Snoop Dogg addresses the impact of Reaganomics, during appearance at South By Southwest.
While appearing as a speaker at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas last week, rapper Snoop Dogg spoke on the impact Ronald Reagan had on his community, during the time the former president spent in office.
The Long Beach, California lyricist spoke directly on “Reaganomics,” stating that the economic program Reagan introduced in the 1980s did away with after-school programs, and eventually contributed to guns and drugs being brought into the community.
“When Reaganomics kicked in, certain things were taken away, after-school programs and things of that nature,” Snoop Dogg said, according to InFlexWeTrust.com. “Guns and drugs were shipped into the neighborhood. So it was a shift of having fun and playing football to selling drugs and shooting at each other. To me it was a system that was designed, because when the Reaganomics era began, that’s when this began.”
He then explained that prior to the introduction of Reaganomics, there were no issues in the community. According to Snoop, things were “beautiful,” neighbors were more willing to help one another, and the government did its part.
“Early in the ’70s and toward the latter part of the ’70s everything was beautiful because we had ways to have fun and communicate, and those who were underprivileged, the low economic side of life, the government would provide for us, which helped us get by. It was a society and we all needed it and we all had it and we all helped each other,” he said.