Go to Sipsey St. and look there. I especially like Denningers' take on LaRaza and the illegal immigrants/invaders. I am so fed up I'm going to do nothing and wait around some more, because it isn't TIME yet. Am I pro-active or what?
The Justice Department estimates there are at least one million gang members - active gang members - in America. These people, mostly young males, have nearly all drawn or fired weapons in anger. They are responsible for more than three quarters of all crime in this country, and some eight out of ten violent crimes. Those gang members have families - younger males who are "coming up", "friends" (if you can call a murderous thug a friend) and others. Between all of those "loosely attached" folks and the hard-core inner circle itself we probably have somewhere between 5 and 10 million people in this nation who, given the wrong sort of provocation, might decide that "Zombieland" wasn't just a movie.
Has he ever met a "gang member"? I work with and around ex-"gang members" all the time. The term is more loosely applied by our criminal justice system than the term "Terrorist". Poverty causes people to resort to crime. The sub-culture is developed and defined by glamorization of drug use, and anti-authoritarian ideas. Selling drugs is a dangerous game, so they arm themselves. The stereotypical black or Latino "gang" is nothing more than a couple dozen kids who grew up on the same block and cannot find work outside of dealing drugs. They boil down to being an overly protective version of a militia. The vast majority of them are harmless as long as you do not interfere with their revenue, and leave their community alone. Moreover, "gang members" are anti-authoritarian with roots in libertarian-leaning ideologies of "self protection". Gang members would be a stronger ally in a time of crisis than the average American urbanite.
Not all "Gang members" are criminals, and most criminals are not in "gangs" (drug possession aside). When you look at the term "gang" it's been redefined through the Drug War multiple times and is now almost exclusively used within an ethnic context. In my opinion (and I could demonstrate this with facts and figures) a major part of the Drug War is the justification of racial policing practices - so it should not be surprising when the word "gang" triggers (or presupposes) ethnic stereotypes that are entirely fictions. If one begins to question the validity of the War on Drugs, then you must also question the entire history of Law Enforcement and it's manipulation of criminal justice data in order to justify their own policies. Quintessentially, the “Only Ones” capable of manipulating their data to justify their policies. “Gangs” are responsible for “over 75% of the crimes” when you’re able to manipulate what a “crime” is – obviously “gangs” are not responsible for 75% of the injustices or wrong-doings.
I couldn't finish this article - it's a long rant - but his points about the War On Drugs are dead on. It's now clear the incident of school spying is just another direct result of the Drug War. It must be made clear that the Drug War is just a tool to erode civil liberties, and is causing a massive increase in crime. I preach it to the public all the time, most gun-owning libertarians in my state laugh me off as a "stoner".
link's broken!
ReplyDeleteGo to Sipsey St. and look there. I especially like Denningers' take on LaRaza and the illegal immigrants/invaders. I am so fed up I'm going to do nothing and wait around some more, because it isn't TIME yet. Am I pro-active or what?
ReplyDeleteAnd another one... Katrina still rearing its ugly head
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/police_investigator_encouraged.html
The Justice Department estimates there are at least one million gang members - active gang members - in America. These people, mostly young males, have nearly all drawn or fired weapons in anger. They are responsible for more than three quarters of all crime in this country, and some eight out of ten violent crimes. Those gang members have families - younger males who are "coming up", "friends" (if you can call a murderous thug a friend) and others. Between all of those "loosely attached" folks and the hard-core inner circle itself we probably have somewhere between 5 and 10 million people in this nation who, given the wrong sort of provocation, might decide that "Zombieland" wasn't just a movie.
ReplyDeleteHas he ever met a "gang member"? I work with and around ex-"gang members" all the time. The term is more loosely applied by our criminal justice system than the term "Terrorist". Poverty causes people to resort to crime. The sub-culture is developed and defined by glamorization of drug use, and anti-authoritarian ideas. Selling drugs is a dangerous game, so they arm themselves. The stereotypical black or Latino "gang" is nothing more than a couple dozen kids who grew up on the same block and cannot find work outside of dealing drugs. They boil down to being an overly protective version of a militia. The vast majority of them are harmless as long as you do not interfere with their revenue, and leave their community alone. Moreover, "gang members" are anti-authoritarian with roots in libertarian-leaning ideologies of "self protection". Gang members would be a stronger ally in a time of crisis than the average American urbanite.
Not all "Gang members" are criminals, and most criminals are not in "gangs" (drug possession aside). When you look at the term "gang" it's been redefined through the Drug War multiple times and is now almost exclusively used within an ethnic context. In my opinion (and I could demonstrate this with facts and figures) a major part of the Drug War is the justification of racial policing practices - so it should not be surprising when the word "gang" triggers (or presupposes) ethnic stereotypes that are entirely fictions. If one begins to question the validity of the War on Drugs, then you must also question the entire history of Law Enforcement and it's manipulation of criminal justice data in order to justify their own policies. Quintessentially, the “Only Ones” capable of manipulating their data to justify their policies. “Gangs” are responsible for “over 75% of the crimes” when you’re able to manipulate what a “crime” is – obviously “gangs” are not responsible for 75% of the injustices or wrong-doings.
I couldn't finish this article - it's a long rant - but his points about the War On Drugs are dead on. It's now clear the incident of school spying is just another direct result of the Drug War. It must be made clear that the Drug War is just a tool to erode civil liberties, and is causing a massive increase in crime. I preach it to the public all the time, most gun-owning libertarians in my state laugh me off as a "stoner".