dmuja Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 (edited) I don't usually watch "the news" but this week has been an exception for various reasons. I know it may be a very large and complex problem but, seriously, whats wrong with our society? 2 bright and gentle people are shot dead 3 miles down a trail. A family is destroyed in Kirkland including 2 children. A 12 year old is almost snatched out of her bed on Vashon Island of all places, the perverted fuckhead is still at large. I feel like I just want mandatory execution of assaultive felons, period! One strike and your "offed" kinda thing. I don't think this is the best solution though, its just how I feel - sick, sad and pissed. How do you feel? What do you *think* will actually help create a better, less violent society? Edited July 20, 2006 by dmuja Quote
TrogdortheBurninator Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 compared to the folks in lebanon, we aren't doing too bad Quote
dmuja Posted July 20, 2006 Author Posted July 20, 2006 But what can we do? I mean do we just decide that "thats the way thing are?" I mean, arnt there examples of societies that are much less violent and ideologically twisted, and if so, shouldn't we be trying to foster and promote such cultural values? Quote
roboboy Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I think the answer is to get out of the city. Move some place like...Index. Quote
dmuja Posted July 20, 2006 Author Posted July 20, 2006 Im tempted to move, but that would be just hiding from the problem. Besides Index is filled with meth-head hillbilly's like the rest of those backwater northwest towns isn't it? Quote
mattp Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Last time I checked, criminolgists were virtually unanimous in saying that the crime statistics showed assaults in general and abductions of children were in fact no more common now than they have ever been, but they are treated differently in the news and our reaction to these events has changed. Whether it is sensationalism in the media or fear mongering for a political agenda or maybe some other factor, we believe that the we are in more danger now than ever before from attack by miscreants in our society. For sure, we live in a sick society and the problems of random violence are real, but it may not be the crime wave that you perceive. With a greater percentage of our population in jail than ever before, one thing that seems not to have helped is "sentence reform." Quote
foraker Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I remember reading once that most child abuductions occurred within families (e.g. someone disagreeing with custody decisions, etc). If people didn't start marrying and breeding right out of high school, maybe we'd see less of that. Quote
olyclimber Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Ya, but what if "The One" gets away and you live the rest your life as a bitter harpy??? Quote
JayB Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Last time I checked, criminolgists were virtually unanimous in saying that the crime statistics showed assaults in general and abductions of children were in fact no more common now than they have ever been, but they are treated differently in the news and our reaction to these events has changed. Whether it is sensationalism in the media or fear mongering for a political agenda or maybe some other factor, we believe that the we are in more danger now than ever before from attack by miscreants in our society. For sure, we live in a sick society and the problems of random violence are real, but it may not be the crime wave that you perceive. With a greater percentage of our population in jail than ever before, one thing that seems not to have helped is "sentence reform." I'd go one step further and toss out the conjecture that the US has become progressively safer, both in terms of the probability of surviving accidents and disease, and in terms of being attacked by another person. The major exception to this rule is people who are engaged in the drug trade in some fashion or another. I think that we have it pretty easy compared to just about everyone else in the world, or in history, and that's doubly true for just about everyone living in or around Seattle. Quote
JayB Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 "Violent crime rates declined since 1994, reaching the lowest level ever recorded in 2004." The recorded occurence of pretty much every sort of violent crime has been decreasing, even as the total percantage of crimes committed reported to the police has been increasing. Hard to argue that things are getting worse. Quote
cj001f Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I think that we have it pretty easy compared to just about everyone else in the world, or in history, and that's doubly true for just about everyone living in or around Seattle. Not sure if you can support 'just about everyone else in the world' except to fulfill your panglossian predilection. Eighth highest in the world (per capita) by one estimate Quote
JayB Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Interesting stats. Are total reported crimes really a proxy for safety, or a better indicator of a society capable of maintaining records, with a relatively capable policeforce, and a society which has some faith in the said police force and feels like reporting something to the police is not a complete waste of time? Might be worth taking another look at these rankings and imagining yourself strolling around the streets with a 3/4" gold chain around your neck. Do you really think that you'd be safer strolling around the average neighborhood in Jamaica than in Denmark? That there's really 15.5 times as much crime per capita in Canada than in Columbia? The US is definitely not the safest place in the world, but the overwhelming majority of the country is very safe, and even in the rest of the country the odds are good that if you neither join a street gain nor deal drugs your odds of getting murdered are actually quite low, and if you do get murdered it'll probably be at the hands of someone in your family rather than by a stranger. The safest places in the world are probably prosperous, mono-ethnic nation states like Norway or Japan, but even though we'll probably never see anything like that kind of tranquility here, I hardly think that the average US citizen needs to be living in fear either. Quote
JayB Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 BTW - did you even look at the countries on the list before posting? New Zealand, Finland, and Denmark have interesting rankings relative to, say, Zimbabwe. Quote
cj001f Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 The US is definitely not the safest place in the world That was my point - we are decidly not near the bottom, but hardly the cream. No reason to live in fear unless you like the media pulling your strings. It's a composite ranking and hardly perfect methodology - if you'll notice Zimbabwe is very high in violent crime but low in car thefts Murders per capita may be a better statistic: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita Quote
foraker Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 I hardly think that the average US citizen needs to be living in fear either Maybe you could send a note to all the mom's and dad's out there and let their kids walk to school and generally screw around outside getting some exercise instead of managing their time with 'activities'. That and maybe let them ride the bus to school or ride their bikes. I've had my fill of almost getting t-boned by hurried parents who feel they ALL have to drive little Bratleigh and Snotleigh to school. Quote
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