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Community Corner

4th of July Shoot-em-Ups

Chicago:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/07/chicago-shootings-july-4-weekend_n_5562445.html

I can't seem to find Milwaukee's numbers at this point.  No doubt they'll pale by comparison.  Perhaps Mayor Barrett can take some comfort in that notion.

Just to recap the Chicago numbers:  60+ shootings, 9 dead.  And that's an improvement over last year's toll of 60 shootings with 12 dead.  Maybe this year's gang bangers aren't the marksmen of the past.

Naturally, this brings out a cry for more gun control.  Stricter gun laws - not outright banning but making them a little harder to obtain legally and, perhaps, stricter regulation of their use.   Something I don't personally have a problem with, as I'm not a gun owner.  

But I also don't for a moment believe that it would have any noticeable impact on the kinds of shootings and homicides the article above is addressing.  And since it's not PC to address the real root cause in a city like Chicago, we're probably going to have to continue to rely on declining marksmanship and, possibly, a near oppressive police presence (if possible).  All to put but the smallest bandaid on the gapping wound that is a culture which celebrates ascension by lethal brute force, misogyny of the most extreme kind, materialistic displays of ill gotten booty (the other kind of booty), hatred of authority and rampant substance abuse.  And if you doubt it's celebrated and aspired to, I invite you to spend some time viewing any of a number of hip-hip and "urban" videos readily available on YouTube.

We can't afford to be PC forever.  We have to start acknowledging that the solution to the problem, for the most part, is one that can't be provided by those outside the community, via gun laws or by dumping more and more money into feel-good programs that do almost nothing and target those least apt to be the most egregious offenders.  The impetus must come from within in order to avoid the head-cracking sort of "solution" that comes from without.  

It's not about "jobs".  The shootings are either done by people who have no interest in a regular job or who may, very well, have a job but are involved in the violent culture of their neighborhood when not working.  How many times have we seen well-paid, successful athletes or recording artists get caught up in it when back on their home turf? 

It's not about "education".  The opportunities for education exist in all these communities, hampered only by the kinds of behavior the culture brings with it to the schools.  Which hurts not only those involved in it, but those attempting to get away from it any way they can.

It's about right and wrong - something many consider too simplistic or corny.  We're at least 3 generations deep into a cultural decline in most communities like the ones where these crimes occurred.   The concepts of what's right and what's wrong have been lost on a significant portion of the community's members through attrition.  The ability of those within those communities who still understand the concepts (and who, in truth, most likely vastly outnumber those who create the problems) to speak to them is, unfortunately, drowned out by the cacophony of a destructive popular culture which, again, is celebrated and rewarded - and idolized by those devoid of any alternative, positive influence.

Until that changes, we can look forward to continued reports of a similar nature virtually every holiday period for which such numbers are tallied, replete with fluctuating fatality figures some can cling to as hopeful when down from the previous year or rue when they exceed the same.   And, of course, keep blaming the guns.

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