21 votes

The new ‘white fortress’ cities of the American South

8 comments

  1. [4]
    MortimerHoughton
    Link
    Not getting back in services what you put in with taxes is what happens when you are wealthy. How is that an argument for fairness and not a demonstration that you want to benefit from the...

    Not getting back in services what you put in with taxes is what happens when you are wealthy. How is that an argument for fairness and not a demonstration that you want to benefit from the surrounding community but not support it?

    17 votes
    1. vord
      Link Parent
      Because of the lie of the 'self made success.' It's the great lie, because everyone benefits from public funds via education and infrastructure to do anything they do. Even if they have the wealth...

      Because of the lie of the 'self made success.'

      It's the great lie, because everyone benefits from public funds via education and infrastructure to do anything they do. Even if they have the wealth to opt for private options, that's more of an arguement to normalize wealth via taxes to improve public options rather than allow the wealthy to opt out.

      14 votes
    2. [2]
      ignorabimus
      Link Parent
      To echo what @vord said – I actually think rich people do get back what they pay in taxes. The state safeguards your property rights, which is pretty helpful if you enjoy being rich. You get...

      To echo what @vord said – I actually think rich people do get back what they pay in taxes. The state safeguards your property rights, which is pretty helpful if you enjoy being rich. You get public infrastructure and a legal system, the government funds education (pretty important if you run a business and want to hire people), generally enforces environmental protections, etc.

      14 votes
      1. soks_n_sandals
        Link Parent
        Yeah, I mean, not in Louisiana. I think all that stuff is the ideal for a community-minded, democratic tax-paying society. But I'm speaking from experience here about Louisiana. Public services...

        Yeah, I mean, not in Louisiana. I think all that stuff is the ideal for a community-minded, democratic tax-paying society. But I'm speaking from experience here about Louisiana. Public services are horribly mismanaged, so it's way more advantageous to be rich and try to pay as little tax as possible to funnel your money as you choose. Schools in Louisiana at large aren't very good. In fact, the state's voucher program is accelerating the decline. Infrastructure is crumbling. Public criminal defense is woefully under-resourced and the state police are so corrupt it's just disgusting. The state basically does the opposite of environmental protection. But, if you're wealthy you can send your kids to private schools, might get that case dropped, pay for a generator when the power goes out, and get richer on the exploitation of natural resources.

        I'm not saying the folks who chose to incorporate are right. The race and class subtext is obvious. But for wanting to get more out of their tax dollars, I think it's hard to completely argue against them. However, the reality is the decision can't be separated for decades of environmental racism and regular racism in the city. My wife's dad (doesn't live in BR and) always likes to say "I'm not overtaxed, I'm underserved." I'm not sure incorporating as a township will fix this issue for the long term, but we'll see.

        4 votes
  2. Markrs240b
    Link
    The article only hints at the decades of history behind this sort of thing while talking mostly about relatively recent events. This 'white fortress' thing they're talking about is exactly what...

    The article only hints at the decades of history behind this sort of thing while talking mostly about relatively recent events. This 'white fortress' thing they're talking about is exactly what happened to Jackson, MS in the late 60's and early 70's.

    12 votes