- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 27,204
- Reaction score
- 13,299
- Location
- CT
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
Lots of talk about gun violence, these days. Got me to thinking (always dangerous), which got me to googling. Most gun violence is gang related, it seems. Most gang violence (almost all of it) is drug related.
When we hear about the kid shot on the corner in chicago by another kid, we just shrug it off as gang violence. Doesn't make the news. It's just a statistic. What we don't tend to think, is the underlying cause. The true story behind that shooting. Which is to say, that it was a hostile takeover of one business interest by a rival business interest. No, what we want is to debase those kids into something subhuman...gang members, thugs, degenerates...criminals. Of course, they ARE criminals. But in many areas, think about their options. Work a minimum wage job, and hope to get promoted to management? College? Not an option. Sure, get good grades, you say. And what if they all got good grades? Only so much scholarship to go around, eh? Meanwhile, there's a guy at the local hangout who is offering you more money than you've ever seen, and all you gotta do is sell some merchandise. When presented with those options, I'd say MOST folks would opt for the later. You're not FORCING drugs on anyone. They come to you, wanting it. That's on them, right? Personal responsibility, right? The problem comes when competition enters the market. Now, a normal, legal business...can't just go and gun down their competition. Because laws, and such. But if you're already operating outside the law...what good are they for you? So, a question I pose is, in the absence of the rule of law...would Walmart send armed soldiers to gun down Target employees and executives? I think they would. I think it's human nature to be selfish, greedy, and ruthless. If you doubt that, simply watch a group of toddlers unsupervised.
We can dehumanize gangs, and gang members all we want, but ultimately, they are simply rival businesses doing what most any other business would do if they were able...eliminating their competition to gain market share. Our vantage point is that of privilege, viewing events from afar, from a place of never having to make choices like those faced by inner city kids, from a place of having never had to make choices like the gang leaders themselves.
Our gun violence, most of it, at least, seems to me, is simply economic violence, of the most direct kind. Rival businesses competing for an expanded customer base. Do we truly believe more gun laws will address this? Do we truly believe more gun laws are the best way TO address this? We've wasted SO much money on the war on drugs, I sometimes wonder if, instead, we had simply spent that money on community investment...where would we be today?
When we hear about the kid shot on the corner in chicago by another kid, we just shrug it off as gang violence. Doesn't make the news. It's just a statistic. What we don't tend to think, is the underlying cause. The true story behind that shooting. Which is to say, that it was a hostile takeover of one business interest by a rival business interest. No, what we want is to debase those kids into something subhuman...gang members, thugs, degenerates...criminals. Of course, they ARE criminals. But in many areas, think about their options. Work a minimum wage job, and hope to get promoted to management? College? Not an option. Sure, get good grades, you say. And what if they all got good grades? Only so much scholarship to go around, eh? Meanwhile, there's a guy at the local hangout who is offering you more money than you've ever seen, and all you gotta do is sell some merchandise. When presented with those options, I'd say MOST folks would opt for the later. You're not FORCING drugs on anyone. They come to you, wanting it. That's on them, right? Personal responsibility, right? The problem comes when competition enters the market. Now, a normal, legal business...can't just go and gun down their competition. Because laws, and such. But if you're already operating outside the law...what good are they for you? So, a question I pose is, in the absence of the rule of law...would Walmart send armed soldiers to gun down Target employees and executives? I think they would. I think it's human nature to be selfish, greedy, and ruthless. If you doubt that, simply watch a group of toddlers unsupervised.
We can dehumanize gangs, and gang members all we want, but ultimately, they are simply rival businesses doing what most any other business would do if they were able...eliminating their competition to gain market share. Our vantage point is that of privilege, viewing events from afar, from a place of never having to make choices like those faced by inner city kids, from a place of having never had to make choices like the gang leaders themselves.
Our gun violence, most of it, at least, seems to me, is simply economic violence, of the most direct kind. Rival businesses competing for an expanded customer base. Do we truly believe more gun laws will address this? Do we truly believe more gun laws are the best way TO address this? We've wasted SO much money on the war on drugs, I sometimes wonder if, instead, we had simply spent that money on community investment...where would we be today?
