This is another post 'concerning' Monday's State Street shooting.
"Man Gunned Down on State Street"
For the past few days, there has been a very lively discussion going on concerning the nature of crime, especially drug-related crime.
A person replied to my earlier response "A New Attitude is Needed" and I am now replying to his.
There was one thing he said that did make me feel pretty good. He completely disagreed with my views, but also said this this:
"I read your post and thought to myself for second.... This is how we should be thinking....but"
I leave out the rest of his response because I am not trying to put anyone down or make them look silly. I simply want to present my views. You can view the complete story and people's responses at the above link.
The last thing that she/he said was this: "I wish it was that easy, to be able to say better education and better paying jobs would fix the problem............. Although it's a good start, it's far from the answer!
Here is my reply:
No, it is not that easy. But, yes, I do believe that education is the 'Silver Bullet' for our problems. If we spend our time arresting, shooting and blowing up all of the 'bad guys' and 'thugs', more people will fill their boots in the future. Will we continue throwing people in the slammer ad infinitum?
Are these people born as 'thugs'? Are they born a problem and completely useless to our society? Education starts as soon as a person is born. The sole purpose of a new human is to learn. It is in our genes. Every person wants to learn when they come into the world. I wholeheartedly believe that the only thing that we can do with someone's desire to learn, other than encouraging it, is to crush it. Otherwise, the person will continue wanting to learn throughout their life.
I believe that when someone turns to a life of crime, especially one that risks them being shot, stabbed, arrested, etc., they have lost their desire to learn and they have given up trying to 'fit in' in their society. As long as society has existed, crime has existed. As long as crime has existed, prisons have existed as well. I have yet to see an example of a country eradicating crime by locking people up. It has to take more than removing criminals from society to make it work smoothly.
With this premise, we have two options. One is to work to better our education system to keep people from having to turn to the black market for employment. The other option, which should be used in conjunction with the first, is to continue to educate incarcerated individuals. At least while we have their attention in prison, we can teach them more about attaining gainful employment when they are released.
It does us no good to demonize law-breakers as 'thugs' and 'animals'. As long as we do not understand the reasons for turning to a life of crime, we will have a society full of individuals who turn to this life.
The first thing that we should be doing with education is to work to prevent our youth from seeing this life as something good. The purpose of education is to give each individual the tools with which to live a life of purpose and to respect themselves. As long as there is crime, we are not completely doing our jobs.
This is a very tough subject to get to the bottom of and I have only scratched the surface. But, we cannot continue to ignore the problems inherent in our society. We must face them, we must take those who have fallen to the side in America by the hand and lead them to a better life.
One last point. About them making thousands of dollars a day. As long as something is illegal, there will be a black market for it. When a black market exists, prices inflate and the sale of those items becomes more and more attractive to those who may have chosen legal employment in the past. I am not advocating the legalization of drugs, just that we look at some new solutions. There is also the option of more rehabilitation programs for drug users, thereby taking away the market for these drugs.
These are my feelings on these issues. Please do not take them as an attack on your intelligence or person. However, I would like for you all to pick apart this argument. Tell me if I'm wrong.
I am very happy that this discussion is going on, but sad that these things happen. But, if I can make even one person think twice about their hard-held views then I am doing my job.
With your help, I can do the same when on the City School Board.
Thank you.
29 February 2008
07 December 2007
Transitions, pt. 3
This, of course, is an idealistic view which I have taken. Thank the world that I'm still a bit of an idealist. Daniel Bell, in his 1960 book The End of Ideology, declared my idealism dead. But he was wrong. Despite all that I have learned in my 27 years, the good, the bad and the ugly, I still believe in the inherent good nature of the world and its inhabitants. It is this belief that has waxed and waned throughout my life, giving me both hope and despair. It has sometimes seemed to me as if there is no hope for good to prevail for the large part of the world. When looking at the larger governmental and institutional structures of the world, it is often hard to see any hope. But through my involvement in the volunteer community, I have renewed hope for the future of our world. I have met hard-working people of all ages who do not seek personal reward for efforts that are much more valuable than those which pay. This is work that touches the lives of people from all walks of life and asks for nothing in return. It is also this work that has changed my life forever.
As I said before, it all started with my involvement in the Southern Girls Rock and Roll Camp in Murfreesboro. This camp brings girls ages 10-18 from all over the state together for a week-long day camp to learn about playing rock and roll. They also learn how to form a band, screen printing, zine making (self-published magazines), recording, and much more. Most importantly, the young women learn self respect and that they rock! The week is closed with a bang during the live showcase. Each band gets a few minutes in the spotlight up on stage in front of their parents, peers and area media outlets. This gives them the experience of being in a real band. For the volunteers in the camp, an overwhelming feeling of pride and sadness at the end of camp comes from this event. It is also a recruitment tool. It worked on me. I first saw the SGRRC showcase in July of 2005. My brother and many friends volunteered for the camp and I attended the showcase at the end of the week as well as a private Indigo Girls show for the girls during the week. I was floored by what I experienced the night of the showcase and told myself that I wouldn't miss the next year's camp for anything in the world. I made that promise that night and I kept it. That was the best decision I've ever made.
Enter Rock and Roll Camp 2006. I volunteered to assist in teaching screen printing, filling in as an extra body in instrument lessons and as a band manager. All during the week, the girls exhibited a passion to learn as much as they could. This eagerness has a way of giving an extra charge to the volunteers, working over 40 hours during the week for only the experience. During the week of camp is when I first got to know Kelley. She is good friends with another friend of mine, Anna. I previously assisted Anna with her work with Students for Environmental Åction (SEA) on MTSU's campus and she probably recommended me to Kelley in some way. I am an individual who is always eager to help where needed, I only as for direction and a bit of prodding.
At the end of the week, Kelley asked me if I'd like to attend a committee meeting for a new organization that she was starting, the YCAC. She told me a bit about it and I agreed to check it out. Little did I know that it would lead to this great change in me. After one or two meetings, I was nominated by Kelley to act as Chair of the YCAC committee and was approved by the rest of the group. Needless to say, I had absolutely zero experience with this sort of operation, but she shepherded me through my transition into leading meetings and drawing up agendas. During this time, I was still in school. A political science major, I think. I didn't want to commit myself too much, so I stuck to leading the committee and letting the other members spearhead fundraisers and recruitment. I didn't realize it until later, but this was my first experience with a concrete form of self-governance. However, when I did realize this fact, it send my head spinning with ideas concerning where this could lead myself and the organization.
As I said before, it all started with my involvement in the Southern Girls Rock and Roll Camp in Murfreesboro. This camp brings girls ages 10-18 from all over the state together for a week-long day camp to learn about playing rock and roll. They also learn how to form a band, screen printing, zine making (self-published magazines), recording, and much more. Most importantly, the young women learn self respect and that they rock! The week is closed with a bang during the live showcase. Each band gets a few minutes in the spotlight up on stage in front of their parents, peers and area media outlets. This gives them the experience of being in a real band. For the volunteers in the camp, an overwhelming feeling of pride and sadness at the end of camp comes from this event. It is also a recruitment tool. It worked on me. I first saw the SGRRC showcase in July of 2005. My brother and many friends volunteered for the camp and I attended the showcase at the end of the week as well as a private Indigo Girls show for the girls during the week. I was floored by what I experienced the night of the showcase and told myself that I wouldn't miss the next year's camp for anything in the world. I made that promise that night and I kept it. That was the best decision I've ever made.
Enter Rock and Roll Camp 2006. I volunteered to assist in teaching screen printing, filling in as an extra body in instrument lessons and as a band manager. All during the week, the girls exhibited a passion to learn as much as they could. This eagerness has a way of giving an extra charge to the volunteers, working over 40 hours during the week for only the experience. During the week of camp is when I first got to know Kelley. She is good friends with another friend of mine, Anna. I previously assisted Anna with her work with Students for Environmental Åction (SEA) on MTSU's campus and she probably recommended me to Kelley in some way. I am an individual who is always eager to help where needed, I only as for direction and a bit of prodding.
At the end of the week, Kelley asked me if I'd like to attend a committee meeting for a new organization that she was starting, the YCAC. She told me a bit about it and I agreed to check it out. Little did I know that it would lead to this great change in me. After one or two meetings, I was nominated by Kelley to act as Chair of the YCAC committee and was approved by the rest of the group. Needless to say, I had absolutely zero experience with this sort of operation, but she shepherded me through my transition into leading meetings and drawing up agendas. During this time, I was still in school. A political science major, I think. I didn't want to commit myself too much, so I stuck to leading the committee and letting the other members spearhead fundraisers and recruitment. I didn't realize it until later, but this was my first experience with a concrete form of self-governance. However, when I did realize this fact, it send my head spinning with ideas concerning where this could lead myself and the organization.
to be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
