Let me first say that it is not up to me to decide. There is an old joke where a guy walks into an auto parts store and asks, “do you have a set of spark plugs for a Red ford?” This is as  if the color of the car really has anything to do with the parts that go into it. That is the way I look at race and color.

After driving a taxi for twelve years where almost all of my colleagues were immigrants and passengers were of one race or another, usually different than my own, I kind of got used to dealing with everybody.  The common ground among cab drivers was always more pronounced than any commonality based on race. Drivers of all races had the same fear of working in rough neighborhoods. Robbers didn’t seem to care what race or nationality their victims were. All drivers were pretty much on the same page in this respect. White drivers were a minority but there was never a problem with that. I had personal friends from Mexico who were here illegally. I don’t mean a just few. To get a handle on what people are really like, it pays to work and associate with them in every day life.

I think a better question is what does any life matter? We don’t even know what life is.  So, “does any life matter?” is not that easy of a question to answer.  There are all kinds of lofty answers these kinds of questions. But, a quick glance at reality shows that our lives matter to ourselves, friends, family but not automatically to anyone else.

To others our lives are worth the utility we have to them. To a billionaire your life matters because you are a customer. To a politician your life matters because you are a potential voter.

Now, back to, “Do black lives actually matter?” In my opinion black lives matter a lot. There are lots of reasons. With respect to utility, blacks have taught me over half of what I know about music. Black economists like Thomas Sowell taught me things about economics I could not have learned anywhere else. Of  course I know a lot of blacks personally. Military graveyards are full of black soldiers who died for various national causes.

Personally I believe black lives matter immensely.  Black lives are of such high importance that I think it is an absurdity for them to put their lives in the hands of Hillary Clinton.