The City of Brotherly Love is not feeling very lovely lately. Gun violence is at an all-time high, and children are becoming afraid to leave their homes. Last year 406 people were murdered in our fair city, more than in most countries. But it's not just Philadelphia. Violence has been spiking nationwide. Many people believe this is due to the ease with which people are able to aquire guns, but I have a feeling this is actually speaking to the overal emotions of the country.
People are angry and armed. They have few prospects. Poor people already feel like they have been abandoned. Look what happened with Hurricane Katrina. A lot of the youth in the inner cities feel that the only way they can get a job is to go into the military. Of those that do, they don't leave their gang affiliations behind. The military has openly stated that they don't have an issue with gang members joining the military. So when these kids get out, they are now trained soldiers. Former military personelle with gang affiliations have been known to set up ambushes for rival gangs and police officers.
In sort-of unrelated news: Master P has started his own lable with a 100% clean policy. He will not sign artists who say "nigger", degrade women, or talk about sex, drugs, or violence in their music. An artist who is not so pure: when opening for a Gwen Stefani concert in Trinidad, Akon (a Sengalese "artist") called a 15 year-old girl on stage, held her down, spead her legs, and simulated sex.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
There really needs to be a genuine effort to remove guns from the people's hands in the US.
As for Akon, my problem with him is not the fake sex act (which he apologised for) but how rubbish his music is.
I agree, but therealso needs to be a significant effort to remove the reasons for the violence in the first place. Besides that, we now live in a country in which we cannot trust the government. People in that situation feel they need guns.
Akon did apologize, but the fact that it's happening at all is incredibly degrading to women. No wonder females in the military are being raped. take a look at the kind of shit they're listening to and the kind of life they're idolizing.
While I also support gun control, I agree the the causes for increased violence go deeper then just the availability of guns. In the Iliad, Homer said, "We are the stories we tell ourselves." Cultures traditionally define their values and their behavior through their stories. Today's stories come to us through them media, which of the depict heroic figures overcoming insurmountable odds through violence. Beyond that, there is plenty of historical precedent for spikes in violent crime at times when opportunities for common people were nil.
I'd blame the lawlessness of the current administration as much as I'd blame the availablity of handguns. After all, guns have always been avialable, but the president sets the tone for the nation.
Ah, for the good old days when the tone was "oral sex" rather than "what I say goes".
Tomcat,
I look at our culture and I see violence everywhere. I love that quote. I hink that fits in so many ways right now it's hard to describe, but we have been telling violent stories for years. Of course, it could be argued that Shakespeare was violent, but not all plays were and people weren't innundated with entertainment the way we are now. Every moment of our lives HAS to be entertaining and we have no idea how to entertain ourselves. The violence is in music, video games, movies, TV, etc... I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe in ENFORCED age limits. I heard a 4 year old talking about a shockingly violent movie the other day like it was nothing. As a teacher, I should be able to call the police and have his parents fined for neglect. It is psychologically damaging to children that young. The other side is that it's impossible to regulate and no one wants a totalitarian government.
Seriously? No one's focusing on the military training gang members to lead raids and ambushes?
United, I agree that violent entertainmanr has been with us for a long time. The difference is a matter of saturation and the comparative absense of the presentation of non violent solutions.
Tomcat,
I agree.
"No one's focusing on the military training gang members to lead raids and ambushes?"
Seeing that the US runs the SOA & trained & funded OBL & his gang this comes as no suprise to me. At the next disaster we won't see armed gangs running around we will see the armed gangs... marching
And this is why, no matter how much I dislike guns, I feel it is necessary to have one to protect my home, and that everyone in my household should know how to shoot at the appropriate age. Our government is working against us, especially in the security department.
Post a Comment