My new favorite phrase re Baltimore's Crime Problem
"The city has left-winged itself right into its own hell."
A City Paper reader, Maggie Blom, coined the phrase in a letter venting about the lack of police resources in our beloved Baltimore. http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=11386
I love it. It coincides with one of my favorite lines from Batman Begins "Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding." Too often left-wingers are more concerned with criminals and their problems than in providing consequences for their actions and protecting our city from crime. Criminals take advantage of this to further their criminal lifestyle...they thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding.
Baltimore has been ruled by left-wingers for over forty years. Look what has become of the city. It'a mess. There's a lot of good things happening here, but that's despite the left-wingers - not because of it. Competition, investment, and free enterprise are driving extraordinary growth in the areas around the harbor. Things are great in these areas, but many areas of the city are struggling. I believe it's the fault of left-wing policies.
Too often left-wingers are trying to fix other people's problems. They see crime as a result of societal factors and discount punishment. I believe that as a society we have an obligation to provide punishment to those who commit crime. In fact, we do them a disservice when we let them off easy. People need to see the consequences of their actions or they will never learn why their bad behavior is bad. Letting people off easy only encourages that behavior because there has been no serious consequence for their actions.
Now, I will acknowledge that there are many imperfections in how our justice system works and it's evident that there is a racial bias in how our society enforces it's laws. The problem is not that persons of color are punished more severely, however. The problem is that whites are not punished severely enough or targeted enough. Too many people in this town see the solution to countering this bias as letting people of color off easy. That's counter-productive. Much like the welfare system of the 1980s that only provided an incentive for people to stay on welfare and not find work, instead of providing an incentive to get off welfare and find work -- this approach only encourages criminal behavior.
Finally, this is not to say all left-wing positions are bad. What is needed is the push and pull, the balance of a bipartisan system. That has been absent in Baltimore for a long time and its had serious negative affects. A balance between the right and the left is the best. Of course, to achieve this balance in Baltimore, there's going to have to be a LOT of tugging to the right just to get close to the center.
A City Paper reader, Maggie Blom, coined the phrase in a letter venting about the lack of police resources in our beloved Baltimore. http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=11386
I love it. It coincides with one of my favorite lines from Batman Begins "Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding." Too often left-wingers are more concerned with criminals and their problems than in providing consequences for their actions and protecting our city from crime. Criminals take advantage of this to further their criminal lifestyle...they thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding.
Baltimore has been ruled by left-wingers for over forty years. Look what has become of the city. It'a mess. There's a lot of good things happening here, but that's despite the left-wingers - not because of it. Competition, investment, and free enterprise are driving extraordinary growth in the areas around the harbor. Things are great in these areas, but many areas of the city are struggling. I believe it's the fault of left-wing policies.
Too often left-wingers are trying to fix other people's problems. They see crime as a result of societal factors and discount punishment. I believe that as a society we have an obligation to provide punishment to those who commit crime. In fact, we do them a disservice when we let them off easy. People need to see the consequences of their actions or they will never learn why their bad behavior is bad. Letting people off easy only encourages that behavior because there has been no serious consequence for their actions.
Now, I will acknowledge that there are many imperfections in how our justice system works and it's evident that there is a racial bias in how our society enforces it's laws. The problem is not that persons of color are punished more severely, however. The problem is that whites are not punished severely enough or targeted enough. Too many people in this town see the solution to countering this bias as letting people of color off easy. That's counter-productive. Much like the welfare system of the 1980s that only provided an incentive for people to stay on welfare and not find work, instead of providing an incentive to get off welfare and find work -- this approach only encourages criminal behavior.
Finally, this is not to say all left-wing positions are bad. What is needed is the push and pull, the balance of a bipartisan system. That has been absent in Baltimore for a long time and its had serious negative affects. A balance between the right and the left is the best. Of course, to achieve this balance in Baltimore, there's going to have to be a LOT of tugging to the right just to get close to the center.
posted by InsiderOut at 11:04 PM
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