My minivan was broken into last night here in St. Louis. My brother's home outside of Detroit was broken into last week. The woman in charge of taking care of my grandmother had her car broken into last week as well.
US News and World Report ran a story last week about the "boom economy." I thought it was a joke, because the only boom I'm seeing is the one being dropped on us. But nope. It was straight up.
There's been discussion over at Baldilocks about the impact of the Republican Agenda on black folks. I think the bottom line question is simple. How are working class and middle class folks doing now? How many of them are employed? For those with jobs, are they making ends meet? I think we know the answer. And while perhaps the President takes too much credit and gets too much of the blame for economic swings, he can definitely soften the blow through public policy.
So where are we now? The unemployment rate of black men and women are off the charts, creating a rise in what I call edge-type criminal activity (crime committed by non-habitual criminals) and a rise in the market for illegal products, which in turn creates an increase in "regular" crime. Like car breakins.
I wasn't as clear as I could've been. Thanks for pointing this out.
There's the macro and the micro. On the mico-level, I KNOW the people responsible for my car weren't former executive managers. Their job titles most likely begin with the words "Smash and Grab." I'm thinking the same is probably true of the people who jacked my brother, and my grandmother's caretaker.
But on the macro level I'm thinking that the demand for stolen goods increases with a decrease in the economy...which in turn creates demand for smash and grab activities. For those people on the cusp, such activities become much more reasonable (as means of employment) as the economy goes to hell.
And though the type of crime engaged in is correlated with class, this dynamic is class independent. A couple of people I know fairly well back home got caught up in stuff that's going to get them time in minimum security prisons at LEAST. Both of them professionals. But I only hinted at that dynamic in the piece.
I haven't had a chance to read Bush's speech...I was in Berkeley on business when he spoke. So reading the text as I'm replying I'll just note what I thought were good ideas:
*spending money for drug treatment
*spending money for mentors
Even these two programs are problematic...but at least they are steps in the right direction. The other stuff was a combination of bad ideas, and bad FAITH ideas (that is, ideas which are both harmful and CONSCIOUSLY based on confusing the public).
Hi Lester:
Thanks for the link and the thoughtful commentary on my site.
I wonder, however, if those who commit such crimes weren't inclined to do so in the first place. Anecdotal example: a few years back I was in serious financial straits (all better now), but there were things I would have never dreamed of doing to alleviate that state of affairs. And, believe me, there were opportunities.
I agree with you on the the credit/blame ratio attributed to the president. There have been too many factors that contributed to the recession, not the least of which was 9/11.
Question: what do you think of the proposed domestic policies addressed in the SOTU speech? (I haven't looked over this site yet, so if you've already addressed this, I withdraw the question. BTW, I've queried the DOL site in regard to the question you asked me and am waiting for an answer.)
Sorry to hear about the crimes perpetrated on you and yours.
J.
Posted by: Juliette at January 24, 2004 11:44 AM