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Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said if he isn’t elected president, the population of African-American males is likely to either wind up in prison or dead.
At an MTV/MySpace.com forum Thursday, Edwards responded to a question about inner-city kids partaking in violence by saying there was no “silver bullet” to fight the problem.
“We start with the president of the United States saying to America, ‘we cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”
John Edwards is not far off. In Riker's Island, 99% of the young males are African-American (Black) and an enormous number are under the age of 19.
A unintended consequence of poverty is incarceration.
Having watched this a bit, I think you might have it upside down and backwards.
While there are some poor innocent folks in jail, who lacked good legal defense, that is not the case for most. And there are plenty of poor folks who are not criminals, and have never been in jail.
On the other hand, there are very few criminals who do not cause lower incomes and quality of life for all around them --
Means crime helps cause poverty -- not really that poverty causes crime.
Let's agree to disagree! - rather than assume or presume one of us is wrong and another right!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip T
Having watched this a bit, I think you might have it upside down and backwards.
While there are some poor innocent folks in jail, who lacked good legal defense, that is not the case for most. And there are plenty of poor folks who are not criminals, and have never been in jail.
On the other hand, there are very few criminals who do not cause lower incomes and quality of life for all around them --
Means crime helps cause poverty -- not really that poverty causes crime.
blacks, unlike whites, are not threatened by any such decline in population. infact, black population growth is increasing dramatically in america and abroad.
if we take edward's argument, we must also factor in that blacks reach sexual maturity the earliest and are quite sexually active by their pre-teen years. so even if by 19, they continue to enjoy their conjugal visits, they would have already impregnated enough to span a lifetime of fornication.
Let's agree to disagree! - rather than assume or presume one of us is wrong and another right!
Sure - did not mean right or wrong, or even an opening to debate -- just pondering.
From what I have observed from life in the 'hood and near the big house -- it seems Crime destroys wealth -- whether in the hood where a family car is stolen -- or even the gasoline in the tank -- folks can't get to work -- lose a job, on and on and on.
And on the top end, too. Enron (etc) execs do their rip-off games -- billions in wealth destroyed overnight. Innocent folks go from good retirement to near food stamps.
Whether the theft of a car or corporate security fraud, it seems the criminals (and our tolerance of them) that causes the problems, and the poverty.
I have very rarely seen the condition where someone is so poor they must steal to eat -- i.e., an actual case of poverty causing crime.
I believe there are two sides to the issue: yours and mine.
If someone grows up in an environment of poverty, they may learn to work hard and get ahead, or they may look around at the "hood" Caddies and learn to sell speed. The latter can get you into jail.
As for the crimes you mention, these are committed for reasons of greed, need, laziness, among others.
The hood often leads directly to the big house, doesn't it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip T
Sure - did not mean right or wrong, or even an opening to debate -- just pondering.
From what I have observed from life in the 'hood and near the big house -- it seems Crime destroys wealth -- whether in the hood where a family car is stolen -- or even the gasoline in the tank -- folks can't get to work -- lose a job, on and on and on.
And on the top end, too. Enron (etc) execs do their rip-off games -- billions in wealth destroyed overnight. Innocent folks go from good retirement to near food stamps.
Whether the theft of a car or corporate security fraud, it seems the criminals (and our tolerance of them) that causes the problems, and the poverty.
I have very rarely seen the condition where someone is so poor they must steal to eat -- i.e., an actual case of poverty causing crime.
Boy, that vid was a waste of time. In other words, he has no idea what the Pres. of the US can do to force people to take full advantage of public education, not consider breeding a source of pride and entertainment and raising your kids as parents are supposed to . To be fair to Edwards, I have no idea how you can force people to own up to their responsibilities as citizens either.
Well, for a start all their government "goodies" could be taken away, then see who sinks or swims.......but better get out the saws and hammers, we'll need even more incarceration sites.
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- rather than assume or presume one of us is wrong and another right!
