Land of Delusional Politics
Monday (Boxing Day) at about 5:00 in the evening a girl was killed and four injured when to groups of kids started a shootout at Yonge and Dundas (on of the busiest corners of the city). This of course has the media up in a spin along with the five million action groups.
There has been a large out cry as of late to stop the escalating gun related violence in the city, and with good reason since guns had been used in 52 of the 78 homicides this year. Although I agree with the fact that something needs to be done, you have to be out of your skull to think otherwise, someone needs to give the local politicians a big fat kick of reality.
So far this year I've heard two solutions that have been coming to the forefront from a mix of politicians and action groups. They go something like this -
From the political arena we have the "we need to crack down on the ownership of handguns". OK. Fine. That's all good, however I can't seem to recall the last time Tom's legally obtained and registered handgun was used in any kind of gang related crime - unless Tom was an idiot and didn't provide a proper lock-up for it. (I admit this does happen so don't flame me on that one, and my immediate solution to that would be to keep the handguns at the gun club people) I also don't seem to recall the last time a gang member purchased his sidearm from the Sotherby's auction of prestige weaponry. With that said, how about this fellas - When these kids get arrested for popping someone in the head put them in jail and KEEP THEM THERE. The reason these kids run around acting like 50 Cent is the fact that every time they get arrested they get a month of community service. I don't give a rats ass if your fifteen - if you kill someone your going in for life just like everyone else. Plus your going to a real prison so that you can get real close with Bubba and Guido.
On the other side we have the action groups, who in my opinion wield way too much political influence (but we'll leave that till another day). These are your standard purveyors of the "Think of the children" school of thought. Of course the thinking seems to come to a halt when you ask them for an actual plan. The thing that they're preaching right now is that all of these disenfranchised youth are turning to gun crime due to the fact that they are poor and have no jobs. The solution proposed is for - wait for it - more funding to community programs to build the esteem of the kids and give them job training. Hmmm....Let's see here. Do you really think that all of these kids that are skipping school to go out and pop someone in the head, are going to go to after school programs at the local community center to "build their esteem and get job skills".
These kids don't give a rats ass about the fact that they're poor. They do it in part because they have it in their heads that this lifestyle is cool and it'll get them the girls, and the fact that there is no punishment when they actually do something that they're not supposed to. The only real way to stop this is to actually get someone to smack them on the head and pound some reality into them. I would think it would be the parents, but apparently telling your kid that they've done something wrong can land you as a parent in jail.
I'll end the rant now, because I could get into a whole lot of other stuff, with one last thing. You can put up as many social programs and gun restrictions as you want, but until you start to look at the real issue this will continue to happen. Any society with no fear of authority falls apart.
There has been a large out cry as of late to stop the escalating gun related violence in the city, and with good reason since guns had been used in 52 of the 78 homicides this year. Although I agree with the fact that something needs to be done, you have to be out of your skull to think otherwise, someone needs to give the local politicians a big fat kick of reality.
So far this year I've heard two solutions that have been coming to the forefront from a mix of politicians and action groups. They go something like this -
From the political arena we have the "we need to crack down on the ownership of handguns". OK. Fine. That's all good, however I can't seem to recall the last time Tom's legally obtained and registered handgun was used in any kind of gang related crime - unless Tom was an idiot and didn't provide a proper lock-up for it. (I admit this does happen so don't flame me on that one, and my immediate solution to that would be to keep the handguns at the gun club people) I also don't seem to recall the last time a gang member purchased his sidearm from the Sotherby's auction of prestige weaponry. With that said, how about this fellas - When these kids get arrested for popping someone in the head put them in jail and KEEP THEM THERE. The reason these kids run around acting like 50 Cent is the fact that every time they get arrested they get a month of community service. I don't give a rats ass if your fifteen - if you kill someone your going in for life just like everyone else. Plus your going to a real prison so that you can get real close with Bubba and Guido.
On the other side we have the action groups, who in my opinion wield way too much political influence (but we'll leave that till another day). These are your standard purveyors of the "Think of the children" school of thought. Of course the thinking seems to come to a halt when you ask them for an actual plan. The thing that they're preaching right now is that all of these disenfranchised youth are turning to gun crime due to the fact that they are poor and have no jobs. The solution proposed is for - wait for it - more funding to community programs to build the esteem of the kids and give them job training. Hmmm....Let's see here. Do you really think that all of these kids that are skipping school to go out and pop someone in the head, are going to go to after school programs at the local community center to "build their esteem and get job skills".
These kids don't give a rats ass about the fact that they're poor. They do it in part because they have it in their heads that this lifestyle is cool and it'll get them the girls, and the fact that there is no punishment when they actually do something that they're not supposed to. The only real way to stop this is to actually get someone to smack them on the head and pound some reality into them. I would think it would be the parents, but apparently telling your kid that they've done something wrong can land you as a parent in jail.
I'll end the rant now, because I could get into a whole lot of other stuff, with one last thing. You can put up as many social programs and gun restrictions as you want, but until you start to look at the real issue this will continue to happen. Any society with no fear of authority falls apart.
posted by Dirk at 9:31 AM
1 comments
