Why are American cities much more VIOLENT than other world cities? (2013, violent crime)
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Singapore 0.4
Tokyo 0.5
Hong Kong 0.6
Berlin 1.0
Sydney 1.0
London 1.4
Toronto 1.7
Amsterdam 1.8
Paris 4.4 New York 6.0
Los Angeles 7.5
Mexico City 8.0
Moscow 9.6
Sao Paulo 15.6 Chicago 19.4
If you look, the American cities are way more violent. I'm mean...compare Chicago or Los Angeles to Tokyo or Berlin. Why is that?
It's sort of a unique set of circumstances I guess:
- a historical *thing* about access to firearms that is even entrenched in law
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- a wider gap between rich and poor than in most rich western countries leading to a large underclass that is basically "stuck" in that position, or at least sees itself that way
-Income inequality
-A culture with no sense of shame
-The post-war legacy of a black working class filling US intercities that was followed by white flight and disinvestment in central city neighborhoods leaving a permanent underclass in many cities
-A huge illegal drug trade and competition for the market
-Very easy access to firearms either legal or illegal
The thing is though that those murder rates in US cities are acutally much much lower than they used to be--in some place they're the lowest in over 35-40 years. Look at murder rate in the 70s or 80s or during the "Crack Wars" of the late 80s/early 90s and many cities had much higher murder rates... How does that compare to European cities? Have murder rates gone down in Paris for example or have they risen?
How many times do people have to be told, only one percent of all violent crimes are murders, the murder rate says almost nothing about the prevalence of violent crime, and in every country, a great majority of murder victims are known associates of the murderer. In fact, there is a very good chance that a murder victim is a violent criminal, and the murders actually reduce the incidence of violence by eliminating one of the perpetrators of violent crime.
Yet, every week or two, somebody discovers a comparative listing of murder rates in all the countries or cities or states and starts a new thread about the so-called danger or violence of places with high murder rates.
How does that compare to European cities? Have murder rates gone down in Paris for example or have they risen?
Datas here are comparing apple with orange, Paris rate includes attempts.
Murder rate in France and in Paris are going down like in most of the developed countries.
This is the real numbers.
Number of Homicide in Ile de France (approx Paris metro area): 160 (162 in 2010)
Murder rate per 100,000 : 1.36
Number of homicide by departements in Ile de France
City of Paris: 42
Seine Saint Denis: 33
Val d'Oise: 17
Hauts de Seine: 17
Yvelines: 16
Val de Marne: 15
Essonne: 11
Seine et Marne: 8
Murder rate per 100,000
Seine Saint Denis: 2.18
City of Paris: 1.88
Val d'Oise: 1.45
Yvelines: 1.14
Val de Marne: 1.14
Hauts de Seine: 1.09
Essonne: 0.91
Seine et Marne: 0.69
If you look, the American cities are way more violent. I'm mean...compare Chicago or Los Angeles to Tokyo or Berlin. Why is that?
Although many statistics (falsely) attempt to show the US does reasonably well in many aspects, I would say overall poverty in the US causes the violence. People see crime as the only way out to a better life. Europe is much richer and especially the lower classes are much better off so you see less violence over here.
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