I’m not saying zero influence but the significance of that you’re putting too much stock into. Murder and crime happened long before popular media violence. And for the millionth time crime dropped as that increased. Study after study confirms this as does the lowering of crime. What else do you need to dismiss that as a massive factor? Are you suggesting we don’t have entertainment because one person may commit crime because of it? That’s ludicrous. Nothing backs up your point of view here but continue to think it does if you would like.
Read what you said originally and how I responded. You specifically said are more rich and educated black people going going to stop drugs and murder. The answer of course is yes considering those are linked to money and education. We would expect a decrease in crime. You won’t ever stop crime. You invented the tv part for whatever reason but I responded to what you actually said. Not what you’ve changed it to.
Obvious answer is yes. I work with many families in low income housing. Issues exist and it isn’t perfect but throwing that out the door doesn’t help.
Says doing things won’t work and then complains that nothing is being done. I don’t feel like doing the gun debate for the millionth time we have other threads dedicated to that.
If you look at the happiest country list, the US is not all that near the top. We have big ass houses and big ass cars, and big fat asses in general. Doesn’t make one happy. IMO, buying financial security instead of material goods has made me happier than those material goods. It makes being married easier too. The idea that we have a few years of money just in case I lose my job or something brings a calmness that a giant suburban doesn’t.
Agreed. I don’t have many new points to make. My main point is if nothing is done or tried things won’t improve. But pretending the issue isn’t there won’t help which is what I believe started that portion of the conversation between gorija and I.
All I can say is that whatever is or has been done has had limited success, so some new strategies need to be tried out. And I agree with @gorija that one of the main things is for people to take responsibility for their own actions and lives, but to get people to do that is the difficult part.
I have never disagreed with this point. But poverty is cyclical for a reason. I was brought up in a middle class family by two parents and education and other needs taken care of. Although not rich by any means a massive advantage from day one compared to many kids and families I work with.
Everyone has to run their own marathon. I just think we need to help those that don’t know where the starting line is and they have no shoes.
Go live in the ghetto for a few years. Work in schools. You’ll see that there is no incentive to change your circumstances on an individual level. There is also no incentive for the government to try and change things either. And that’s regardless of political affiliation. The left is too busy talking about the past and the right is too busy ignoring the past. While the people in the ghetto have accepted another form of slavery. Everyone is happy to maintain the status quo. Look at the murder rates and low scholastic achievement in Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, etc. And I’m supposed to believe the government really gives a shit about certain Americans?
The government caused most of the issues that exist in the ghetto.
I’ve worked in ghetto schools and I’ll never do it again. It’s not so much because it’s the ghetto, it’s part of it, but I don’t like being told to lie to kids about the reality of their lives. I can’t tell a kid that welfare is a form of slavery without some adult getting butthurt. I’ve convinced some young men to join the military and they had the opportunities to see different parts of America and different countries. It really opened their eyes to be given a sense of responsibility and to see just how shitty the ghetto is. When they came back home to visit, they realized what I told them was true; it wouldn’t look the same and they wouldn’t want to come back again.
Thank you. The second two are easy to say but much tougher for kids not in the situation I was growing up. A good education was valued. I was read to at an early age. Regular checkups. I watched two people get up everyday and go to work. I had success modeled for me from the time I was little. I had people who knew how to help a kid also be successful.
Without those things the second two are much more difficult. Even the strong nuclear family is influenced by birth. Those three things listed were significantly easier for me simply because I wasn’t born unlucky.
Why would it? We have a system that works to enrich the wealthiest people even more. Even our national elections are almost solely the property of the rich. And somehow people have been convinced a billionaire like Trump or Bloomberg understands and will help the average person. They didn’t become rich by helping the average person. And we’ve put zero limits on how much money can influence elections. So even those that used to have a long shot are now even further behind the wealthy.
Hell plenty of our economy is designed make money off people that don’t have much. They are poorly educated and poor and probably always will be because they aren’t smart enough to realize how often they are being ripped off.
It’s nothing new really. I mean we cheated and abused our spouses in the 50’s they just didn’t split up because of social pressure. I’m one who thinks the “good old days” never existed. For most Americans those days were far worse than the ones of the last say 20 years.
Although I’m not sure being a good student has ever been considered cool!
I actually think their are solutions to some of these issues but we’d have to go down a pretty terrifying path to get there. Not sure I really want the government or society to control who can have kids. That said you need a license to drive and to be a barber. But any dumbass who can get a hard on can be a parent!
This is half the problem right here. If criminals went on strike then look at all the cops, judges, and lawyers that would be out of a job, and then there is private prisons on top of that. Crime and poverty are parts of an industry, and regardless of your circumstances it’s up to you to not become their next customer.
For white middle and upper class people it was likely better in the past. I don’t know about the US, but in my own experience things here were better before the recession in 2009, prices went way up and wages haven’t increased much, the average standard of living went down.
That’s what needs to be changed, people need to realize that living off welfare or going in and out of jail are not a good way to live. Unfortunately this lifestyle has been normalized within certain communities.