The crime subculture culture you describe is a variation of the Victim culture we see emerging in liberal / academia/ PC culture. The difference being the crime subculture is going directly from the Honor culture to the victim culture, or a hybrid of the two, skipping over the dignity culture which forms the backbone on modern western mainstream culture.
@Cody - the people you describe are, as AMC states, members of “A” community but not members of “the” community. Rather, they are members of a ghetto /criminal subculture which is, thankfully, is not yet the mainstream. In fact the whole reason law enforcement exists it to prevent “The” mainstream culture from degrading into the Ghetto / Criminal subculture culture. Literally a thin blue line. This isn’t a racial thing either, trailer park tweekers are as much a part of the criminal subculture as inner city Baltimore.
There are good people stuck in the the ghetto criminal subculture, however, my experience has been the truly good people are all either trying to leave that subculture for mainstream culture or trying to reform that subculture. Reform is hard and some of the latter will tire of lack of progress and leave for main stream culture.
Thanks for the great reply. I agree with you about the focus on social justice than criminal justice...it's wrong. I agree using policy and legislation to try and change the law on use of force is doomed to failure. I don't subscribe to the view that criminals should not be held accountable or punished less. But I do think that enforcement actions need to track with social and cultural changes in order to give time for change to occur. In other words, the root causes of the toxic environment need to be the priority. When the good people in these communities don't trust the police and prosecutors to help, then change won't occur. From what I see that is where we are: anti-snitch is everywhere, even among the "good residents", no one wants to turn in any friend or family that is acting criminally, and their is a "us" versus "them" attitude. Now add in the social justice crowd, who I find nothing more than opportunists, and some event that triggers community anger and we get Ferguson, Baltimore, Memphis, Dallas, etc. Things are not better. And quite honestly the community leadership simply isn't there either. What are we (society) going to do about that?
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
"Enforcement actions need to track with social and cultural changes in order to give time for change to occur." Im not sure exactly what this means, or what that would entail in practice. I'd need specifics to comment because I don't know what you mean by this statement.
"In other words, the root causes of the toxic environment need to be the priority." Okay, well, in a broad sociological context I agree with you....but it has nothing to do with law enforcement at all, much less LE use of force policy. Fatherless homes, intergenerational welfare addiction, lack of meaning and direction in young lives, a culture which flat out rejects education......all very real problems which need addressing, and all of which have nothing to do with LE, except for the fact that we have to deal with the criminal behavior which is an outgrowth of those pathologies. Look.....it's not as if we in LE who have been dealing with this stuff for decades are unaware of these issues. We are not the uncaring knuckledraggers the progressive media portray us as. You aren't bringing up anything we don't already know. Frankly probably better than the rest of society.
As for what we an do? How about holding people accountable to the law? As individuals. Because if you don't.....then you have already given up on the idea of the law anyway.
Holding people accountable to the law isn't changing behavior in those neighborhoods, which is one of the goals of law enforcement. Instead it helps to perpetuate the toxic environment and the anti-snitching. While I agree we need to hold people accountable, without cultural change in those communities, it will just continue, and will get worse, as we are now seeing. And, we need to be honest here, with the help of a sympathetic media they are winning the PR campaign that make cops look like the problem. Something needs to change. I don't have the answers but what we are doing now is not working out.
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state;
Protecting the innocent by putting away the guilty is still a worthy goal. During the social debate, IMO, the priority should remain on protecting the victims of crime.
Last edited by LSP552; 04-09-2018 at 04:54 AM.
While I agree that Law Enforcement and punishment are not the root ingredients for a functional free society, and alone cannot ensure or secure one, the disconnect here might lie in the mistaken belief that we are actually "holding people accountable to criminal behavior". I can assure you, that ain't happening.
Sorry. Change is not on the menu and never will be.
Thanks for playing!
Alright longer answer: the police answer to the elected ,appointed and “elected” officials. Use your imagination on what the “ “ means. Many politicians are well aware of who is engaging on criminal activity in their neighborhoods. In some cities those people are the political campaign bankrollers. Well, crooked city officials can’t let too many criminals go to jail or their own pocket gets hurt,and even the legit politicians don’t want to be on the wrong side of a CNN opinion poll.
Thus letting cops lock up bad guys is bad for PR,and is bad for paid off local politicos and their associates. Bonus for the latter,when the community goes to pot from all the violence a ready scapegoat exists in the form of the same police department. Since the police are sworn personnel who answer to a leader that is appointed by the same people who profit from the violence , blaming them is an easy and effective way to dodge the Real Problems.
Instead of black Americans asking their politicians why so many people of color are born into economic slavery in the drug game,and why so many black politicians are indicted and investigated for corruption,instead the questions are why so many cops are “shooting black people”. Blaming the white dude in the squad car keeps a lid on the real problems in the black community,and thus prevents any practical means to solve them.
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.