I want to make a few general comments about this matter of fraud against Minnesota welfare programs, which has generally been perpetrated by Somalis. I am very cognizant of the human tendency to categorize people by various innate characteristics–gender, age, skin color, ethnic background, etc. From an evolutionary perspective this tendency comes from the need to quickly identify a person as friend or threat–part of my tribe or not my tribe. As society quickly evolved beyond the tribal stage, our genes are far slower to respond, and we still tend to engage in that kind of categorization. And as I am very cognizant of that, I try hard to treat people as individuals. But there often are accurate descriptions applying to most members of a group. Those descriptions may themselves change over time.
Multiple things that appear to be conflicting can be true even at the group level, much less with any individual in the group. I fully denounce referring to any group of people, using one of those innate characteristics as the basis for the grouping, as “garbage”, or using similar derogatory terms. Individuals within the group are a different matter and groups formed by people on the basis of politics, religion or other human constructs are a different matter as well. Some people and some of those groups, Hamas for example or Putin, are just evil and despicable.
My experience with Somalis in Minnesota is that they are generally very hard working, I meet them all the time and talk with them. They have strong families and strong communities. There is much that is admirable. They do not tend to make extensive efforts at assimilation, but that is true of many new immigrant groups. Somalis also come from a failed country, where corruption and fraud was endemic and just accepted as the way things are done. They brought that culture here. Even those Somalis who don’t participate or benefit, tacitly approve of this behavior, and I am not aware of a single instance of a Somali raising the alarm, going either to the authorities or the media to raise awareness. And there can be no question that very large numbers of Somalis were aware of the frauds.
Somalis in Minnesota have a very high level of dependence on government aid programs. I would be surprised if there are not also high levels of routine fraud against those programs, misrepresenting eligibility, for example. And to the extent Somalis end up working for and administering these programs, I would suspect they facilitate fraud by other Somalis. I would also be surprised if there isn’t a high level of non-compliance with income tax requirements. I strongly, strongly suspect that Somalis, led by Ilhan Omar, engage in substantial vote fraud, which plays a role in keeping Dems in power here.
So multiple things can be true. Somalis can have many admirable characteristics, individually and as a group. But they can also be acknowledged to be coming from a region rife with corruption and fraud, and to bring that mentality with them. Trying to cover up the flaws, which is all the Incompetent Blowhard and the Star Tribune do, is not helpful. Better to have awareness and educational programs that recognize the tendency to engage in and accept fraud and to make it clear that this is unacceptable in the United States, although officials like Little Timmy Walz and racist Keith Ellison find it perfectly acceptable as long as it benefits them politically. And it shouldn’t require the federal government to actually investigate and prosecute the frauds, the state should have caught them at the start.
So let’s don’t demonize Somalis, but let us also be honest in recognizing what needs to be improved in regard to the behavior of that community.
Rather than focus on Somalis, I think the main flaws in these government programs are the lack of oversight, annual auditing, and poor screening of both the recipient organizations and individuals receiving the benefits. Even though these issues are widely acknowledged, there seems to be no real effort to “clean up” their finances to an acceptable level. Considering the vast numbers of government benefit program recipients AND the employment of 15% in the government/education workforce AND the numbers employed in the healthcare industry, it means that any attempt to reform (i.e., reduce fraud or inefficiency) in the administration of these mega-industries or reduce government expenditures will be fatal to any political party, especially Republicans. The Somali part is just a side-show, and only a portion of the vast fraud opportunity these government benefit programs offer. Democrats have effectively “purchased” the votes of benefit recipients and most of the underlying government administration/employment base for all benefit programs. Game over.
The DFL eliminated 80% of charitable donations MN taxpayers can take on their state returns vs federal returns in the “trifecta” session.
That intentionally signalled to nonprofits that they shouldn’t seek individual donations, but should come to DFL offices at the State Capitol with hat in hand where the DFL would dole out tax money to fund their NGO as long as the work they were doing was in line with DFL priorities.
You invited them in with “Minnesota nice”, Kevin, and they looked around, smiled at you and thought to themselves, “Minnesota fools”.
A very reasonable and rational assessment – Thanks
My Uber driver the other day was a Somali man, which many of them are. As I rode I was dismayed by some terrible mechanical sounds from the back, and the fact that his GPS phone mount was directly above his steering wheel in the middle of his field of view. At the end of the ride I asked him if I could help him by telling him that those things were going to be a problem, that his car could be breaking and that the police might pull him over. I considered just saying nothing and giving him a two-star review, but rather I opted to help him in what I thought was a loving manner.
I believe we are called to love our neighbors, and one of the most fundamental ways to love someone is to speak truth to them. This simple but difficult act can save them from continuing in error and also can lovingly protect them from experiencing real repercussions from those actions. It applies to faulty transmissions or fraud.
I’ve almost always had very positive experiences with somalis, and I also have experience in on the ground in Africa, and I know it is a different world. Corruption starts early (bribes in kindergarten in the country where i was) and is a very accepted practice. That is a reality that even a Somali would recognize as a problem in their own country, whether they identify themselves with that problem or not.
I appreciate this article, kevin, because we can’t love our neighbors by demonizing an entire group. We’re called to love them individually and to know them individually. Love, however, does not mean accepting every practice as good or beneficial, and it may require speaking up, even if it ruffles some cultural feathers.
I believe there is an innate moral law that transcends culture, and we need to strive for what is right and true, and urge others to join us, out of love and concern for their welfare, so to speak..
If you subscribe to moral relativism, then there is no answer to the problem.