Is the cannabis industry racist?

The US cannabis industry will hopefully be legal soon, but will it be racist? Yes, according to some, because of the individual, institutional, and structural racism in everyday American society.

The theory of systemic racism is ubiquitous these days, but how accurate is it?

Let’s find common ground with racial theorists. Take the greater Toronto area for example. These are not integrated societies, but enclaves of different ethnic groups.

The ‘old’ population of predominantly European descent also exists in its own cultural vacuum. These people are defined as “white” despite the discriminatory overtones and their historical inaccuracy.

Regardless, a “white” person’s cultural enclave is the majority. Society’s structure and institutions are based on “white” traditions.

This failure to integrate with other cultures by maintaining their own is seen as a continuation of white supremacy. So says the theory.

In fact, Western institutions have raised American and European living standards.

Western cultural beliefs and practices have contributed to the society we have today. Racial theorists, for example, do not understand the importance of Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman culture in maintaining our legal system.

Because they are ignorant, they are unsure of their “white” ethnicity.

How the market fosters true multiculturalism

Is the cannabis industry racist? If racism predicts society, then yes. But what about the other side of the argument?

Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman cultural beliefs and practices emphasize the individual. They lead to private property rights and the belief in an objective constitutional state.

Multiculturalism is a reality in the marketplace. In the free market, everyone is there to profit. Everyone understands the common language of money.

Yes, office politics can cross cultural boundaries. But thanks to the aftermath of Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman beliefs, even ethnic minorities can rise to the top or start their own businesses.

Western culture, although started in Europe, is not dependent on skin color. You don’t need specific “white” genes to understand free markets.

Money is a tool for building and using capital. It is a tool to facilitate exchanges. But like any culture, the West has a problem with corruption. For over 150 years, banks have been using money at everyone else’s expense.

This practice continues to this day. Back in 2010-11, everyone seemed to understand that. The banks ripped us off. They still are.

But in 2011 it was We Are the 99%, united against Wall Street. This has since been replaced by race theory in the media, universities and corporate human resources departments.

An earlier fringe theory now accepted as fact.

But if we take the same disparity data and run it through a libertarian lens, we have a different explanation.

Is one more correct than the other? Why?

Is the cannabis industry racist?

Consider Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. She has studied criminal justice for decades.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, she wrote:

“A solid body of evidence finds no structural bias in the criminal justice system in terms of arrests, prosecution or conviction. Crime and suspicious behavior, not race, drive most police actions.”

“This proportion of black victims is lower than what black crime rates would predict because police shootings depend on how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects.

“In 2018, the most recent year for which such data was released, African-Americans made up 53% of known murder offenders in the United States and commit about 60% of robberies, despite making up 13% of the population.

Racists have a meme that starts with “even though they make up 13% of the population…”. It is meant to suggest that black people are genetically inferior to other races and therefore commit more crimes.

Race theorists are similar in their approach. When data supports racial differences, they address everything but genetics. Institutional and structural foundations are to blame.

Both groups suggest that external forces beyond the individual’s control are to blame.

We cannot truthfully answer, “Is the cannabis industry racist?” when terms are defined in this way. Yes, the cannabis industry is racist. But only because racism, according to the theory, predestines our society.

So defined, behind every issue is racism like a conspiracy theorist behind the Illuminati.

If you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Social sciences are not really a science

Before we can answer, “is the cannabis industry racist,” we need to address the epistemology of systemic race theory. That is, how do they claim to know what they know?

It is important to remember that the humanities are a different field of study than physics or mathematics. If all humans disappeared tomorrow, the laws of physics would still apply.

2+2 always equals 4, even when we’re not there to bear witness.

The only real social sciences are studies using randomized controlled trials. But even then, we should remember that objects are concepts.

The laws of physics will always apply regardless of the concepts we use. But there are no chairs.

Limiting racial differences as a consequence of basic racism is a conceptual framework. So, does this theory uncover truths or confirm their bias?

When its supporters see racism, others see economic consequences.

For example, one racial theorist estimates that minority applicants are approved for mortgages only 72 percent of the time, compared to 89 percent approval for “whites.”

The New York Times called this “overwhelming” evidence of systemic racism. They call it “redlining”. But consider what Thomas Sowell wrote.

“In our personal lives, common sense leads us to avoid some neighborhoods. If you want to call it “redlining,” then so be it. But places where it’s dangerous to go are often places where it’s dangerous to send your money. As for racial differences in mortgage approval rates, that doesn’t tell you much when you’re comparing apples and oranges. Income, creditworthiness and wealth are just some of the things that vary greatly from group to group.”

There are complex issues affecting the American black community.

Race theorists oversimplify the issue by basing everything on unproven, dogmatic belief. This racism shapes our society, including the cannabis industry.

Is the US cannabis industry racist?

How the media uses race to divide and conquer the 99%

You can blame Joe Feagin for developing this theory. He argues that the US was founded on racism since the Constitution protected slavery. Therefore everything that comes after, including the cannabis industry, is embedded in racism.

However, Feagin does not understand economics like many of these theorists. There are no solutions, only compromises.

There’s a reason the US Constitution doesn’t mention slavery.

In the late 18th century, for practical and philosophical reasons, the founders assumed that slavery would die out. While it existed elsewhere and continues to exist to this day, the Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman worldview could no longer tolerate it.

The fact that cotton made slavery viable into the 19th century scars the Americas. One of many created by European colonization.

Nobody disputes that. But where are we in 2022? Create better values? Treat people as individuals?

Or as members of a group? Us against them, whites against blacks.

As the late great George Carlin said, “It’s all bullshit, and it’s bad for you.”

There are only two groups: those who make their fortune and those who steal it.

We are the 99% and we have a common enemy.