581 people have been shot and killed by police so far in 2017

[John6185]

I remember a job a guy in the military told me once and I don't direct this to anyone but it is humorous.
I seems a country boy named Joe was plowing his field with a mule one day and a big nice Cadillac drove up and a guy got out and yelled to Joe, "Hey Joe, do you remember me?" Joe stopped plowing and came over near the fence and said, "Jim, is that you?" Yes, I'm Jim your old friend." Joe said, "Jim, where you been at?" and Jim replied, I've been to Sanford, and received a bachelors degree then I went to Harvard and received a degree of law and english, and by the way, don't you know to never end a sentence with a predicate adjective? To this Joe replied, "I'm sorry Jim, I'll start over-where you been at A**hole?"

 

[SMS]

I remember why I quit using this forum. That amount of dumbasses on here with their keyboard warrior tactics is unreal. Go put on a gun and a badge and quit spouting off like you know the first thing about being in law enforcement.

Dumbasses is right. Pick up the topic of the thread....it ain't about bad cops and bad shoots, at least not my line of posting.

We're talking about, or some of us are, why the level of violence is so high in this country compared to others. What's contributing to it? What are the causes and possible solutions?

Care to offer some thoughts or you just gonna beat your chest?

 

[gerhard1]

This thread reminds me of conversations I have had with Blacks many years ago in Seattle. I was working for Boeing at the time, and I got along well with the Black people with whom I worked. Yet they would, almost without exception, come unglued when a cop shot a Black. One time, a group of Black females was talking about the latest police shooting and this one was claimed as an accident. I asked why they thought it wasn't and the reason was the one shot went through the guy's heart, so it couldn't have been. I was also informed by this same group that ALL police shootings of Blacks were racially-motivated. Even where the guy is shooting at the cops? Yes; even then. The cops 1) were lying about the Black person having a gun, or 2) assuming they were not lying, they could have shot the gun out of his hand.

It wasn't until I came to Wichita, that I met a Black guy who was wiling to talk about this seeming disconnect. When I retired from Boeing, I decided to try my hand at being a PI. I obtained my license, including my gun-permit before I left Boeing and this Black guy who was a PI as well, came up to me and talked to me about a gang shooting of a young girl. Why, he asked me, was the Black community not demonstrating about this when they would be so angry about the most justified police shooting of an armed Black thug? I was surprised that he would talk that way to a White person, but he had to be very frustrated to do this.

Black-on-Black violence, not a mythical 'occupying army of racist police' is rippiing the community apart, and some refuse to face this. Instead, they focus on police brutality (which, I concede does exist) or availabilty of guns or White racism, or any of numeroous other factors in an effort to avoid the real issue.

What is the real issue? First, let me tell you what it is not. Racial loudmouths such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and especially the media, seem to place blame everywhere but where it belongs: on the thugs doing the violence. They are victims, we are told, of a racist system that does not want them to succeed. Easy availability of guns gets blamed. Or an inadequate education system, or a depressed job market, or a racist criminal justice system that somehow seems to profit from Black men in prison.

There is something missing from the equation and that is the real issue: moral or personal responsibility. That is the essence of political correctness. The denial of moral responsibility for one's actions. When you don't encourage folks to take responsibility for their actions, you encourage irresponsible behavior. By denying moral resonsibility, you deny their complete humanity. Thus political correctness is a form of racism, and because it is well-intended, getting rid of it is nearly as impossible as Shylock's bargain.

Until this stops, the situation will not improve.

Dumbasses is right. Pick up the topic of the thread....it ain't about bad cops and bad shoots, at least not my line of posting.

We're talking about, or some of us are, why the level of violence is so high in this country compared to others. What's contributing to it? What are the causes and possible solutions?

Care to offer some thoughts or you just gonna beat your chest?

The best beginning would the simplest and, at the same time, the hardest. Certaiin groups need to stop thinking of themselves as victims. This 'victim' mentality is at the root of it, I think.

 

[Chuckie]

The best beginning would the simplest and, at the same time, the hardest. Certaiin groups need to stop thinking of themselves as victims. This 'victim' mentality is at the root of it, I think.

I strongly feel that 'certain groups' would benefit greatly if they simply stopped believing that they do not have to follow the same rules that most others do follow - like adhering to the rule of law and complying with lawful orders, then screaming 'victim' when it comes down hard on them. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for those that purposely put themselves in deep ****, then cry about it.

 

[caojyn]

I just don't have a lot of sympathy for those that purposely put themselves in deep ****, then cry about it.

Agreed
Applies to many and not specific to this conversation

 

[Okiedog]

I strongly feel that 'certain groups' would benefit greatly if they simply stopped believing that they do not have to follow the same rules that most others do follow - like adhering to the rule of law and complying with lawful orders, then screaming 'victim' when it comes down hard on them. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for those that purposely put themselves in deep ****, then cry about it.

Best post yet!

 

[gerhard1]

I strongly feel that 'certain groups' would benefit greatly if they simply stopped believing that they do not have to follow the same rules that most others do follow - like adhering to the rule of law and complying with lawful orders, then screaming 'victim' when it comes down hard on them. I just don't have a lot of sympathy for those that purposely put themselves in deep ****, then cry about it.

Are you waiting for me to agree with you? I do already. The heart, the root of the matter is this notion that certain groups of people are perpetual victims, of racism poor educaltion lack of jobs and myriad other hardships, and therefore, they are not personally responsible for their actions. Until (probably) well-meaning liberals reject this idea of continuous victimization, and start to hold everyone accountable for their actions, this will go on.

Now, this is not to say that racism is not a problem; it is and it most likely always will be. But it is diminishing, and to use the mantra of oppression as an excuse, is nothing more than an epic copout.

 

[Glocktogo]

Are you waiting for me to agree with you? I do already. The heart, the root of the matter is this notion that certain groups of people are perpetual victims, of racism poor educaltion lack of jobs and myriad other hardships, and therefore, they are not personally responsible for their actions. Until (probably) well-meaning liberals reject this idea of continuous victimization, and start to hold everyone accountable for their actions, this will go on.

Now, this is not to say that racism is not a problem; it is and it most likely always will be. But it is diminishing, and to use the mantra of oppression as an excuse, is nothing more than an epic copout.

With actual racism mostly dying off with each passing generation, it's counterproductive to pretend that most white people are responsible for perpetuating racism and the continued plight of aggrieved subcategories of society. Push too hard and you'll actually increase resistance to equality.

 

[gerhard1]

With actual racism mostly dying off with each passing generation, it's counterproductive to pretend that most white people are responsible for perpetuating racism and the continued plight of aggrieved subcategories of society. Push too hard and you'll actually increase resistance to equality.

I'd pretty much agree. There is a caveat, however. I think that most are pretty accepting of people who are 'different', and it is, like you implied, getting better. Take me for example. I am disabled, and there are still those who look upon me as inferior. But as I get older, it is getting better. Realistically, it won't disappear entirely, but it is not as much of a factor as it used to be.

And that is a good thing.

 

[D. Hargrove]

Snip:

With actual racism mostly dying off with each passing generation, it's counterproductive to pretend that most white people are responsible for perpetuating racism and the continued plight of aggrieved subcategories of society.

I believe this is only ONE side of the racism issues that are clogging the Heart and Soul of America today. The black versus white discrimination, the black versus black discrimination, the us versus them discrimination, etc. I want to believe that discrimination is dying off with each generation, I really do. I fear it is simply evolving and gaining notoriety with the press, the trendy folks and with the youngest generation. BLM is a prime example of hate, The Klan is a prime example of hate, the Black Panthers is a prime example of hate, the muslim brotherhood is a prime example of hate, ISIS is a prime example of hate and the list goes on and on. To say the world today feels equality for all is more important than past generations is a leap of faith I simply cannot take right now. I hope and pray they do, but all signs point to racial evolution in my opine...