on the subject have evolved.
Ive had wonderful conversations with these women who have really opened my mind to see things I hadnt seen before about the impact of criminalization of sex work, Warren said. So Im open to this. The one part I want to make sure that were careful [with] when we design the rules again is that we cant exploit the vulnerable. Weve got to be really careful that children are protected, that people arent trafficked, that you dont end up with folks who take advantage by getting people hooked on drugs and then you get them into sex work involuntarily. As long as were careful in the laws about making sure that were not exploiting people, then I fundamentally believe you ought to be able to do for yourself what you want to do for yourself.
...
**********
LOTS more at the link.
Warren will give a major speech in Atlanta Nov. 21 on the legacy of black women and the labor movement.
Go, Elizabeth, go!