Taking things from white people

[Anti Federalist]

 

[Anti Federalist]

 

[jmdrake]

Come on, man... That's some bullshit. It's not because it's majority black. It's because of the culture of the black people in that county. Big difference.

Check out these districts:

Rank	Community	% Black	Crime Profile
1	Ladera Heights / View Park–Windsor Hills, CA (“Black Beverly Hills”)	~75%	Very low violent & property crime rates
2	DeSoto, TX	~70%	Very low violent & property crime rates
3	Olympia Fields, IL	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates
4	Wheatley Heights, NY	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates
5	Hillcrest, NY	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates

6	Woodmore, MD	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates
7	Kettering, MD	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates
8	Fort Washington (unincorporated), MD	~80%	Low overall crime; affluent suburb
9	Mitchellville, MD	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates
10	Friendly, MD	70–85%	Low violent & property crime rates

All well below the national average.

You're mistaking economic opportunity for "culture." Take Ladera Heights for example. The average home value there is $2 million. (See: https://homeandtexture.com/the-black-beverly-hills/) Someone living in a $2 million is unlikely to feel the need to shop lift for food. Now well meaning naive people will say "But why do poor people steal TVs and jewelry?" Because you can pawn those. Recently I took a bus trip to go out of state where I was buying a car. A white teen (18) sat next to me and told me much of his life story. He had run away from Detroit. (Technically not a runaway since he was 18 but he's telling the story). He was so broke that at one point he stole a bicycle and at another point he stole a big bag a weed that he sold to buy food. I could smell the alcohol on him but he was wanting to talk about Jesus the whole trip. (He was headed to Florida to join up with a church he met online). I gave him a Bible I had on me. I hope he's okay. My overall point is that he crime was driven by poverty and even the "culture" change of finding the Lord didn't immediately stop that.

 

[jmdrake]

As I have discussed with @jmdrake numerous times, it's all a question of ratios.

Ratios only matter when they fit your racist narrative. Got it. He literally gave you a list of ratios. Anyway both of you missed the point. Crime is driven by poverty. Affluent black neighborhoods have lower crime just like affluent white neighborhoods. And sometime, given enough resources, even poor areas can have dramatic drops in crime. Case in point Tangelo Park Florida.

 

[jmdrake]

Because somebody started bitching about black people not getting enough opioid pain killers. I kid you not.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa2034159

 

[CaptUSA]

You're mistaking economic opportunity for "culture." Take Ladera Heights for example. The average home value there is $2 million. (See: https://homeandtexture.com/the-black-beverly-hills/) Someone living in a $2 million is unlikely to feel the need to shop lift for food. Now well meaning naive people will say "But why do poor people steal TVs and jewelry?" Because you can pawn those. Recently I took a bus trip to go out of state where I was buying a car. A white teen (18) sat next to me and told me much of his life story. He had run away from Detroit. (Technically not a runaway since he was 18 but he's telling the story). He was so broke that at one point he stole a bicycle and at another point he stole a big bag a weed that he sold to buy food. I could smell the alcohol on him but he was wanting to talk about Jesus the whole trip. (He was headed to Florida to join up with a church he met online). I gave him a Bible I had on me. I hope he's okay. My overall point is that he crime was driven by poverty and even the "culture" change of finding the Lord didn't immediately stop that.

You see, I think that "economic opportunity" follows culture.

It's surprising how much economic opportunity there is when people decide to ADD value rather than SUBTRACT value. Cultures that create value through voluntary exchange will always out-perform cultures that destroy value. There are behaviors that contribute to both poverty and crime; and there are behaviors that contribute to prosperity and peace.

It's misleading to look at "economic opportunity" as if it just arose from the ether or from some wealthy benefactor.

By focusing on behaviors instead of skin color it becomes rather obvious.

 

[CaptUSA]

Crime is driven by poverty.

 

[Anti Federalist]

 

[jmdrake]

Ivory tower stupidity at it's finest. But hey, he's a black conservative so he can't be wrong correct? I tell you what. How many actual poor people has Thomas Sowell actually helped in his life? Has he taken in any homeless people? Mentored any at risk youth? I've done all of that. I think I'm a better expert on the effects of poverty than he is. Springfield Ohio didn't become poor because "attitudes and behavior patterns." It didn't become poor because black people moved in. It became poor because factories moved out.

Conservative icon Tucker Carlson at Turning Point USA pointed out that young CONSERVATIVE WHITE PEOPLE can no longer afford to by a home.

 

[jmdrake]

You see, I think that "economic opportunity" follows culture.

Springfield Ohio didn't become a bunch of poor meth addicted white people because of culture. It became a bunch of poor meth addicted white people because the factories closed.

 

[CaptUSA]

How many actual poor people has Thomas Sowell actually helped in his life?

He helped me. When I was a poor kid skipping middle school, I watched him on PBS (one of 2 channels that came in clear enough on the black & white TV). His insights changed the direction of my life. I changed my behaviors because of it. I know I'm not alone.

 

[CaptUSA]

//

 

[jmdrake]

He helped me. When I was a poor kid skipping middle school, I watched him on PBS (one of 2 channels that came in clear enough on the black & white TV). His insights changed the direction of my life. I know I'm not alone.

Good for you. Did you actually have a home with electricity and running water? Were you ever at the point where your best option for a place to live was to break into hotels that were under construction and sleep in different rooms like rats? Did you skip middle school to do construction labor to have something to eat? Unless the answer is "yes" then you haven't experienced the type of poverty I'm talking about.

 

[CaptUSA]

Good for you. Did you actually have a home with electricity and running water? Were you ever at the point where your best option for a place to live was to break into hotels that were under construction and sleep in different rooms like rats? Did you skip middle school to do construction labor to have something to eat? Unless the answer is "yes" then you haven't experienced the type of poverty I'm talking about.

Electricity and running water were intermittent luxuries. My single mother moved a bunch and we stayed at other people's houses for stretches. These places were all rat and insect infested. It always seemed like homelessness was around the corner, but it never really happened entirely. When I was 14, she lost custody of my older brother and I got a job to help out. I paid her some rent and bought my own food and clothes at 14. With two less mouths to feed, things started to turn around. So yeah, this was real poverty.

 

[jmdrake]

Electricity and running water were intermittent luxuries. My single mother moved a bunch and we stayed at other people's houses for stretches. These places were all rat and insect infested. It always seemed like homelessness was around the corner, but it never really happened entirely. When I was 14, she lost custody of my older brother and I got a job to help out. I paid her some rent and bought my own food and clothes at 14. With two less mouths to feed, things started to turn around. So yeah, this was real poverty.

Great. So you got real help from real people (the rat an insect infested homes) and were kept from being really homeless by a thread. Without that actual help from real people who knows what would have happened despite Thomas Sowell's inspirations?

 

[CaptUSA]

Great. So you got real help from real people (the rat an insect infested homes) and were kept from being really homeless by a thread. Without that actual help from real people who knows what would have happened despite Thomas Sowell's inspirations?

I used to have a 2-part blog post about my odd childhood - not sure what happened to those. And as far as the "help" we received, you don't want to know what my mother did to get that "help". When you're desperate, you do desperate things.

I wrote those blog posts on here to explain to a doubter, only to have him turn around and accuse me of bragging about my escape from poverty. But yeah, Sowell was pivotal in my life. I stopped shoplifting for food and started providing value to others to get food. That simple behavior shift changed so many things.

To the point of this thread, I suppose, I could write my own about the black heroes in my life that gave me direction. "Giving things to white people?" Sowell, when I was young, set me on a better course. In my teens, I worked at a grocery store with an older black man named Manny Jackson (no lie!). He had a side hustle cutting down trees and would bring me out to work with him for some extra cash. During which, he gave me a ton of life lessons. I learned SO much from these two men!

 

[CaptUSA]

I learned SO much from these two men!

BTW, it's why I'm so adamant about not judging anyone by their skin color - either way.

 

[jmdrake]

I used to have a 2-part blog post about my odd childhood - not sure what happened to those. And as far as the "help" we received, you don't want to know what my mother did to get that "help". When you're desperate, you do desperate things.

I wrote those blog posts on here to explain to a doubter, only to have him turn around and accuse me of bragging about my escape from poverty. But yeah, Sowell was pivotal in my life. I stopped shoplifting for food and started providing value to others to get food. That simple behavior shift changed so many things.

To the point of this thread, I suppose, I could write my own about the black heroes in my life that gave me direction. "Giving things to white people?" Sowell, when I was young, set me on a better course. In my teens, I worked at a grocery store with an older black man named Manny Jackson (no lie!). He had a side hustle cutting down trees and would bring me out to work with him for some extra cash. During which, he gave me a ton of life lessons. I learned SO much from these two men!

Okay. Well when I helped homeless people I didn't ask anything in return. (I actually turned down a homeless woman who was coming on to me). Not tooting my own horn. I'm not perfect, just not a total piece of shyt. That said, if your mother was forced to do things you'd rather not talk about in order for her and you to have a roof over your head, you've kind of proved my point to you. Like you said "When you're desperate, you do desperate things." Sometimes those things are criminal. It's great that you yourself didn't have to resort to crime. (I mean that sincerely). But you've still undermined Thomas Sowell's position even inadvertently. And multiple things can certainly be true at the same time. Absolutely sometimes people dig deep and find ethical, non criminal ways to make a living. Sometimes they don't. Some people are willing to go three months without lights and water until the next honest check comes in (been there, done that), only to have to pay hundreds extra just to get everything turned back on. And some people would rather starve to death than steal. But that's a continuum of the human condition.

Last point. If you haven't learned ANYTHING from the whole Epstein fiasco (Jizzlaine Maxwell is about to walk because Trump's Labor Secretary gave all of Epstein's co-conspirators known or unknown immunity from prosecution) should be this. More often the not the difference between a poor criminal and a rich one isn't "culture." It's the ability to afford a damn good lawyer and possible bribe money.

 

[TheTexan]

Absolutely sometimes people dig deep and find ethical, non criminal ways to make a living. Sometimes they don't.

It all starts with wanting to find ethical ways to make a living.

When you have an urban black culture that glorifies crime and puts prison as a badge of honor, it's no surprise that urban black communities continue to be poor, generation after generation.

 

[CaptUSA]

Okay. Well when I helped homeless people I didn't ask anything in return. (I actually turned down a homeless woman who was coming on to me). Not tooting my own horn. I'm not perfect, just not a total piece of shyt. That said, if your mother was forced to do things you'd rather not talk about in order for her and you to have a roof over your head, you've kind of proved my point to you.

Only if you're looking at a snap shot. In the long run, she remained poor while I progressed far up the chain.

Like you said "When you're desperate, you do desperate things." Sometimes those things are criminal. It's great that you yourself didn't have to resort to crime.

Lol - who said that?! I did a ton of petty crimes - fortunately, it was while I was still a juvenile. I learned early the folly of that. I used to call it "decision-making" and thought my friends were dumb for making stupid decisions. But they weren't even really making decisions as much as they were just acting based on what came naturally - due to the culture around us. Those of us who succeeded were the ones who bucked tradition.

Last point. If you haven't learned ANYTHING from the whole Epstein fiasco (Jizzlaine Maxwell is about to walk because Trump's Labor Secretary gave all of Epstein's co-conspirators known or unknown immunity from prosecution) should be this. More often the not the difference between a poor criminal and a rich one isn't "culture." It's the ability to afford a damn good lawyer and possible bribe money.

Case in point? https://ronpaulforums.com/threads/alabama-child-abuse-bunker.571929/