Not Political: What Is Going On In Chicago?

Unfortunately, racism cannot be left out because it is the primary cause. Systemic racism leads to systemic poverty, which leads to systemic violence in communities.

The teacher's union there seems to strike once every other year. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to someone who "keeps up with the Chicagoist."

There is definitely poor leadership in Chicago. The cronyism is rampant. It's run like the mob behind closed doors - no matter who is the official in charge. Too many people out of the spotlight control the decisions. It's like what's going on at the federal level, but people are dying in Chicago.

arandomwalk wrote:

Unfortunately, racism cannot be left out because it is the primary cause. Systemic racism leads to systemic poverty, which leads to systemic violence in communities.

Race is the primary cause, but you're wrong to blame whitey. Poor blacks and Hispanics are more violent than poor whites.

arandomwalk wrote:

Unfortunately, racism cannot be left out because it is the primary cause. Systemic racism leads to systemic poverty, which leads to systemic violence in communities.

Nope. Their are no whites there. There are no Republicans there. They are creating their own Hell on earth, bankrolled by us.

If you pay people to avoid work and have kids out of wedlock, and teach them that all their troubles are caused by someone else and that they have no chance to get ahead in life because of racism, then you get Chicago. The same thing is happening to the rest of the country, just at a slower pace.

This is the result of liberal social engineering policies. The proverbial path to Hell paved with good intentions.

Can't avoid politics, ever.

Red Pill Giver wrote:

arandomwalk wrote:

Unfortunately, racism cannot be left out because it is the primary cause. Systemic racism leads to systemic poverty, which leads to systemic violence in communities.

Race is the primary cause, but you're wrong to blame whitey. Poor blacks and Hispanics are more violent than poor whites.

But why are they?.....

Their strict gun laws should prevent any violence from happening. The only explanation I could come up with is to blame it on Climate Change caused by rich white religious people.

You can't leave politics out of it.

Pick a topic and unpack it. Someone above mentioned school strikes....who is in charge of the city? Who favors teachers over students? Who favors school choice?

Violence...who is in charge of the city? Who denigrates police? Who supports police? Who believes the hands up don't shoot myth? Who believes in the 2nd amendment?

Lived there for a few years wrote:

The teacher's union there seems to strike once every other year. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to someone who "keeps up with the Chicagoist."

Not sure why you needed to attack me. It is not a surprise at all, Karen Lewis is a nightmare. I am just referring to the most recent strike that appears to be looming at a very inopportune time. Not to mention that it is about pensions, something that is completely obsolete in pretty much every other line of work. But now you're drawing me into city politics. I am just worried about the city.

Somewhat off topic, but the city has 2.7 million people and covers 234 square miles. Please stop acting like the whole damn place is a war zone.

What is happening is that corporations are leaving the city in droves. The exchanges are on their way out the door as we speak. They will be offshore or in Upstate NYC before too long. The politicians in Chicago are bloodthirsty savages that have it out for corporations and banks. They think they can just keep tapping them for extra $$ and they'll stay in the city. Nope. Chicago is going to be worse than Detroit because once the Financial District is gone it ain't coming back. Successful people will follow the companies, money will dry up and there will be no one to pay the bills. It is already happening. It is a forgone conclusion. I am not sure how you blame the companies for this. If someone keeps kicking you in the balls every day, eventually you're going to stop coming back for more. Fool me once...

Oppressive White Guys wrote:

Red Pill Giver wrote:

Race is the primary cause, but you're wrong to blame whitey. Poor blacks and Hispanics are more violent than poor whites.

But why are they?.....

"Oppressive white guys" did not create a culture of violence among black Americans. Corruption and violence are the norm in the Caribbean and Africa as well. We will never get anywhere if we continue blaming whitey for everything.

FitzyXC wrote:

Somewhat off topic, but the city has 2.7 million people and covers 234 square miles. Please stop acting like the whole damn place is a war zone.

Okay. I'll stop worrying about what's happening across town from you. Just keep ignoring it and maybe it will go away.

????

Are we not allowed to talk about this? Violence is out of control. Regardless of who is to blame, we need to fix it. I want to move back there eventually.

FitzyXC wrote:

Somewhat off topic, but the city has 2.7 million people and covers 234 square miles. Please stop acting like the whole damn place is a war zone.

You're right, the Asian, Polish, Irish, Italian etc neighborhoods are safe...

FWIW, I was hoping this could be the one thread that wasn't spiteful and racist. One on which we could discuss some possible solutions. There are 50 other Chicago threads full of racist posts, so let's leave this one to the adults.

Apparently everyone has conveniently forgotten just how bad Chi was 25 years ago.

http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/uploader/image/2013/06/19/chicagomurderchart.jpg

Windy City Love wrote:

Lived there for a few years wrote:

The teacher's union there seems to strike once every other year. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to someone who "keeps up with the Chicagoist."

Not sure why you needed to attack me. It is not a surprise at all, Karen Lewis is a nightmare. I am just referring to the most recent strike that appears to be looming at a very inopportune time. Not to mention that it is about pensions, something that is completely obsolete in pretty much every other line of work. But now you're drawing me into city politics. I am just worried about the city.

I feel sorry for people who think we can solve problems without getting "political". I know a whole bunch of them personally. You guys want to get involved without being called names or getting attacked. I understand. You're a nice reasonable person and you don't want to wallow in the political mud pit like all those haters you hear about. But what you don't understand is that the problem is political in nature, and the nature of politics is to demonize your opponent to the point where no one will want to defend them, politically marginalizing them so you get your way by default without having to win any arguments.

I know. I tried to fix these kinds of problems with good ideas while being a nice guy, and I got my ass handed to me by the political pros. It wasn't very pleasant. We are dealing with very bad people. Nice guys don't finish last. They're not even in the race!

To fix these problems someone is going to have to demonize the people causing the problems, specifically teacher's unions and race hustlers like Reverend Wright. It will be uncomfortable and ugly. No way around it.

That's life. Your candy coated world doesn't exist. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

Oh! And welcome to the good fight.

Global warming - more warm weather, more time for criminals to be outside killing people.

Great question: Chicago is an old gang town; like L.A., but a lot older. The black and Latino gangs that are causing all the havoc now formed in the 50s and 60s in an attempt to take the drug markets from the Irish, Italian and Jewish mafias of the first half of the 20th century (primarily born of Prohibition). Those European immigrant groups eventually assimilated into the American mainstream; however, Chicago's history of red-lining and housing project construction has sequestered black and Latino poverty in unique ways.

Anyway, the big problem is the entrenched, multi-generational cartel-type street gangs.

Windy City Love wrote:

FWIW, I was hoping this could be the one thread that wasn't spiteful and racist. One on which we could discuss some possible solutions. There are 50 other Chicago threads full of racist posts, so let's leave this one to the adults.

Adults confront racial and political realities. Children shield themselves from discussing these things.