Murder in Chicago is murder in America (Aurora, Morris: sale, Valentine's day)

[edsg25]

The Chicago's soaring murder rate thread is closed and dead. a good thing. I'm not trying to revive it here. I must admit that thread was the type I really hate because it closes the mind to reality. so hopefully mine is different; i would hope 180° different.

Chicago's murder rate is not an issue; America's is. And I'm mad as h when I make this post. disgusted and sickened.

Tiny little Aurora, CO, can shoot to the head of the class on murder rates on the back on one sick individual. it can literally blow Chicago away (pun intended) in the process.

Sick people are not newsworthy. sick people who can obtain guns easily are.

The United States is one of a hand full of nations in the world with little gun control and what controls we have become less. No so called civilized world is our peer; we stand alone. 5% of the population and 50% of the world's gun. Now if that doesn't get you to that "gee, I wonder...." point, what will?

Aurora, after the endless banal human interest stories, the acts of heroism, let's remember the victims, the analysis of how a killer got to where he was, and the chances of getting a conviction exhausted in the day or two after these seemingness endless events, these stories fall into total irrelevancy and are totally forgotten (only to be brought up again when the next inevitable killing takes place). And virtually no time is taken in discussing these events on air or off to discuss why they keep happening and why they will keep on happening: the easy availability of guns. If you seek proof, check the murder and assault case numbers of our so called peer nations although I think many would consider us to be far more barbaric than peer. And pretty stupid, too, as we rearrange the deck chairs in the old Clark Street garage of Valentine's Day every time a mass murder spree occurs. Our learning curve is, well, at about 0....even though that is fairly generous number.

Chicago, like every city, has virtually no control over the s**tload of guns that flow through it endlessly en masse. And, let's not kid ourselves: Chicago can hardly be singled out as a dangerous place to go when it shares in so many ways a status that every American city has. If you want to avoid guns, don't avoid Chicago; avoid the United States.

Chicago does not have a gun problem. Chicago has an American problem.

any guesses what the red type symbolizes?

[botticelli]

Agree.

Yet rednecks will keep being outraged if you even hint their right of owning a gun may be compromised, as if their own mother has been kidnapped.

Get rid of the guns, give people universal healthcare, lower education cost. Most of America's problems will be solved. But I don't see that happen though. It is still Jesusland.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by botticelli

Agree.

Yet rednecks will keep being outraged if you even hint their right of owning a gun may be compromised, as if their own mother has been kidnapped.

Get rid of the guns, give people universal healthcare, lower education cost. Most of America's problems will be solved. But I don't see that happen though. It is still Jesusland.

sad, but true, botticelli; but at least it is nice meeting up with a kindred soul.

[Chi-town Native]

just keep in mind that Chicago's homicide rate is almost half of what it was in the early-1990s, when we flirted with the 1,000 mark.

not saying the current situation is great, but, the media do have a lot of power in terms of framing the debate.

and America's problem is Prohibition:

Crime Rate

“The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile and children will laugh. Hell will be forever for rent.”

--Reverend Billy Sunday

These words, spoken at the beginning of Prohibition, gave the Noble Experiment much credit and showed the public opinion of Prohibition. Unfortunately, these words were also proved wrong by just how much crime and poverty Prohibition caused. Before Prohibition, the rate of serious crimes had been gradually decreasing. Before the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed, the number of homicides in a large city was 5.6 murders per 100,000 people. As soon as the Harrison Narcotics Act was passed, World War I starting, and State Prohibitions, the homicide rate rose to 8.4 murders per 100,000. As soon as national prohibition took effect, the homicide rate rose to 10 per 100,000, a 78 percent increase over pre-prohibition America.

[long101]

Chicago also has more gang member murders then most cities. If we have 500 murders in the city, I would be willing to be over half are gang members. I would like to know the true # of murders for each year for non criminals.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by long101

Chicago also has more gang member murders then most cities. If we have 500 murders in the city, I would be willing to be over half are gang members. I would like to know the true # of murders for each year for non criminals.

Exactly - and why do we have so many gang members? Black market drug sale profits. When kids can't get paid for standing on street corners either directly selling drugs or acting as lookouts or enforcers you'll see that rate plummet.

The NYC method of just gentrifying them out of the city may make NYC look good, but it just pushes the problems into smaller towns.

[tonyurban]

It's not just Chicago. Memphis, Detroit, Miami, and a lot of other places have high murder rates. America just likes violence and always has. From the dark days of slavery to the random killings of today. The OP is right it's an American thing. No other first world country on Earth acts as barbaric and insane as America does.

Now even kids are acting in violent ways with the bullying and stuff. I remember when I was a kid I was picked on and I picked on other kids. Thats because we were kids. Nowadays kids are coming out of the womb trying to kill each other. Our country was raised on violence, thrives on violence, and I think it might die because of violence.

[linicx]

I remember when kids got paid to stand on a busy street corner in Chicago and sell newspapers. It was half the reason to come downtown on Sunday morning. Kids used to get paid to deliver papers in the neighborhood, mow yards, rake and bag leaves, carry out stuff to put on the curb for pickup. It built character, a work ethic, and a respect for others. Today a 12 year old will hardly lift a finger for less than ten bucks an hour.

Family is out; guns are in. Worship is out; drugs are in. Ethics are out; gangs are in. The biggest bullies in America are giant corporations that pander for their corporate bored. No it is not a typo. Kids aren't born violent little thugs; they're made in America.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by linicx

The biggest bullies in America are giant corporations that pander for their corporate bored. No it is not a typo. Kids aren't born violent little thugs; they're made in America.

Very true, linix.

See: Corporate Person Hood Timeline

Nice quote at end by Jane Anne Morris.

"Scratch any issue activists are working on today, and underneath you will find corporate personhood."

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

The NYC method of just gentrifying them out of the city may make NYC look good, but it just pushes the problems into smaller towns.

this might be happening in Manhattan, but most of Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens are not gentrified, and still have many poor areas with huge housing projects. Saying NYC priced out the poor is a lazy answer that doesn't come close to showing the whole picture.