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Hi Jimbo,
Your points are very well taken, and at least paint a picture of the very worst in this country. Your stats are good, I would point out again, that yes you can go to the very worst neighborhoods and get a stat equal to a war torn country's overall rate. Iraq has some safe, and some very unsafe areas as compared to a gang infested neighborhood. As a society it should be a goal to have no areas left like this, but you have to eventually conceed that these situations are so small that statistically they aren't significant, and perpetuate an exageration when these small hot spots are held up as the example of what a typical poor neighborhood in America is like.
"Here's what's really going on behind closed doors in affluent America"
Fair enough, not everyone lives in such dangerous neighborhoods, but the poor in America live lives that are vastly more dangerous than the poor in any other 1st world country. Sure, it is better than Tijuana, but that is hardly something to aspire to.
The poor in America generally are fed, generally are housed and live in less violent regions that most of the world's poor and this is something to recognize. But compared to other developed nations, we are doing badly, that is my point.
Cable TV and cell phones are the new drugs of choice, Bap; the new addition to the cigarette and beer stable. If people knew how to prioritize their money (and stifle addictions), things would be different.
Harm,
I live in Bucarmanga, in the state of Santander. Been pretty much all over the country...not the jungles or southern half however. Lots of time in Bogota. I have been there 1 1/2 years. My Colombian husband and I bring US & European paragliding tourists there to fly and see the country. Actually, at this moment, I am back in California for about a month, to visit family and do some business.
He who makes the laws? He who has the most money to buy the courts?
:shrug:
Or are we talking about ultimate laws of theology and such, because any time these things are left to people, they will be botched.
Not unnoticed, nor ungrieved, Sid. It's one of the biggest mistakes in US history.
There is also the notion that our economy has progressed to the point where wealth disparity is unlikely to lead to the kinds of social/political unrest it has in the past (French, Russian Revolutions, etc.), because for the most part, citizens' basic physical needs are still being met. A.k.a., the "bread and circuses" argument
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Some of the regulars here (myself included) view this as an alarming trend, with some disturbing implications, such as:
Some of our Patrick.net regulars appear to think this may be a symptom of an inevitable mega-trend that no amount of social engineering or tax redistribution can stop. Some even consider the emergence of a large, prosperous middle class as a historical aberration, that we are now in the process of "correcting". Peter P has often commented that, "no matter how you redistribute wealth, it always ends up in the same hands". And there may be validity to this view: consider the spectacular rise and fall of Communism in the Twentieth Century. There is also the notion that our economy has progressed to the point where wealth disparity is unlikely to lead to the kinds of social/political unrest it has in the past (French, Russian Revolutions, etc.), because for the most part, citizens' basic physical needs are still being met. A.k.a., the "bread and circuses" argument (see Maslow's hierarchy of needs).
The big questions for me are:
1) Is the decline of the middle class and bifurcation of the U.S. economy an inevitable result of macro-economic and historical forces beyond our ability to influence (such as global wage arbitrage and the transition from being an industrial power to a primarily service-based economy)?
2) Is it theoretically possible to reverse this trend through social/economic policies, and if so, how? Is Different Sean-style socialism the only way? (see "How does one regulate 'well'?")
3) If such reforms are theoretically possible, are they practically feasible? (i.e., is it realistic to assume political opposition from entrenched special interests can ever be overcome?)
Discuss, enjoy...
HARM