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The British news station had a show on about Chicago violence last night. I've seen statistics, read "Chicago Tribune" stories, all the handwringing, crying in the beer stories, etc.
This story was a rude awakening. The life of people on Chicago's westside, the things they do, think, get through the day, was like nothing I had ever seen or imagined. There's no way to understand it. Let alone explain how completely alien their lives are to the varieties of normal that almost everyone else lives.
So I won't try.
But one thing stuck out, an observation that put Chicago violence in horrid perspective: Since 2001, more Americans have died violently in Chicago than in Afganistan and Iraq COMBINED.
If this isn't the saddest statistic in the world I don't want to see which is. Iraq gave the US Senate to the Democrats in 2006. Afganistan gave the presidency to the Republicans in 2004. Politicians have made their careers supporting or opposing American actions or inactions in these places.
Yet Chicago goes on, a meat grinder. Like Aztec priests offering daily human sacrifices to their sun god. How can this monument to murder go on? Right in the middle of our country, ignored. No politician pays any price, takes any responsibility, offers any ideas.
Finger pointing is all we get.
black lives matter is on the case! problem solved!
coincidently, right on our doorstep, Mexico is a slaughter house whose murders are kept a secret.
The issue is that there is a lack of economic opportunity and support for the poor which due to historic racism and segregation in Chicago (MLK himself marched there and got run out of town by papa Daley)....disproportionately impacts black residents.
The problem though is that the politicians have learned that all they have to do in Chicago is blame looser gun laws in the rest of the state and finger point at the NRA and they get a pass for the underlying social problem.
The rest of the state has a murder rate 5x lower than Cook County and that's in normal years....but it's their "loose gun laws" that are causing the problem? Keep in mind the gangs main income is drug sales and smuggling.
Oh well, when you have a political hammer lock on the city and leadership like Jesse and Al won't risk losing their seat at the front of the bus....it's going to stay that way.
The great migration from the South and Appalachia to the Midwest happened between the 1920's-60's. Those who could, left Appalachia and the rural South for better opportunities. People migrated to the Midwest for relatively good paying jobs for those with no particular skill. Major cities were challenged to house the migrants and thus the housing projects were created to fill a void in affordable housing. The white migrants got the better jobs and better housing. The white migrants made more money. The white migrants were not exposed to institutional racism and discrimination experienced by their black counterparts. There was no " block busting" because a hillbilly family dared to move into the neighborhood.
Things began to change in the 60's. Foreign competition and technology substitution began to reduce opportunities and eliminate jobs. Those who could, left cities that depended on one industry, Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis and so on. Whites had more opportunities elsewhere because they did not face institutionalized racial discrimination.
Let's talk about East St. Louis, Il, 300 miles downstate of Chicago.
By some accounts, East St. Louis had the highest murder rate in the US last year, when adjusted for cities with populations less than 100,000. Gary, Indiana, Flint, Michigan and Camden, NJ are right up there, too.
Chicago and East St. Louis don't have much in common given the differences in size, demographics, employment opportunities, wealth, local gun laws and so on. What they do have in common is a substantial gang presence, number 6 in the US, after Oklahoma City. Gangs are the retail distribution arm of the drug cartels.
At the other end of the spectrum are young, educated and skilled black people who are engaging in reverse migration, leaving former Midwestern industrial magnets for the South- more opportunities and for now, a lower cost of living are huge draws.
And even sadder still is that over 9 million people have been killed by heart disease since 2001. That's more than every war in the history of this country.
Given 75% of us are overweight/obese ^and the resulting healthcare costs should come as no surprise.
The great migration from the South and Appalachia to the Midwest happened between the 1920's-60's. Those who could, left Appalachia and the rural South for better opportunities. People migrated to the Midwest for relatively good paying jobs for those with no particular skill. Major cities were challenged to house the migrants and thus the housing projects were created to fill a void in affordable housing. The white migrants got the better jobs and better housing. The white migrants made more money. The white migrants were not exposed to institutional racism and discrimination experienced by their black counterparts. There was no " block busting" because a hillbilly family dared to move into the neighborhood.
Things began to change in the 60's. Foreign competition and technology substitution began to reduce opportunities and eliminate jobs. Those who could, left cities that depended on one industry, Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis and so on. Whites had more opportunities elsewhere because they did not face institutionalized racial discrimination.
Let's talk about East St. Louis, Il, 300 miles downstate of Chicago.
By some accounts, East St. Louis had the highest murder rate in the US last year, when adjusted for cities with populations less than 100,000. Gary, Indiana, Flint, Michigan and Camden, NJ are right up there, too.
Chicago and East St. Louis don't have much in common given the differences in size, demographics, employment opportunities, wealth, local gun laws and so on. What they do have in common is a substantial gang presence, number 6 in the US, after Oklahoma City. Gangs are the retail distribution arm of the drug cartels.
At the other end of the spectrum are young, educated and skilled black people who are engaging in reverse migration, leaving former Midwestern industrial magnets for the South- more opportunities and for now, a lower cost of living are huge draws.
That's all fine and dandy and can explain being poor. Poor are everywhere and include all races. It doesn't explain why they act like savages killing each other wholesale.
Hood rats don't care about laws. Some don't care if they live or die. Look at New Orleans.
I have no idea how to fix " hood rat". Not possible to re-parent/rewire most "hood rats".
As we both know, most black people are not "hood rats" no different than how most Italians were not Mafia and most Muslims are not terrorists and most Asians are not smarter than the average bear. That does not however mean some people prefer to judge all by the actions of some.
That's all fine and dandy and can explain being poor. Poor are everywhere and include all races. It doesn't explain why they act like savages killing each other wholesale.
Gangs. There is simply too much money in illegal drugs. If we are going to attempt to fix this, I believe we must take away the money and that means legalizing and regulating drugs, just like we do alcohol and tobacco.
They can use the tax revenue to fund rehab for those that finally want to get their act together, education, etc.
When's the last time you saw a couple of liquor store owners blasting each other on the street corner over territory?
That's all fine and dandy and can explain being poor. Poor are everywhere and include all races. It doesn't explain why they act like savages killing each other wholesale.
My hypothesis goes something like this:
The poor are everywhere in the world.
Some places are more or less conducive to drug trafficking than others. Those places that are more conducive to drug trafficking tend to be more dangerous for those who live there. Violent crime states of these places ( outside the US) trends unreliable.
Not all poor US people live in a geographic location that is highly conducive to drug trafficking/distribution in the US, as is Chicago.
In the US, gangs control the retail end of the drug market.Gangs also traffic in illegal guns.
"Poor everyone else" is less likely to live in a violent gang infested area.
It's less likely the bio father and/or mom's current BF, and/or uncle(s) and/or brother(s) of the "poor everyone else" were/are affiliated with a gang.
Parts of Appalachia are seriously destitute and white. They tend to be end consumers of drugs rather than traffickers and mistrustful of LE and government.
The living conditions in many Indian Reservations is deplorable and the poverty is palatable. They too tend to be end consumers of drugs, not traffickers and tend to be mistrustful of LE and government.
Last edited by middle-aged mom; 09-07-2016 at 12:54 PM..
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