The cruel reality is that those who can least afford it will bear the brunt of the impending social experiment, Imara Jones writes at Colorlines.
The chaos set to be unleashed over the next month through the implementation of sequestration budget cuts beginning today is not an accident. For a large part of the Republican Party and the secretive billionaires that fund them, the disruptive shockwave that will be caused by investing less in historically marginalized communities is the point.
Since the 1970s — through ideas which can only be thought of as flawed and eccentric — an ideological band has championed an end to the education, health, transportation and housing programs that have made America more economically fair.
Now at the heart of the GOP, this group argues that these very economic justice initiatives have instead created a "culture of dependency" which they want to dissolve by using sequestration.
In point of fact, sequestration is just an extension of a broader strategy which they call "starve the beast." The aim of "starve the beast" — a rather unfortunate metaphor given racial stereotypes from the worst of America's past — is to deny the federal government capital in order to bring about its collapse. So to fully evaluate where we are and what comes next, it's sadly necessary to spend time considering this off-beat philosophy — and the bizarre way it's come to rule our lives.
Read Imara Jones' entire piece at Colorlines.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.