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I believe 50% of crime in American pertains to drug and alcohol abuse and the other 50% of crime stems from minorities feeling "disenchanted" with the realization that "the American dream" is unattainable.
If we actually re-install the pathway to the American dream--through good schools, good quality of life programs...Crime will decrease by 50%.
My immigration comments above do not entail "rounding up illegals" and "taking them to the border." We are Americans. We don't do that. We're not Fascist Germany 1940.
Well, you could begin by looking at the disparity between "any typical" white suburban high school versus "any typical" school located in a termed "ghetto" or "barrio."
As a white Liberal--I'm in favor of changing the part of the Constitution which allows automatic citizenship to children born here and also the process of newly naturalized citizens to bring over family members.
We needed citizens 220 years ago, to grow our nation, and we needed ways to make people Americans, quickly.
We have enough people in our country today. We need to take better care of the people we have.
I'm also in favor of looking at a 10 year freeze on Immigration, for us to implement new policies to take care of our citizens and for these new policies to have some time to work (and be tweaked, when needed).
The Immigration issue is one issue which affects African-americans and, today, white working class Americans.
Having said that, we need our elected officials to come up with policies which "bring citizens" together. THis means policies which tear down "suburbs" "ghettoes" "barrios" and create a TRUE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE where everyone is not afraid of anyone. The wealthy will still have "their nests" but we need to raise up middle class and working class America at the same time.
We can pay for these new urban/suburban revitalization programs simply by ending our occupation in Iraq and closing several military bases worldwide--in places like Japan and Germany, for example. We can also downsize our military assets--do we really need aircraft carriers and destroyers today?
We can take 35% off of the Military budget and "pay for America." We would not need to raise any taxes to do this.
I agree. Reducing our military power is necessary. If anyone is to attack the western world, there is always the U.N., NATO and other organizations. Our military needs to be strong, but not if it means if it's coming at the costs of our every day lives. Because the way I see it, if we are to protect more and more rather than focusing on issues like health care and education, there won't be a whole lot more to protect.
I wouldn't mind the idea of revoking the 14th ammendment, but even if it weren't white liberals like yourself and I, plenty others would turn Americans against the idea and somehow make it look like it was conservatives fault because it's an insult to African-Americans, being that it was a post-Civil War ammendment. And they'd also have a magical way of making it seems against people who are the magical term ''Hispanic'', even though people of that descent who are citizens of the U.S. are likewise to any other American citizen in the belief that illegal immigration and anchor babies aren't a good idea.
Well, you could begin by looking at the disparity between "any typical" white suburban high school versus "any typical" school located in a termed "ghetto" or "barrio."
The disparity is obviously there. How, precisely, would you reduce it? Money? New desks? Books in the homes of the students? More parental involvement? Tougher security? Metal detectors?
Not trying to sound "coy" here, but MANY very sincere folks have wrung their hands for DECADES, trying to come up with ways to lessen the disparity you speak of...SO far, there's little agreement on how this can be done.
''I believe 50% of crime in American pertains to drug and alcohol abuse and the other 50% of crime stems from minorities feeling "disenchanted" with the realization that "the American dream" is unattainable.''
Do you honestly believe that people are committing crimes more because some believe the rest of society neglects them? I do agree entirely that alcoholic and drug-abuse is associated with criminal activity. Even more so in this country, poverty and crappy work-ethics are involved with this. And this usually works hand in hand with having babies out of wedlock and low family values.
The second part of your statement is not true. I don't acknowledge the term ''minorities.'' And even if I did, that statement primarily only apply to impoverished people. If you're black and live in a decent suburb with almost no apartment buildings, I very much doubt you live different economically than whites. You should revise that statement to saying inner-city poor African-Americans. Not blacks, because West Indian and West African immigrant succeed well in this country. And so do their children, because they rarely marry impoverished blacks in this country. Latin Americans aren't included in this either. Most work their ass off. Some still are religious. They don't come to this country to commit crimes. They go to prison much less than blacks. Even for being in the country so few years, they average higher incomes than African-Americans. And probably double the rate of inner-city African-Americans.
They have a similar rate to whites. They only reason why they go more is because many are poor because they're immigrants from countries with low currencies that completely dry out what ever bank account they had. Most come with little education and too high of fertility rates. This forces them to live in urban and semi-urban areas. Drugs can often become involved in these areas. However, plenty of Latin American immigrants live just like any other American citizen in nice parts of cities, suburbs and everywhere else.
''If we actually re-install the pathway to the American dream--through good schools, good quality of life programs...Crime will decrease by 50%.''
True. I'm not sure if that will come immediately, but through time this could happen. This could require a moratorium. This is exactly what's going on in Philadelphia with a new mayor and police commissioner right now. If it shows to be successful or not is another story.
'' My immigration comments above do not entail "rounding up illegals" and "taking them to the border." We are Americans. We don't do that. We're not Fascist Germany 1940. ''
Rounding up illegal immigrants isn't possible no matter what way we look at it. Even if we wanted to deport them, it just isn't possible. Getting rid of the fourteenth amendment seems even less possible. What we can do is get the illegal immigrants where it counts. And that is by taking their American-born children who are citizens of the United States. How could we allow them to live with illegal immigrants if it'd be difficult to know where everyone is? Or if a teacher had to contact a student? If we enforced this idea, most people thinking about crossing the border wouldn't come. Most wouldn't come if they knew they couldn't have a child they could raise.
They have fertility rates of over three kids. They're technically criminals both under American and international law for crossing the border illegally and are also criminals for not paying taxes, so we would have plausible reasoning for doing so. It's becoming really annoying that Americans have this philosophy of am I aloud to do this? Or could we do this? Or do we need plausible reasoning? It's our damn country and we could decide who stays and who leaves no matter how nice, mean, fair or unfair it seems. That's a privilege our government doesn't exercise, but should. Illegal immigration is standing in the way of improving health care, education, poverty and other economic problems. And sadly, so is the Iraq war.
Okay, first off, when I say ''Democratized'' - I mean that more allegorically, than technically.
Second off, I did not say blacks? Why are you guys simplifying all my statements? Why are you cut-off the adverbs? It says inner-city African-Americans on this thread. And those are the African-Americans who are more economically behind. I even say impoverished inner-city African-Americans.
I don't say blacks for several reasons. West Indian and African immigrants are not economically behind. This is not a black issue. This is not as issue of being an African descendant. This is not a southern issue. This argument is about inner-city issue that effects poor blacks. And in most major cities throughout this country, it's evident that those who I've described are being the most, have the least hope and will continue to live that way and get worse if something is done.
When I say Democratized, I mean entering capitalism. Living off welfare is living a socialist lifestyle. That's not the American dream. One who doesn't work in this country who is under 65 and physically capable of doing so doesn't deserve the right to raise children, eat or have a home. There's no excuse for any of that. The American government needs to stop leaving these pathetic perks. If they told people they'd starve on the street and they'd never see their child again, many more losers would work and/or not have children. So that's what I mean when I say ''Democratized.'' Everyone has opportunity, but people's encouragement is being distracted and compromised with socialist programs like welfare, food stamps and public housing.
Well, you could begin by looking at the disparity between "any typical" white suburban high school versus "any typical" school located in a termed "ghetto" or "barrio."
Well, I don't acknowledge what ever a ''barrio'' is lol In this country, a poor section is either referred to as a ghetto or a trailer park.
But yes, schools and neighborhoods are evident.
The amount of socialist programs that our predominantly capitalist society shouldn't exist. We should take all the money that goes in food stamps for feeding the poor and put them into more valuable social programs like the border patrol, teachers and a possible Universal Health Care. And obviously taking our troops out of Iraq would help this process too.
The perks need to go. And people would say well how are the children supposed to eat if their parents aren't putting food on their tables? Well, it's simple. Allow them to live with the state. What other answer is there? They'll eat much better there than on food stamps with a loser family that won't work. There's a good chance that family didn't even want that kid and only had him because they didn't want to get their insides cut up with an abortion.
Or because they knew they could get more money from the government for having more children. If you don't work, you don't have the right to raise a child if you're physically able and under 65. The government can't make one smart enough to wear a condom, take a 24 hour pill immediately or to not have children altogether, but it doesn't mean we can't control what will happen next.
A good start would be to round up all the rappers that have made millions from this grizzly existence, all the black athletes, oprah, and all the black successful millionaires and make them divvy up. Build better schools, go in and teach by example, muscle in on the druggies or at least help the police muscle in and last but certainly not least appoint fathers for all the children that may otherwise go to jail. In the white middle class suburbs it is called teaching personal responsibility and being there to see that it gets done. Some think it is white Americas fault that in spite of the myriad of black success stories, white people are still the oppressors. I love seeing black people succeed and I am very proud of their successes. I do not feel either compelled or responsible to go over and snatch a crack pipe out of the mouth of a student and tell him to get to class. Recite the mantra, "personal responsibility" a few thousand times to a few thousand young people and these problems will go away. For a generation or more this is mostly lost -but it can be attained.
All of what you say is true. Especially about the white middle class youth. The thing about the white middle class youth is that most eventually get it together. They probably smoke drugs and party harder than anyone during the spring break season we're in now, but by their mid to late 20's most get it together and realize rowdy times are over. Same thing goes to any middle class suburbanite for that matter. The difference between middle-class people of all backgrounds and impoverished people is that their parents demand results out of them. In a way, they got it made.
Personally, to myself - it'd be difficult to see myself being poor. I don't expect to be rich either, but I expect to be middle-class which ever way I get there. Not as many 19 year old in crappy areas can tell you they have that expectation. And some think it's because we try to ''live up'' to our parents standards, but most parents and their kid's could care less for such a thing. People my age in the suburbs simply go to college so they could make half way decent money and not work with their hands.
That's why it doesn't shock me that we don't see many suburban people in their 20's be interested in blue-collared work, even if it did pay equivalently to white collared worked. It's because most don't want to know what a hard day work is. It's not to say some don't become construction workers, plumbers and other hard-working blue-collared professions, but I doubt you'd see anyone at twenty years old ready to jump start their career.
As sad it sounds, this is where impoverished black youth have to at least get up to. White suburban kids might not be so innocent, but they get things done in the long run. Trying to fight how to get all youth to work harder and show more pride has to be done in a united fashion.
The collective idea of blackness is exactly what's propelled those rappers career. I'm not sure if he's made millions, but Al Sharpton's made hundreds of thousands of dollars off black misery too. As far as I'm concerned, they're ''whiter'' than anyone else. No one is oppressed in this modern day. Everyone has opportunity. It's just about how severing all ties to garbage, encouraging people and getting everyone on the same page. We shouldn't expect people like Al Sharpton, Oprah, Barry Bonds, Michael Jordan or anyone else to feel empathy for African-Americans though. They're smart. They're capitalizing off economic opportunities.
This is just one idea I propose, but the only way for the poor inner-city blacks to become like anyone else is to destroy what makes them isolated. And to them, it's often their sense of ''blackness.'' The environment in which many poor inner-city residents of all races is often horrible. There are whites who live there too, although less. And I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but the whites and non-black American born-citizens often feel like twice the loser than the inner-city black because of a societal expectation. I know it sounds sad, but for the poorest African-Americans who are usually poorer than anyone else in most major cities, seeing other people who relate to their experience helps pacify their pain.
The idea is to defeat blackness. My idea is to see blackness as ugly as whiteness. To defeat as much we can't control and advance all our individualism. Being proud to be ''black'' just can't be acceptable. For those who are middle-class like most of the black population, even if they were proud to be ''black'', it wouldn't really matter. It could only go so far. All should be proud to be who they are physically. There's nothing wrong with marrying one who looks like you. But most who are middle class and black have a diverse core of friends. There is no economic reasoning behind it.
That means that these inner-city blacks may have to take that immigrant approach. Most are too stubborn to believe this is what has to be done though. That means to bust out of poverty, getting working-class jobs, keep your mouth shut, probably take some stuff you don't like and eventually have your children acquire middle class stature. There is no oppression in America. If anything, those who choose to be poor are actually oppressing themselves.
It sounds nice, but those ''black'' success stories we hear about shouldn't be good stories. By being proud of one for being successful even though they're black is like saying to someone they're proud that they turned out successful even though they had a 90 IQ. Being black is not an excuse by any measure. I'm sure if someone from Jamaica went to France and was a nurse, no one in France would feel any warmth in that story because they were ''black.'' I don't feel happy or sad when I see a black person who turns out successfully. I feel no emotion. I feel more satisfaction though that someone is giving another reason why not to believe in stereotypical collective traits that prevent self-advancement.
If I see a poor person bust out of poverty, that's nice - but there are also some people who become poor.
Most people want to eventually make 50 or 60 thousand a year by the time they're in their 40's. It's an obtainable goal as long as you're okay at what you do.
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