IL fiscal crisis (credit, lawyer, private schools)

[InnovativeAmerican]

Originally Posted by explorearkansas

"On the side note: Illinois is in better shape than Wisconsin, and I rest my case! I've nothing else to contribute to this thread. I've said my piece!"

I gagged when I read this. My 52 years in Illinois tells me otherwise. Illinois will become the next Detroit. All you need to do is look at the financial numbers to see the truth.

66 shot in Chicago last weekend with 12 dead and zero arrests.

Things are just great in Illinois, especially Chicago. Good family kids right?

I worked at CC Jail in the late 70's. Don't tell me there aren't problems on the south and west side. You probably don't believe the racial statistics for these shootings either, so I won't quote em.

I never said I didn't believe the racial statistics. Yes, African-Americans constitute a large percentage of crimes in the United States. Yes, African-Americans kill each other at alarmingly high rates, but who cares? All you white folks have to do is sit around and indulge in your societal privileges by digesting the "news" through talk radio (regardless of its legitimacy or bias) and stay put in your well-kept lily white neighborhoods. You'll never venture through these neighborhoods anyway. Just admit that you hate black folks already.

By the way, I do not have a criminal record. (Although I get pulled over and followed around stores all the damn time due to racial profiling.). I am a successful businessman and have an undergraduate degree, as well as a postgraduate degree. I do not fit the profile of the stereotypical black male, but I will not sit here and turn a blind eye to the very real issues that affect my community. Your white privilege allows you to ignore this stuff.

Are people on this thread SERIOUSLY blaming black people for Illinois' fiscal crises? ROFLMAO! I've once again said my piece. Have a lovely day!

[sub]

Originally Posted by InnovativeAmerican

I find it extremely comical when a white person calls black people racist. White people are making a mockery of racism and now applying it to themselves to ignore the very real atrocities of systemic and institutional racism. Extremely pathetic.

If you are so desperate to know why black-on-black crime is rampant in Chicago and why ghettos exist in the first place, look up the term "white privilege". There is nothing wrong with having white privilege as long as you use it wisely, but you obviously aren't.

Make the comfortable uncomfortable!

On the side note: Illinois is in better shape than Wisconsin, and I rest my case! I've nothing else to contribute to this thread. I've said my piece!

Flippant, baseless accusations of racism and/or bigotry are just a reactionary tactic used by the left to try and shut down the conversation when it becomes uncomfortable for them.
Problems never get solved without first recognizing the sources.
Yes, history has not been kind to the black community.
Racism is real and has certainly fueled the problems. However, after 50 years of failed policy, it seems to me that a fresh approach and a healthy dose of introspection is in order. To say it's 100% the other guys fault is absurd, especially when you take an honest look at what goes on in these communities.
I see things differently after having a job where I went to work every day in a neighborhood that rivals almost anything in Chicago. A lot of genuinely good people, but also a disproportionate number that actually pride themselves on keeping their own community down.
It really does happen and it's sickening. You cannot remedy that sort of thing from the outside and certainly not with legislation.

Another point about pointing out problems in a community:
I currently live in the pasty-white Ozarks. Much of the area is still dirt poor, apparently oblivious to their so-called "white privilege ".
They've been battling meth down here 20-25 years now, with varying degrees of success. Now there's opiods in the mix... yay.
Crime is way too high for sparsely populated rural areas.
Many small towns are as hopeless as the inner city, but at least the inner city is more logistically convenient to a way out. To top it off, few seem to care, and outside help from the government (which many in the area do rely on) won't go nearly as far as change from within.
Now that I've pointed that out, shall I call myself a racist against whites? If i used a derogatory term like "white trash", would the bleeding hearts come to their defense, or is it the wrong special interest group? My guess is that they wouldn't bat an eye, or even shake their head in agreement because those were probably just Trump voters anyway.
Equality means jack unless it's 100% all the time from all angles.

[sub]

Originally Posted by InnovativeAmerican

Are people on this thread SERIOUSLY blaming black people for Illinois' fiscal crises? ROFLMAO! I've once again said my piece. Have a lovely day!

Not blaming black people.
Blaming one-party rule. Too easy for corruption to go unchecked.

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by timberline742

They are not the same people at all.


The people I trust in the public sector are trying to do good public service and build a better society that is responsive to all people (and the environment).


The people I distrust in the private sector are governed by accumulation of money for themselves. Profit and power is their goal.

Lordy - them's some rose colored glasses you have on.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Lordy - them's some rose colored glasses you have on.

It's come from a culmination of working and living for 45+ years in both private for profit, private non profit, and public service. The differences are striking about what drives the people in them.

[sub]

Rose-colored glass technology is incredibly good these days.
Regardless if they're in the private or public sector, workers are there for the same reason: to make a paycheck for themselves, not to destroy or save the world.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by sub

Rose-colored glass technology is incredibly good these days.
Regardless if they're in the private or public sector, workers are there for the same reason: to make a paycheck for themselves, not to destroy or save the world.

Not entirely. Self-interest probably drives all humans at the core, but some of these people have more of a sense of public/community duty than others. Most public school teachers I know, for example, really believe in the mission of public schools, and see their work as a "calling." They have other options (in the private sector, for example), but feel that they're doing something that has a social purpose. It probably doesn't hurt that they can make a living off of it, too.

Other public sector people I know have similar profiles. My public librarian friends love having a job that involves public access to books and information. Most public university instructors I know support the mission of public universities--lower tuition, more open admissions, easier access to education for disadvantaged students, etc. All of the people I know who work for national parks, state parks, public forestry, city/county parks, have a sense of public duty. No, they're not Mother Teresa (so to speak), but they believe in preserving the environment, helping to make public lands accessible to the public, and stuff like that. That's part of the job, and that's partly why they chose it.

Sure, there are jaded public workers who are merely collecting a paycheck: the stereotypical DMV bureaucrat, for example, or the court clerk who pushes paper on the public payroll just because it's a job.

But overall, among public workers, there is more of an ethos of public service. It isn't perfect, and the people aren't Gandhi, but it's there. I can't say that for most of the people I know in the private sector, though there are some.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by sub

Rose-colored glass technology is incredibly good these days.
Regardless if they're in the private or public sector, workers are there for the same reason: to make a paycheck for themselves, not to destroy or save the world.

Except this is patently incorrect and you're mentally promotes that warped and incorrect view that everyone is out to maximize the return for their selfish selves.


Oh, sometimes I had to take jobs with private for profits because, well, I needed to cover rent. Realities are realities. But I've taken many significant pay cuts to take positions with organizations who I believe in the mission. I know loads of people who have. And even more people that could earn much more in private for profit work than they do, but they refuse to do so.


It's really sad that you can't see this. I suspect it is because you don't share the sentiment to try to make the world a better place, so you claim others don't either to make yourself feel better.

[sub]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Except this is patently incorrect and you're mentally promotes that warped and incorrect view that everyone is out to maximize the return for their selfish selves.


Oh, sometimes I had to take jobs with private for profits because, well, I needed to cover rent. Realities are realities. But I've taken many significant pay cuts to take positions with organizations who I believe in the mission. I know loads of people who have. And even more people that could earn much more in private for profit work than they do, but they refuse to do so.


It's really sad that you can't see this. I suspect it is because you don't share the sentiment to try to make the world a better place, so you claim others don't either to make yourself feel better.

Uh, no. Not even close.
I just don't have a Pollyanna view of government, nor do I believe in putting people on pedestals.
I also don't believe that there's a huge difference in what drives people in job to another.
Whether it be paychecks or providing a noble service that contributes to society as a whole just depends on the individual persons view of what they're doing, not whether their cause is publicly funded or not.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by sub

Uh, no. Not even close.
I just don't have a Pollyanna view of government, nor do I believe in putting people on pedestals.
I also don't believe that there's a huge difference in what drives people in job to another.
Whether it be paychecks or providing a noble service that contributes to society as a whole just depends on the individual persons view of what they're doing, not whether their cause is publicly funded or not.

So, if a person merely says that they're working for the public good, that's enough for you?