28 December 2006

A Large(r) Dose Of Homicide....

Many larger cities across our nation are seeing a disturbing increase in murders...big surprise, huh? Of course, there are the "reclassified" homicides that are adding to this number... those involving victims shot or stabbed YEARS ago, but didn't die until THIS year (How DARE they skew these statistics). And naturally, we have the usual "reasons" as to WHY the murder rate is on the rise...Gangs...Drugs...easy access to ILLEGAL guns (that would be guns either STOLEN or STRAW-PURCHASED, btw). It seems it was only a few weeks ago when the DOJ reports came out, and city officials had no freaking idea as to WHY this sudden "surge" in homicides....now they ALL seem to know....man, we could cure a bunch of global "ills" with epiphanic moments such as this.

All it takes is a pair of functional EYES and EARS to know what's going on in many areas of our cities today. C'mon people...get your damn heads out of the sand (or your arses) and take a look around you. One police chief in Frisco (of all places) stated that: "These killings stem from young people resolving disputes with GUNS instead of their fists. (I guess being man enough to just walk away isn't an option any longer?) They're all struggling with this thing about respect and pride". (Ok...what is this "thing" he refers to, and when did anyone ever receive respect from a DEAD person?). Even NYC, which had a dropping crime rate is seeing a rise in crime again...gee, I wonder if not having Giuliani there to enforce the Broken Window laws has anything to do with that? He at least went after smaller crimes to prevent LARGER ones from taking place...and it was working too. The mayor of Philadelphia even went on TV pleading with the young people to "lay down their guns and choose education over violence". (My God...I can hear the laughter from these "young people" all the way out here in Fort Wayne) Does the mayor of Philly actually BELIEVE that these people will take HIM seriously? When I was their age, I sure as hell didn't take anything any politician said "seriously" (and that still applies to MOST liberals even today...heh, heh, heh), but I DID do something these young people aren't doing....and that's show RESPECT FOR THE LAW and the people enforcing it. I might not have liked it, but I DID it notwithstanding. And that's what life is about....not liking a lot of things or rules, but doing them or adhering to them anyway.

It comes down to one very simple axiom I like to share often: You have to GIVE respect in order to GET respect. Respect is one of those marvelous sociological and philosophical TWO-WAY streets. And anyone that would attempt to turn it into a "one-way" thoroughfare will find out soon enough that "you can't buck the flow of the traffic".

Of course there IS one underlying factor to all these murders, and although this might ruffle more than a few feathers, it has to be said. Most ALL of these murders are occuring in ethnic areas in distressed areas of these major cities. Another big surprise, eh? And yet nothing ever gets done in those communities to HALT these heinous crimes.

Hell, I see the same thing happen in Fort Wayne...lack of (REAL) involvement by the minority population. But, should the police in those same areas be so bold as to pull someone over...well, there's about 6 different kinds of HELL TO PAY, just for doing some proactive policing....we call it "criminal profiling". Police are slapped with lawsuits daily...just for doing their job. We're not talking about them stepping over the line (of authority) one damn bit!

When you have these minorities indoctrinate their offspring to AVOID and DISTRUST the police at such a young age, it's small wonder that when these kids get to be young adults, that they practice their own "brand of justice", and promote their own "subculture". Hell, they haven't been taught otherwise.
There is no role model around their house....no "heroes" to pattern their lives after, and only violent content on TV, music (gangsta rap anyone?), and video games (that goes unmonitored by ANY adult) to foster their need for some sort of respect and acceptance. They don't know HOW to GIVE respect in the first place, so why should anyone expect them to be worthy of receiving respect (unless it's at the business end of a chrome handgun)? And if someone were to freely show them respect, they don't even KNOW how to reciprocate, so that point becomes moot once again.

I don't profess to have the solution, but I DO know what I see and hear around me. And it paints a pretty bleak picture. What I DO see happening is more GUN control, when more PEOPLE control is actually warranted....more money tossed at ideas, task forces, and whatever other lame thoughts to quell the public's angst (that won't solve the long-term issue one damn bit)...and maybe a few laws passed (after way too much debate) that might tread on someone's civil rights. (there's a few in every crowd, right?)

My thoughts would be to have the ethnic communities either "put up or shut up". That means either they get on the stick and take charge of the neighborhoods with all the crime and DO SOMETHING to stop it, or they sit back, and let those people we, the taxpayers PAY to do law-enforcing perform their function...no questions asked. You can't have it both ways...not without a continuation of the status quo, because that's where we stand at the moment.

These kids join gangs for acceptance...they deal with drugs to raise their self-esteem, and they carry guns to feel powerful. But like Stan Lee wrote in the comic The Amazing Spiderman many years ago..."With great power comes great responsibility".

Anyone that has EVER had their finger on the trigger of a weapon KNOWS this from the grunt in the foxhole to the flyboy with the bunker-buster to the CNC officer on a missile cruiser.

Maybe it's about time these young people were taught (the correct way). All we need are the *right* instructors to send the *right* message.

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