President Trump received a lot of criticism for his harsh comments about Somali refugees in Minneapolis after the $250 million theft of Covid relief funds. It's unfair to blame millions for the crimes of a few. But the fraud highlights two important economic points that Americans need to keep in perspective.
The first is that the federal government has tried to rescue citizens from danger for over a century by flooding the country with tsunamis of cash. In every case, bureaucrats have one goal, to push out as much money as possible in as short a time as possible. The mainstream socialist media helps by destroying the reputations, depicting them as desiring that people die, of anyone who tries to slow the flow by implementing safe guards against theft and corruption.
After the danger has passed, the same media is shocked to find theft and corruption. That song and dance has happened dozens of times over the last century, enough that one would think voters would recognize it. It's no longer entertaining. But that's what happens when voters trust corrupt bureaucrats with billions of dollars of other peoples' money and no accountability for the theft that occurs. Bureaucrats never get punished for wasting money; they get promoted.
Now that you are aware, watch for the next crisis. It's likely to be a recession. The federal government will respond by flooding the nation with newly counterfeited dollars. Afterwards, the media will be surprised to find billions were stolen.
The other point to keep in mind is that Muslims from Somalia come to the U.S. with a very different culture. I have never been to Somalia, but I have lived in
Muslim countries and researched them for decades. They share a similar culture with most poor countries. In one country, the owner of a business explained to me how his employees, customers and suppliers conspired cheat him continually. He wasted enormous energy trying to counter them. He said his people didn't consider such practices to be immoral. In fact, they took pride in them, seeing cheating others as a sign of business acumen.
The only people one can't cheat in those cultures is family members. That's why most businesses in poor countries are small family owned and operated. Businesses can't grow beyond what the family can manage. Helmut Schoeck provides greater detail on such cultures in his classic book, Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior. He shows that in cultures consumed by envy, only other family members are safe from the "evil eye."
Envy pervades most traditional societies like that of Somalia. That's why they can't develop economically. Pervasive envy causes people to create institutions to block innovation that leads to economic growth. For example, around the year 2000, the U.N. tried to help poor farmers in Uganda who worked their land with only hoes. The U.N wanted them to use oxen and offered to give the oxen to the farmers. Oxen for plowing would have brought them to the level of technology of 3000 BC. But the farmers refused because they feared the envy of neighbors who didn't get the oxen. At best, neighbors would steal and eat the oxen. Worse, they might kill the owners because of resentment.
The West grew rich primarily because Protestant Christianity managed to suppress envy enough to allow room for innovation and economics growth, first in the Dutch Republic, then England and its colonies. The U.S. needs to help immigrants like Somalis give up their envy, but that would require they abandon Islam for Christianity. Meanwhile, we need to stop running to the federal government begging for it to flood the country with a tsunami of cash with each danger we face.
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