Message me
Genocide in Our own Backyard
co-op-culinary.blogspot.com - 26 weeks ago - 576 views
13 Comments Have your say. Vote up the best responses. ↓
Reactions on the web
Latest tweets linking to this story (Share url: http://windycitizen.com/wcpU)
Latest tweets linking to this story (Share url: http://windycitizen.com/wcpU)
Invite your friends
Top Crime Stories This Week
3
Comments
hey guys, I don't think Aaron meant any ill will or was even thinking about traffic in relation to the word genocide, and maybe was just the first word that came to mind. It was his first post here, and he didn't know to include the link to the story... Back to the issue at hand, banning handguns would be too simple, and not cover the real issue, since people that intend to use handguns to harm others will find a way to do it, whether they're illegal, or not. I have to agree with Ira here, and suspect it's about parent involvement, community, and after school programs, and positive role models more than slapping down another law. Below is a *satirical* post I wrote about the handgun ruling back in the summer, and posted on a few sites. The karaoke really did support an art program though, but my friend did not sing Shania Twain.
In Defense of the Supreme Court Handgun Ruling
Before Mayor Daley gets his undies in bundies, I think he—along with everyone upset by the recent Supreme Court ruling—needs to look at some of the benefits of this decision, and how purchasing handguns legally will impact our nation in a positive way.
First, and foremost, we are in a recession! Is it any coincidence I went to the River Boat this morning, and there was no one sitting at the Cops and Donuts penny slot everyone knows is the luckiest one there, and then I read in the newspaper that even casinos are experiencing record losses?
Our economy –two-thirds of which is supported by consumer spending—is falling apart, and that rayon pantsuit that looked like a deal to me at Fashion Bug is not a deal when I'm paying 23% interest on it. Like many consumers I'm cutting back on clothing, online dating subscriptions, Wednesday night fondue at The Melting Pot, custom-built furniture for my three cats, and bags of candy at Walgreens because it all ads up, and too many people have been taking it out of my fishbowl when I go to the bathroom, which if you ask me is really shitty.
And no, I don't want to have a handgun so I can shoot the people in my office, though that honestly did not occur to me until now. What I guess I'm trying to say is that I have totally cut back on ALL "frills" and excessive spending, yet in my opinion a handgun could be used for self-defense, and should be a MUST for every family, and especially every single woman living alone. In fact, I really think Oprah should tell people to buy handguns, because what I'm getting at is the fact that a legal purchase is a TAXABLE purchase, and in addition to the tax on handguns, think of all the NECESSARY, "must have!" consumer spending that will happen when we all try to be like Ice Cube at the same time… cha ching!!
Yes, like Ice Cube. Think of all the white men rapping in their Sonatas who can legally pack a pistol in their glove compartment, and feel good about it because having a gun is actually less of a danger to society than downloading music.
Another benefit, though maybe not as direct as the boon to consumer spending, involves Population Control. Since the ratio of accidental to intentional shootings is 6:1, the decision will help kill off more and more stupid people each year, including children of stupid people that often seem to know exactly where the gun is, and how to point it to their face while removing the safety lock. We can only hope that with guns being legalized, more families will not feel the stigma of owning one, or the need to hide their handgun (s) from their children.
There are many other far-reaching benefits of this decision, but I need to dash off to Logan Square to support an up, and coming karaoke artisan that will be singing my favorite Shania Twain song. The money raised from the event will help fund art programs for urban youth who will hopefully stay off the streets, and legally purchase handguns made (and used) in the USA when they turn 18.
*
162 comments
* Add a Comment
* Please wait...
Submit
Cancel
Apologies- I just looked at the OP's blog, and the word genocide came not from him, but from someone quoted in the story he referenced. See below:
"One high school student on the feature, Ronnie Mosely, a senior class president referred to the state of the situation as "genocide.""
Hi, Aaron! Welcome.
Well now there's a story about this in the top 40, right?
I hear you about how weird it is to see lots of national coverage about a local thing like this, but isn't that how it usually works? People like to read about how bad it is in other cities, but there's always less of an audience for hearing how bad it is in your own city.
That said, I think the local media's been covering the number of Chicago youngers dying violent deaths pretty closely, all things considered. Maybe CNN's late to the punch rather than ahead of the game?
What say you?
Agreed, what say you, Aaron?
Also, anyone have a link to the CNN story?
I'm sure that it's covered well by traditional media. My point was that there was no discussion of this issue on this forum and I wanted to begin one. These blogs are often just rants rather than useful tools in the real world. I would rather this become a conversation of ideas of how to end this violence rather than one concerning the state of the media. I apologize if using that as a platform was in any way misguiding.
The police are doing all they can. It is time for bigger measures. Legislation must be introduced and passed to get these guns off of the streets of inner cities. The second amendment is archaic and needs to be revised. Now is the time for logical thinking Americans to step forward and demand an end to the "gun nation" that is the U.S.
You came to the right place for that. The Citizen's a place where people who care about Chicago can share and support the news they think needs to get more airtime.
As per your points about gun control, do you have any links to articles or research that backs up your argument? The idea that guns are to blame has a long and contentious history.
Something tells me that getting the guns off the street aren't enough. Guns are but a method, they are not the reason. Certainly, getting all the guns off the street would decrease the number of deaths since it's easier to kill someone with a gun than other means, but the reasons the violence exists in the first place would still remain.
Of course, the fact remains that we really haven't been very good in the past in determining what causes violence and how to address those issues, so attacking the method used to commit the violence would be a very straight forward way of limiting some violence. Yet, it would not end anything, just make it more difficult.
"Legislation must be introduced and passed to get these guns off of the streets of inner cities."
I'll remind you of a few things:
1.) Chicago already has a handgun ban.
2.) The handgun ban is (basically) unconstitutional because of the Supreme Court ruling of District of Columbia v. Heller. It's probably only a matter of time before Chicago's handgun ban is overturned.
3.) Illinois already has lots of laws currently in place that punish violent offenders and additional laws the restrict the sale of guns. Take a look at the criminal code.
4.) Every year, the General Assembly increases penalties on violent crimes, carving out certain instances to tack on additional penalties (mandatory sentencing, increasing the class of felony, etc.). I've sat in almost every meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Law. You wouldn't believe how many new laws are just penalty increase of laws we already have on the books, or broadening of current laws.
5.) Despite all of this, we continue to have staggering crime rates, particularly in Chicago.
So, what's the solution?
I don't think the right path is more laws, less guns, more banning of more guns, etc. All of these have done very little in eliminating crime. Guns aren't any harder to get and criminals who commit crimes will find a way to get them, leaving law-abiding citizens without any means of protection. (For instance, you can't even buy or own a TASER for self protection in Chicago.)
What really needs to be done? We need to look at why these crimes occur, and what socioeconomic factors we can change to decrease these root causes.
We need to increase the availability of good jobs that pay decent wages and provide opportunities in these economically depressed neighborhoods. We need better schools and after-school programs. We need to provide the kind of society where people don't have to turn toward gangs as a means of financial support.
We need to stop raising the sales tax to unreasonable levels, which disproportionally affects the poor. We need to make living in the city more affordable and prevent low-income housing from being snatched up by people looking to flip condos as the Sun-Times reported last week. We need to eliminate wasteful spending in city and county government, and redirect those funds into programs that help those who need the most help.
It's easy to make guns out to be the villain, but plenty of other cities have fewer restrictions on guns and way less crime (some of these cities even allow concealed-carry). But it's really hard to admit that a lot of these problems can't be solved by some magic bullet and instead will require a great deal of reforms in how government operates and spends our tax dollars.
Of course, that would mean making government actually accountable to the voters and the voters managing to get people elected who actually care about these kind of issues.
That's hard work. That takes a lot of time, organization and -- frankly -- money. But no one said solving society's problems were easy.
understood.
was this it?
http://www.cnn.com/video/?iref=videoglobal
Aaron, with all due respect I have no idea what you're talking about. Though the Trib hasn't paid it as much attention, this story has been covered very well by the Sun-Times and other Chicago media. Then you said you didn't mean this as a critique of the media, but yet you seemed outraged by the fact that local media isn't covering this while CNN and others are. If you're going to level an accusation, you should be prepared to admit that it was misguided.
Also, how do you know that the police are doing all they can? As I understand, there are many shortages faced by our police department so I'd wager that they're not doing all they can simply because they aren't able to.
Finally, as regards ideas on how to end the violence, I don't think we're going to figure it out here. With all due love to Windy Citizen, solving the problems caused by inner city gangs isn't going to be done on this or any other online forum. And it won't be solved by revising the 2nd amendment either. As someone already pointed out, guns are only the symptom, they are not the disease.
Banning guns is too simple an answer(they are already illegal in the city), but convincing the city to further invest in the lives of children? I'd like to hear some thoughts on that.
I know from personal experience after school programs make a huge difference for kids with working parents. I worked for one a few years ago in Humboldt Park and it was amazing to see how much they loved being there.
Providing positive male role models is probably the best weapon I can think of against urban violence. It's awesome to see a bunch of kids hanging out and working on bikes instead of running around with gangbangers.
This is a serious issue, but calling it "genocide" is hyperbole that may drive traffic to your blog, but weakens your argument.
Genocide is deliberate, systematic mass murder targeted to wipe out a specific racial or ethnic group, as happened against the Armenians, the Jews and the Tutsis, peoples who were slaughtered by the millions.
To apply such a loaded term to the gang violence that plagues Chicago neighborhoods does no one a service. These are not, by and large, hate crimes. These are turf wars, made extra vicious because the perpetrators and their victims are too young to be civilized (cf. The Lord of the Flies). Society has failed them, but it's not trying to kill them. They're doing that themselves.
By the way, here is the link to the CNN article, which the original poster didn't provide in his blog. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/08/chicago.children.slain/
Post new comment