This one literally moved me to tears. All murder is tragic but these are particularly heartbreaking because the victims came here in many cases to flee the violence rife in their homeland.
Thank you, Lee, for bringing their stories to our attention. We need to know and I’m sorry you had to be the bearer of such tidings.
Thank you Lee. The most tragic reality of our country is the violence that poor and working class people live with. I am a child of immigrants who fled a genocide. They were poor and faced a lot of prejudice but not the kind of insecurity that people have now just because they are trying to work. This outrages me more than anything. Want to know why people think they need guns? Here's the answer. Not helping the criminals.
I agree with your thoughts on use of guns. Here in New Zealand guns are a little harder to get, especially if you're not a gang member. So, instead, the youth here committing crimes use tire irons, hammers and knives and in broad daylight. At night they use their cars to ram raid. Social media has a lot to answer for as well.
I'm glad you mentioned social media. I have no doubt that what is going on in France too is influenced by social media. Some post horrific videos for fun. I'm afraid it is yet another American export ☹️
No!!!! Joy, I’m so sorry to hear this. When it comes to New Zealand, us Americans tend to see your country bathed in the glow of rose colored glasses. A happy gun free utopia. It’s disheartening to know that violence finds a way even there. Of course angry, marginalized, impoverished young men (and some women) are everywhere so this really shouldn’t be a surprise. But surprise or not, it’s a terrible reality. I wish we had an answer close at hand.
Why do you assume that "angry, marginalized, impoverished young men (and some women)" are the perpetrators? How about just bad people regardless of their emotional and socio economic status. You make the perps sound like the victims.
I think you misunderstand me. Not all perpetrators of violence are angry, impoverished, marginalized and young but many are and some feel the need to lash out. Sadly these perpetrators can also victims of a system that has failed them. It’s NOT an excuse but it is a fact.
Thank you, Lee, for this glimpse into a phenomenon we never hear about, because it plays out below the radar of the mainstream press. These are the forgotten immigrants coming to America to earn a living only to encounter the dark underbelly of our society where violence runs rampant. I not only feel sad for their deaths, but also for the young men and women who killed these people -- they themselves, are, in a way, the victims of societal neglect.
And yes, the activist groups on the left (and certainly on the right as well) tend to focus on defunding police, on white supremacy, on transgender issues, and so on -- and they receive funds from the Pierre Omidyars and Mark Zuckerbergs and they all feel good that they're doing something.
As a former journalist, I have to ask why the mainstream press never focuses on this violence that takes place under the radar. As an example, they gave tons of coverage to the Black Lives Matter movement which targeted police killing blacks -- and completely ignored the far, far greater number of blacks being killed in inner cities at the hands of other blacks. If black lives really matter, as they should, we need to address the problems of not only the blacks being murdered, but the black murderers themselves who are also victims of societal neglect.
Please keep up the great work, and continue to report on all that the big media ignores. Kudos to you for your efforts.
From my perspective, living in a black community, there isn't really any societal neglect unless you are referring to how little white people understand black folks but offer to force a social program on them. I'm not black, but know that a ton of propaganda, stupid elitist policies, and rap music is what fuels this epidemic. Also, teenage violent crime is generational and won't stop until those kids are removed from the Petri dish of broken and violent families, alcohol, government support, etc. I used to feel compassion, but I don't anymore. The way things are now in San Francisco, this "war" is being lost through attrition within their own communities.
"kids"? no. killers. yes... and going on day after day. I was in a movie theater years ago watching Schindlers List.. in front of me were 4 black male teens.. when a woman in the Nazi camp was shot point blank in the head most of the theater gasped. what did those teens do.. stood up , snapped their fingers and danced around and yelled yea bro give it to the bitch.. like the monsters they were and probably are to this day. I cut them no quarter
Too many black male urban youths have no moral compass. The left keeps talking about taking away guns - but in NYC - blacks are using knives way too often. I guess we should colllect all those as well?
In a post where you have deemed many things responsible, including rap music, it's interesting that economic terrorism by government doesn't get a look in. As a european i can tell you that most of you appear to be extremely poor, to our eyes. No prospects, no healthcare, no education, no purpose to life. Sad, but nothing to do with macho rap music.
Are you serious? There is so much affluence here that drug dealers can afford the most expensive cars on the market. Where are you reading your news? San Francisco provides the citizens of the city free healthcare at General Hospital. We have some of the best universities in the world. Yes, rap music has a direct impact in terms of the violence it spews, especially against women. I don't believe that black kids are killing and stealing because of our economy. No way. There are so many opportunities for them, but engaging in theft and violent crime has become habitual. The city spent millions on to create basketball courts and a recreation center for public housing and none of it is ever used. Our tax dollars, which translates to an economy, are consistently poured into many of these programs. Who writes the journalism you are reading -- Pravda?
You're the one that's joking. Over 25,000 of your citizens die every year due to lack of health insurance. We don't use privatised healthcare over here, so we don't die in our thousands like you do. You are much poorer than us in this regard.
And did you really offer "drug dealers buy expensive cars" as a counter argument to the simple observation that poverty is rife in your nation? That's a total non-sequitur and actually bolsters my contention: if you are poor and want an expensive car (which US culture makes you aspire to) then being a drug dealer is one of the few options. You certainly won't get a decent job.
You may feel you have good universities, (other countries don't actually regard US institutions overall as highly as you might think, considering the country's wealth) but enrolment has steadily declined anyway, some suggest because degrees don't lead to proportionately desirable jobs, etcetera. And the number of colleges has also apparently declined since 2011. Not a healthy system, and not one that offers much to an increasingly distressed population.
Lastly your insistence that violence against women is due to rap music is just prima facie laughable, when sociologically speaking the link between household poverty and low education and domestic violence is well established at this stage. You're a propaganda victim, which is why it's amusing that when someone points out the holes in your position your kneejerk response is to effectively call them a commie "are you reading Pravda"? Puh leeze. I suppose compared to a frothing US rightwinger i might be a communist, but then so would Genghis Khan be a communist when compared to such a person.
Fewer than 25,000 in a population of 300 million very diverse populations is quite small. What is the demographic? Every state has some type of government-sponsored medical insurance program. We provide medical care to immigrants AND illegal immigrants for free. Even native people on tribal land receive healthcare.
The worst poverty is in Appalachia, which is all white, for the most part. They have poor health, as well. But, this isn't a discussion about them. If their poverty compelled them to attack immigrants driving taxis with a gun, shouldn't we hear more about that?
What is a decent job? Do you think that a kid from the ghetto will spontaneously qualify for a "decent" job? You would have to look really hard for someone who will give up stealing cells phones and iPads in order to work as an entry level cook or gardener. Realistically, the jobs that are qualified as "decent" are way out of their reach now for a lot of these kids. But, there are options which they don't bother with, such as trade schools, for which many government entities will sponsor. The vast majority of street crime is because those juveniles want the instant hit and are enmeshed in the world of glamorizing crime.
I don't know why enrollment in universities has declined. There could be many reasons. Population decline, choice of alternatives. I'm not a statistician.
No, I'm not a propaganda victim. I see the crimes that are being committed, which are all, for the most part, predictable. I see the gang of teenagers prey on young, Chinese girls, grab them by the hair and take all of their possessions. I see them push an elder Chinese man to the ground, or hit him on the back of the head. The Chinese community in San Francisco really suffers from the crimes that those kids commit.
Fundamentally, the black kids committing crimes are committed thugs. They just are. I see them walking down the street, I know they buy high-powered, military grade weapons at a warehouse not far from their neighborhoods. Rap music is very violent, and it reinforces whatever household situation that already exists.
Frankly, I wish there were more "right-wingers" in government. They aren't crazy or malicious and I believe can make sound judgements for their constituencies if they are willing to reach across the aisle.
You are exactly right about Rap Music and it’s glamorization of power, violence, extreme homophobia and lawlessness as a “status” symbol. I mentor at-risk youth in the Foster care system as well as foster. These boys grow up being tramatized by their mothers who sell them out for drugs and sex, fathers who are either addicts themselves or incarcerated and thus not present in their lives. They grow up in toxic group homes with other kids with emotional disabilities and trauma that lies just beneath the surface, so they know only dysfunction and pain.
I’ve seen a direct relationship between Rap and Hip Hop that reflects gang ideology along with this “hoodie” culture and the dysfunctional mindset and outright social avarice it worships. They use this music to pump themselves up to face life, and the results are predictable.
No one will talk about it, but really, how many people reading Substack have any real experience with kids like this, they don’t, and so you get responses like the ones above! The boys I have worked with are white, but they grow up in this culture because their parents are drug addicts living in the ghetto. This is the culture they know, and it is hard to help them, but I try. I’ve had success where their Case workers have not. One kid told me he feels safe with me because I am so calm and mellow, and he feels safe when he is with me, easy to be around.
These kids problems will be life long, and I try to plant seeds where I can, knowing I may never see them grow. I used to be a “liberal” Democrat, today I want nothing to do with that Party ever again. Thanks for being honest, it’s rare!
You're welcome for the American inventions of soap, dentistry, refrigeration, the telephone, electricity, the automobile and saving your asses in WWII!
The ancient mesopotamians/babylonians would like a word with you...
"Dentistry"
Neolithic man from the region now known as Pakistan would like a word with you
"Refrigeration"
The ancient Iranians would like a word with you
"The telephone"
Noted Italian inventor Antonio Meucci would like a word with you
"Electricity"
Ancient Greco-Roman scholars such as Thales of Miletus would like a word with you
"The automobile"
French-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz and his contemporaries and predecessors would like a word with you
"saving your asses in WWII!"
The Russians would like a word with you.
Thanks for clicking "post" though. You've proven the point that no phrase describes Americans better than "delusionally arrogant" better than I ever could.
"No prospects, no healthcare, no education, no purpose to life.", Al, are you talking about Americans or the banlieu residents all over France? It's easy to try to be smug about Americans. You say "as a european," but that's a pretty broad brush. Are you writing from Hamburg or a village in eastern Lithuania? From the right bank in Paris or the northern hills of Portugal? The healthcare and social spending you enjoy, and you do enjoy it, is about to be cut as Europe is forced to accept having to pay more into NATO, and also for the ritual sacrifice called Greening to save the planet from "climate change". You can bullshit the Yanks, but you and I know that "as a European," you have absolutely no say in how you're governed, and what policy you're deemed to have to follow. Unless you're writing from Poland or Hungary, your nation's balls were handed to Brussels in the nineties, and you'll take what you get and like it. To American's eyes, that makes you the poorest of them all.
As pompous as your diatribe there was, it didn't really contradict much of what I said about America. Are we on the way to becoming just as bad as the US in the future? Absolutely. But that's because wealthy, powerful people who make policy will benefit from US style systems more. That's not "smug", it's just a fact. And that fact hardly negates the critique of the US system, rather it reinforces it. The US system is a bad system, it produces bad results for the citizenry, and ideally nowhere else in the world would emulate it. So... do you actually have anything pertinent to the arguments to offer?
As for Brussels and the quotation marks around climate change, here's the truth: It doesn't matter whether wealthy, unaccountable people rule us from Brussels or from within our own nations, or whether they call themselves the EU or the IMF or NATO. Your critique has to be of unaccountable wealth and power, and best if you don't get caught up in nationalistic bleat points. And obviously climate change is absolutely a thing,... if you care about the available evidence of course. If not, just carry on adding partisan quotation marks to phrases that happen to trigger you. You happen to be right that greenwashing policies are a waste, but probably not for the reasons you think.
As I said above: "You're welcome for the American inventions of soap, dentistry, refrigeration, the telephone, electricity, the automobile and saving your asses in WWII!"
The ancient mesopotamians/babylonians would like a word with you...
"Dentistry"
Neolithic man from the region now known as Pakistan would like a word with you
"Refrigeration"
The ancient Iranians would like a word with you
"The telephone"
Noted Italian inventor Antonio Meucci would like a word with you
"Electricity"
Ancient Greco-Roman scholars such as Thales of Miletus would like a word with you
"The automobile"
French-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz and his contemporaries and predecessors would like a word with you
"saving your asses in WWII!"
The Russians would like a word with you.
Thanks for clicking "post" though. You've proven the point that no phrase describes Americans better than "delusionally arrogant" better than I ever could.
So, on the important matters we agree. Citizens are routinely abused by unaccountable power on both continents. Let's make that power more accountable.
Naive. There is no way for you to "make power more accountable" at this stage, even in Europe, let alone in America, where the population is even LESS engaged and less intelligent than the "there's nothing wrong with America, it's the fault of rap music" people in this comments section.
As a *real* European, writing this from Europe, I can tell you that this is nonsense.
“Extremely poor”, in particular. Americans still have much more space and much more “stuff” than Europeans.
As for public health care, do check out our waiting lists for treatment when you have a moment. In my country, for example, there is a six month wait to see a psychologist.
"Americans still have much more space and much more “stuff” than Europeans."
- Which Americans? And I'll be sure to tell this to the tens of thousands of Americans who die every year because they can't afford basic healthcare. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed that on average they have more "stuff" according to Jesper. If you measure quality of existence by acquisition of "stuff", perhaps you should move to the States? You'd fit right in.
In Europe our healthcare systems are indeed on a path to future Americanization, it's true. But we're not there yet, and so we can still see the favorable comparison of our systems with the US system.
So lets start saying the quiet part out loud. Guns have been a part of our society for 245 years.
My father had guns, my grandfather had guns, I grew up in rural Louisiana and I carried guns in my truck to go hunt after school and most of my friends did too. Not ONCE did any of those guns jump into our hands and shoot anyone. Not once did we consider pulling these guns on anyone for any reason. So what's changed? There are just as many guns proportionately (actually fewer according to the Statistas web site) today then there were 30 years ago. I think most of us know what has changed. The breakdown of the nuclear family, parents unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their children or being present in their lives, putting kids on meds way to early and to often, social media influence, violent game influence, closing of juvenile detention facilities, closing of mental health facilities, defunding budgets for police forces, hamstringing law enforcement in their jobs, lack of facilities and access to learning a trade, draconian shutdowns during COVID to name a few.
I don't really have anything to back up the above, but its just what my gut tells me......
Thoughts are that it's very easy to look at other, similar countries to try to find out what's different about the great old US of A. And it apparently has nothing to do with the "nuclear family". Other countries have large firearm ownership, but not for the same recreational, paranoid and violent-wish-fulfilment reasons that citizens of the US do. More like farmers, etc.
But the real view of the US from outside is that you're a terminally violent, murderous nation that is the single greatest international war criminal state, and a state that employs violence against its own citizens to an unusual degree too. It's not a shock to me or any european that your criminals would also be amoral and ultraviolent.
I made my contribution in my original post sport.......when you made the comment that violence in our society has NOTHING to do with breakdown of the nuclear family, as if that is fact, it came off as something I'd read on facebook......by the, ya know, experts.....
"I made my contribution in my original post sport."
- So your excuse for content-free trolling in one post is that you... posted something else in the past? You accuse others of being trolls, but the only person posting things that contain no arguments but only attempts at mockery... is you.
"you made the comment that violence in our society has NOTHING to do with breakdown of the nuclear family, as if that is fact"
- Your position that the violence in society is caused to any significant extent by the demise of the nuclear family is belied by the fact that the nuclear family (not a traditional or extended human family, I might add) has broken down all over the developed world, but the US is unique in its depravity and violence. So what's the distinct set of factors that sets the US apart? It ain't that.
"it came off as something I'd read on facebook"
- What is your weird obsession with facebook about?
Nah, that's one temporary injunction very slightly limiting the scope with which federal agencies can police social media in their official capacity. It's peeing into the ocean, hardly time for you to be partying yet when journalists are still being charged under the espionage act.
As these types of criminals never have lawfully registered firearms or CCPs and are only going to continue committing violent crimes, the Feds should work with the local prosecutors and charge these assholes with Federal gun charges and employ mandatory sentencing - get them off the street and violent crimes committed with firearms will go down.
I'm afraid your society is already far too broken and dysfunctional for such overly simplistic ideas to work in the slightest. America already has one of the most bloated, enormous prison populations in the world, not least because the American public just loves it when politicians pass harsh mandatory sentencing for nonviolent crimes into law, further swelling the encarcerated masses... this prison industry is extraordinarily costly both in terms of public money, but also the social impact; prisons are simply training grounds for criminals and when they're released, do you think society will be improved? You're doomed as a cohesive country i fear, and precisely because of a public that doesn't understand the problem and reaches for simplistic fixes.
And your solution is? You offer clichés which may have a scintilla of utility. For example, declining to prosecute shoplifting in San Francisco has led to rampant theft. It is non-violent, no incarceration, and non sane.
Well you're making an unjustified assumption. Two, actually. Firstly you're assuming that someone who correctly describes a problem is obliged to provide you with a solution. And secondly you're assuming that there IS a solution. But the US is far, far too far gone for any solution at this point in time, in my opinion.
If you'd done better work on social investment in the postwar decades perhaps you'd be in a different position now, but that time has passed.
I see your logic. It makes sense from your perspective. My perspective is different. I don't think that our society is past redemption. In fact, I see hope in some trends, such as school vouchers allowing some black parents to escape non-functional schools for their children. And while much good has come from many government programs, so has much harm; for example the destruction of poor but vibrant communities in the "blight removal" craze of the 70s.
It is hopeless to debate Mr Green. He sits from his armchair in some unknown European country making declarations about the issues in America. His declarations are straight out of MSM propaganda against conservatives using statistics that are equally questionable. None of his proclamations include the nuances we are trying discuss.
I would suggest that what Lee was pointing out was that most of these particular senseless murders were done by teenagers.
And, that have sadly increased after the demoralization and sweeping mischaracterization of our police. Exacerbated by the Soros funded district attorney’s who give crimes a pass in our legal system. We as adults and leaders have created this crime wave by giving children the message that they can do what they want without consequences.
Oh please, spare us all the relativist "your perspective, my perspective" stuff. It's either true that the people of the US will reform their government and society, or It's not true. And anyone who believes that a terminally ignorant and impoverished American population is either capable of or willing to make even modest changes to society is just dreaming at this point. Can you even think of a VAGUELY likely pathway to a democratic system? Even within five or six generations? Generations we don't have the luxury of taking for granted.
We define words and goals differently. I believe that I live in a messy, complex democratic republic that, based on immigration choices, is envied by much of the world. Ignorant and impoverished? Relative to what society? Or is it relative to a utopian ideal that exists nowhere?
The age old question: why are we such a violent society? The utter disregard for human life displayed here is nauseating. The young woman walking over the victim's mangled body concerned about her phone crystalized these murders for me. And the perpetrators are so young! So hardened. My heart hurts for these immigrants, desperately working their asses off to build a better life. I'm sickened to read this, but grateful for your reporting, Lee.
People don't like when I say it but when a culture doesn't value life from the womb to the natural tomb, why should they apply a different standard in daily life?
Go check out Sound of Freedom. There are a lot of very evil people on our planet. Zero regard for other human life.
The US was founded in violence, many of you obsess over violence, fantasise about violent retribution, and employ violence to enrich your country, government etc. It's a violent country, that simple I'm afraid.
You'd have to define "born", but the short answer is that relatively few countries could claim to have committed the level of genocidal violence that the US did to acquire its territory. And also there's the little matter that it's still doing it to many other countries as well! Haha.
Thank you for this piece. For 20 years, I’ve been moderating focus groups with Americans who live in poverty, often homeless or living in projects, section 8 or other income adjusted buildings as part of community development/block grant or fair housing studies. The people I’ve met, of every race, color or creed, from all over the world, want their local government and public housing agency to do something about crime. To fix the broken security doors on their buildings, to stop the drug dealers from propping open doors and doing business in stairwells, who rob the elderly tenants, who make their community so unsafe mothers keep their kids indoors. All ask for more police. The defund movement, no cash bail, reduced charges, and anything else that keeps criminals from being accountable for their actions adds new victims to the altar of “social justice” and is paid by the blood and treasure of the poorest and truly most vulnerable in every city. And our government ignores them. There are no funds to fix security at low income housing. But there’s plenty of government and foundation cash for the trendy causes (climate change? Systemic racism? gun control?” that make life harder on the voiceless, regular people and empower those who seek to victimize them.
Virtually every family in the United States, at some stage, fit the bill as described by the Statue of Liberty:
"“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Our ruling class has stolen that lamp to burn the very same masses. If anyone here thinks they're safe, they're a fool.
Perhaps we add evil, right & wrong, personal responsibility back in to our conversation & teachings. The former moral high ground has been replaced. Seems, as humans, we can only handle so many rules. Noticed how many of the perpetrators were juveniles who may only know the Woke rules.
Thanks for highlighting these crimes and shining a light on the victims. We can all conclude that cowardly criminals often prey on the invisible. It reminds me of an outstanding series on HBO from 2016 called "The Night of."
Very chilling that we’ve got all this murder and mayhem that is being committed by our youth, the lagging indicators in our destruction of the family and law enforcement.
This one literally moved me to tears. All murder is tragic but these are particularly heartbreaking because the victims came here in many cases to flee the violence rife in their homeland.
Thank you, Lee, for bringing their stories to our attention. We need to know and I’m sorry you had to be the bearer of such tidings.
May their memory be eternal.
Thank you Lee. The most tragic reality of our country is the violence that poor and working class people live with. I am a child of immigrants who fled a genocide. They were poor and faced a lot of prejudice but not the kind of insecurity that people have now just because they are trying to work. This outrages me more than anything. Want to know why people think they need guns? Here's the answer. Not helping the criminals.
I agree with your thoughts on use of guns. Here in New Zealand guns are a little harder to get, especially if you're not a gang member. So, instead, the youth here committing crimes use tire irons, hammers and knives and in broad daylight. At night they use their cars to ram raid. Social media has a lot to answer for as well.
I'm glad you mentioned social media. I have no doubt that what is going on in France too is influenced by social media. Some post horrific videos for fun. I'm afraid it is yet another American export ☹️
No!!!! Joy, I’m so sorry to hear this. When it comes to New Zealand, us Americans tend to see your country bathed in the glow of rose colored glasses. A happy gun free utopia. It’s disheartening to know that violence finds a way even there. Of course angry, marginalized, impoverished young men (and some women) are everywhere so this really shouldn’t be a surprise. But surprise or not, it’s a terrible reality. I wish we had an answer close at hand.
Why do you assume that "angry, marginalized, impoverished young men (and some women)" are the perpetrators? How about just bad people regardless of their emotional and socio economic status. You make the perps sound like the victims.
I think you misunderstand me. Not all perpetrators of violence are angry, impoverished, marginalized and young but many are and some feel the need to lash out. Sadly these perpetrators can also victims of a system that has failed them. It’s NOT an excuse but it is a fact.
Thank you, Lee, for this glimpse into a phenomenon we never hear about, because it plays out below the radar of the mainstream press. These are the forgotten immigrants coming to America to earn a living only to encounter the dark underbelly of our society where violence runs rampant. I not only feel sad for their deaths, but also for the young men and women who killed these people -- they themselves, are, in a way, the victims of societal neglect.
And yes, the activist groups on the left (and certainly on the right as well) tend to focus on defunding police, on white supremacy, on transgender issues, and so on -- and they receive funds from the Pierre Omidyars and Mark Zuckerbergs and they all feel good that they're doing something.
As a former journalist, I have to ask why the mainstream press never focuses on this violence that takes place under the radar. As an example, they gave tons of coverage to the Black Lives Matter movement which targeted police killing blacks -- and completely ignored the far, far greater number of blacks being killed in inner cities at the hands of other blacks. If black lives really matter, as they should, we need to address the problems of not only the blacks being murdered, but the black murderers themselves who are also victims of societal neglect.
Please keep up the great work, and continue to report on all that the big media ignores. Kudos to you for your efforts.
From my perspective, living in a black community, there isn't really any societal neglect unless you are referring to how little white people understand black folks but offer to force a social program on them. I'm not black, but know that a ton of propaganda, stupid elitist policies, and rap music is what fuels this epidemic. Also, teenage violent crime is generational and won't stop until those kids are removed from the Petri dish of broken and violent families, alcohol, government support, etc. I used to feel compassion, but I don't anymore. The way things are now in San Francisco, this "war" is being lost through attrition within their own communities.
"kids"? no. killers. yes... and going on day after day. I was in a movie theater years ago watching Schindlers List.. in front of me were 4 black male teens.. when a woman in the Nazi camp was shot point blank in the head most of the theater gasped. what did those teens do.. stood up , snapped their fingers and danced around and yelled yea bro give it to the bitch.. like the monsters they were and probably are to this day. I cut them no quarter
Too many black male urban youths have no moral compass. The left keeps talking about taking away guns - but in NYC - blacks are using knives way too often. I guess we should colllect all those as well?
It gets worse every year because of the cocktail of drugs they use.
In a post where you have deemed many things responsible, including rap music, it's interesting that economic terrorism by government doesn't get a look in. As a european i can tell you that most of you appear to be extremely poor, to our eyes. No prospects, no healthcare, no education, no purpose to life. Sad, but nothing to do with macho rap music.
Are you serious? There is so much affluence here that drug dealers can afford the most expensive cars on the market. Where are you reading your news? San Francisco provides the citizens of the city free healthcare at General Hospital. We have some of the best universities in the world. Yes, rap music has a direct impact in terms of the violence it spews, especially against women. I don't believe that black kids are killing and stealing because of our economy. No way. There are so many opportunities for them, but engaging in theft and violent crime has become habitual. The city spent millions on to create basketball courts and a recreation center for public housing and none of it is ever used. Our tax dollars, which translates to an economy, are consistently poured into many of these programs. Who writes the journalism you are reading -- Pravda?
You're the one that's joking. Over 25,000 of your citizens die every year due to lack of health insurance. We don't use privatised healthcare over here, so we don't die in our thousands like you do. You are much poorer than us in this regard.
And did you really offer "drug dealers buy expensive cars" as a counter argument to the simple observation that poverty is rife in your nation? That's a total non-sequitur and actually bolsters my contention: if you are poor and want an expensive car (which US culture makes you aspire to) then being a drug dealer is one of the few options. You certainly won't get a decent job.
You may feel you have good universities, (other countries don't actually regard US institutions overall as highly as you might think, considering the country's wealth) but enrolment has steadily declined anyway, some suggest because degrees don't lead to proportionately desirable jobs, etcetera. And the number of colleges has also apparently declined since 2011. Not a healthy system, and not one that offers much to an increasingly distressed population.
Lastly your insistence that violence against women is due to rap music is just prima facie laughable, when sociologically speaking the link between household poverty and low education and domestic violence is well established at this stage. You're a propaganda victim, which is why it's amusing that when someone points out the holes in your position your kneejerk response is to effectively call them a commie "are you reading Pravda"? Puh leeze. I suppose compared to a frothing US rightwinger i might be a communist, but then so would Genghis Khan be a communist when compared to such a person.
Fewer than 25,000 in a population of 300 million very diverse populations is quite small. What is the demographic? Every state has some type of government-sponsored medical insurance program. We provide medical care to immigrants AND illegal immigrants for free. Even native people on tribal land receive healthcare.
The worst poverty is in Appalachia, which is all white, for the most part. They have poor health, as well. But, this isn't a discussion about them. If their poverty compelled them to attack immigrants driving taxis with a gun, shouldn't we hear more about that?
What is a decent job? Do you think that a kid from the ghetto will spontaneously qualify for a "decent" job? You would have to look really hard for someone who will give up stealing cells phones and iPads in order to work as an entry level cook or gardener. Realistically, the jobs that are qualified as "decent" are way out of their reach now for a lot of these kids. But, there are options which they don't bother with, such as trade schools, for which many government entities will sponsor. The vast majority of street crime is because those juveniles want the instant hit and are enmeshed in the world of glamorizing crime.
I don't know why enrollment in universities has declined. There could be many reasons. Population decline, choice of alternatives. I'm not a statistician.
No, I'm not a propaganda victim. I see the crimes that are being committed, which are all, for the most part, predictable. I see the gang of teenagers prey on young, Chinese girls, grab them by the hair and take all of their possessions. I see them push an elder Chinese man to the ground, or hit him on the back of the head. The Chinese community in San Francisco really suffers from the crimes that those kids commit.
Fundamentally, the black kids committing crimes are committed thugs. They just are. I see them walking down the street, I know they buy high-powered, military grade weapons at a warehouse not far from their neighborhoods. Rap music is very violent, and it reinforces whatever household situation that already exists.
Frankly, I wish there were more "right-wingers" in government. They aren't crazy or malicious and I believe can make sound judgements for their constituencies if they are willing to reach across the aisle.
You are exactly right about Rap Music and it’s glamorization of power, violence, extreme homophobia and lawlessness as a “status” symbol. I mentor at-risk youth in the Foster care system as well as foster. These boys grow up being tramatized by their mothers who sell them out for drugs and sex, fathers who are either addicts themselves or incarcerated and thus not present in their lives. They grow up in toxic group homes with other kids with emotional disabilities and trauma that lies just beneath the surface, so they know only dysfunction and pain.
I’ve seen a direct relationship between Rap and Hip Hop that reflects gang ideology along with this “hoodie” culture and the dysfunctional mindset and outright social avarice it worships. They use this music to pump themselves up to face life, and the results are predictable.
No one will talk about it, but really, how many people reading Substack have any real experience with kids like this, they don’t, and so you get responses like the ones above! The boys I have worked with are white, but they grow up in this culture because their parents are drug addicts living in the ghetto. This is the culture they know, and it is hard to help them, but I try. I’ve had success where their Case workers have not. One kid told me he feels safe with me because I am so calm and mellow, and he feels safe when he is with me, easy to be around.
These kids problems will be life long, and I try to plant seeds where I can, knowing I may never see them grow. I used to be a “liberal” Democrat, today I want nothing to do with that Party ever again. Thanks for being honest, it’s rare!
You're welcome for the American inventions of soap, dentistry, refrigeration, the telephone, electricity, the automobile and saving your asses in WWII!
"the American inventions of soap"
The ancient mesopotamians/babylonians would like a word with you...
"Dentistry"
Neolithic man from the region now known as Pakistan would like a word with you
"Refrigeration"
The ancient Iranians would like a word with you
"The telephone"
Noted Italian inventor Antonio Meucci would like a word with you
"Electricity"
Ancient Greco-Roman scholars such as Thales of Miletus would like a word with you
"The automobile"
French-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz and his contemporaries and predecessors would like a word with you
"saving your asses in WWII!"
The Russians would like a word with you.
Thanks for clicking "post" though. You've proven the point that no phrase describes Americans better than "delusionally arrogant" better than I ever could.
US universities and colleges still manage to produce inventors and innovators rivaled by no other country on earth...
"No prospects, no healthcare, no education, no purpose to life.", Al, are you talking about Americans or the banlieu residents all over France? It's easy to try to be smug about Americans. You say "as a european," but that's a pretty broad brush. Are you writing from Hamburg or a village in eastern Lithuania? From the right bank in Paris or the northern hills of Portugal? The healthcare and social spending you enjoy, and you do enjoy it, is about to be cut as Europe is forced to accept having to pay more into NATO, and also for the ritual sacrifice called Greening to save the planet from "climate change". You can bullshit the Yanks, but you and I know that "as a European," you have absolutely no say in how you're governed, and what policy you're deemed to have to follow. Unless you're writing from Poland or Hungary, your nation's balls were handed to Brussels in the nineties, and you'll take what you get and like it. To American's eyes, that makes you the poorest of them all.
As pompous as your diatribe there was, it didn't really contradict much of what I said about America. Are we on the way to becoming just as bad as the US in the future? Absolutely. But that's because wealthy, powerful people who make policy will benefit from US style systems more. That's not "smug", it's just a fact. And that fact hardly negates the critique of the US system, rather it reinforces it. The US system is a bad system, it produces bad results for the citizenry, and ideally nowhere else in the world would emulate it. So... do you actually have anything pertinent to the arguments to offer?
As for Brussels and the quotation marks around climate change, here's the truth: It doesn't matter whether wealthy, unaccountable people rule us from Brussels or from within our own nations, or whether they call themselves the EU or the IMF or NATO. Your critique has to be of unaccountable wealth and power, and best if you don't get caught up in nationalistic bleat points. And obviously climate change is absolutely a thing,... if you care about the available evidence of course. If not, just carry on adding partisan quotation marks to phrases that happen to trigger you. You happen to be right that greenwashing policies are a waste, but probably not for the reasons you think.
As I said above: "You're welcome for the American inventions of soap, dentistry, refrigeration, the telephone, electricity, the automobile and saving your asses in WWII!"
And as i retorted above:
"the American inventions of soap"?
The ancient mesopotamians/babylonians would like a word with you...
"Dentistry"
Neolithic man from the region now known as Pakistan would like a word with you
"Refrigeration"
The ancient Iranians would like a word with you
"The telephone"
Noted Italian inventor Antonio Meucci would like a word with you
"Electricity"
Ancient Greco-Roman scholars such as Thales of Miletus would like a word with you
"The automobile"
French-Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz and his contemporaries and predecessors would like a word with you
"saving your asses in WWII!"
The Russians would like a word with you.
Thanks for clicking "post" though. You've proven the point that no phrase describes Americans better than "delusionally arrogant" better than I ever could.
So, on the important matters we agree. Citizens are routinely abused by unaccountable power on both continents. Let's make that power more accountable.
Naive. There is no way for you to "make power more accountable" at this stage, even in Europe, let alone in America, where the population is even LESS engaged and less intelligent than the "there's nothing wrong with America, it's the fault of rap music" people in this comments section.
As a *real* European, writing this from Europe, I can tell you that this is nonsense.
“Extremely poor”, in particular. Americans still have much more space and much more “stuff” than Europeans.
As for public health care, do check out our waiting lists for treatment when you have a moment. In my country, for example, there is a six month wait to see a psychologist.
"Americans still have much more space and much more “stuff” than Europeans."
- Which Americans? And I'll be sure to tell this to the tens of thousands of Americans who die every year because they can't afford basic healthcare. I'm sure they'll be overjoyed that on average they have more "stuff" according to Jesper. If you measure quality of existence by acquisition of "stuff", perhaps you should move to the States? You'd fit right in.
In Europe our healthcare systems are indeed on a path to future Americanization, it's true. But we're not there yet, and so we can still see the favorable comparison of our systems with the US system.
That’s because you see what you want to see
Your claim contains no evidence or argument, and so can be dismissed without evidence or argument.
You’re delusional and only worthy of mocking
You're trolling, which is a waste of your own time. Try making an argument for once in your life.
So lets start saying the quiet part out loud. Guns have been a part of our society for 245 years.
My father had guns, my grandfather had guns, I grew up in rural Louisiana and I carried guns in my truck to go hunt after school and most of my friends did too. Not ONCE did any of those guns jump into our hands and shoot anyone. Not once did we consider pulling these guns on anyone for any reason. So what's changed? There are just as many guns proportionately (actually fewer according to the Statistas web site) today then there were 30 years ago. I think most of us know what has changed. The breakdown of the nuclear family, parents unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their children or being present in their lives, putting kids on meds way to early and to often, social media influence, violent game influence, closing of juvenile detention facilities, closing of mental health facilities, defunding budgets for police forces, hamstringing law enforcement in their jobs, lack of facilities and access to learning a trade, draconian shutdowns during COVID to name a few.
I don't really have anything to back up the above, but its just what my gut tells me......
Thoughts?
Thoughts are that it's very easy to look at other, similar countries to try to find out what's different about the great old US of A. And it apparently has nothing to do with the "nuclear family". Other countries have large firearm ownership, but not for the same recreational, paranoid and violent-wish-fulfilment reasons that citizens of the US do. More like farmers, etc.
But the real view of the US from outside is that you're a terminally violent, murderous nation that is the single greatest international war criminal state, and a state that employs violence against its own citizens to an unusual degree too. It's not a shock to me or any european that your criminals would also be amoral and ultraviolent.
Facebook is missing you.......just sayin.
I'm not sure your comment actually means anything, except perhaps if it means you have nothing substantive to contribute.
I made my contribution in my original post sport.......when you made the comment that violence in our society has NOTHING to do with breakdown of the nuclear family, as if that is fact, it came off as something I'd read on facebook......by the, ya know, experts.....
"I made my contribution in my original post sport."
- So your excuse for content-free trolling in one post is that you... posted something else in the past? You accuse others of being trolls, but the only person posting things that contain no arguments but only attempts at mockery... is you.
"you made the comment that violence in our society has NOTHING to do with breakdown of the nuclear family, as if that is fact"
- Your position that the violence in society is caused to any significant extent by the demise of the nuclear family is belied by the fact that the nuclear family (not a traditional or extended human family, I might add) has broken down all over the developed world, but the US is unique in its depravity and violence. So what's the distinct set of factors that sets the US apart? It ain't that.
"it came off as something I'd read on facebook"
- What is your weird obsession with facebook about?
Al, what you don't have in Europe is the right of free speech.
Lol, in reality, you lost that right a long time ago in the US as well. It's just a "right" on paper at this point.
After the recent Missouri v Biden decision, we appear to still be in the game.
As of August 25th, when the Digital Service Act goes into effect in the EU, Europe will have codified censorship. There's something to be proud of.
Nah, that's one temporary injunction very slightly limiting the scope with which federal agencies can police social media in their official capacity. It's peeing into the ocean, hardly time for you to be partying yet when journalists are still being charged under the espionage act.
What you gave us is important empirical evidence.
Thank you for covering this, Lee.
As these types of criminals never have lawfully registered firearms or CCPs and are only going to continue committing violent crimes, the Feds should work with the local prosecutors and charge these assholes with Federal gun charges and employ mandatory sentencing - get them off the street and violent crimes committed with firearms will go down.
I'm afraid your society is already far too broken and dysfunctional for such overly simplistic ideas to work in the slightest. America already has one of the most bloated, enormous prison populations in the world, not least because the American public just loves it when politicians pass harsh mandatory sentencing for nonviolent crimes into law, further swelling the encarcerated masses... this prison industry is extraordinarily costly both in terms of public money, but also the social impact; prisons are simply training grounds for criminals and when they're released, do you think society will be improved? You're doomed as a cohesive country i fear, and precisely because of a public that doesn't understand the problem and reaches for simplistic fixes.
And your solution is? You offer clichés which may have a scintilla of utility. For example, declining to prosecute shoplifting in San Francisco has led to rampant theft. It is non-violent, no incarceration, and non sane.
Well you're making an unjustified assumption. Two, actually. Firstly you're assuming that someone who correctly describes a problem is obliged to provide you with a solution. And secondly you're assuming that there IS a solution. But the US is far, far too far gone for any solution at this point in time, in my opinion.
If you'd done better work on social investment in the postwar decades perhaps you'd be in a different position now, but that time has passed.
I see your logic. It makes sense from your perspective. My perspective is different. I don't think that our society is past redemption. In fact, I see hope in some trends, such as school vouchers allowing some black parents to escape non-functional schools for their children. And while much good has come from many government programs, so has much harm; for example the destruction of poor but vibrant communities in the "blight removal" craze of the 70s.
It is hopeless to debate Mr Green. He sits from his armchair in some unknown European country making declarations about the issues in America. His declarations are straight out of MSM propaganda against conservatives using statistics that are equally questionable. None of his proclamations include the nuances we are trying discuss.
I would suggest that what Lee was pointing out was that most of these particular senseless murders were done by teenagers.
And, that have sadly increased after the demoralization and sweeping mischaracterization of our police. Exacerbated by the Soros funded district attorney’s who give crimes a pass in our legal system. We as adults and leaders have created this crime wave by giving children the message that they can do what they want without consequences.
I don't think he's European AT ALL. What European do you know that says "Oh please" or better "Oh puhlease" as he did above?
Fake news from a fake European. An American hater from within.
Oh please, spare us all the relativist "your perspective, my perspective" stuff. It's either true that the people of the US will reform their government and society, or It's not true. And anyone who believes that a terminally ignorant and impoverished American population is either capable of or willing to make even modest changes to society is just dreaming at this point. Can you even think of a VAGUELY likely pathway to a democratic system? Even within five or six generations? Generations we don't have the luxury of taking for granted.
We define words and goals differently. I believe that I live in a messy, complex democratic republic that, based on immigration choices, is envied by much of the world. Ignorant and impoverished? Relative to what society? Or is it relative to a utopian ideal that exists nowhere?
The age old question: why are we such a violent society? The utter disregard for human life displayed here is nauseating. The young woman walking over the victim's mangled body concerned about her phone crystalized these murders for me. And the perpetrators are so young! So hardened. My heart hurts for these immigrants, desperately working their asses off to build a better life. I'm sickened to read this, but grateful for your reporting, Lee.
People don't like when I say it but when a culture doesn't value life from the womb to the natural tomb, why should they apply a different standard in daily life?
Go check out Sound of Freedom. There are a lot of very evil people on our planet. Zero regard for other human life.
Not why are we a violent society- that the f- has happened to black youth? That’s who is doing the killing- evil culture, evil people
The US was founded in violence, many of you obsess over violence, fantasise about violent retribution, and employ violence to enrich your country, government etc. It's a violent country, that simple I'm afraid.
what country was not born of violence
You'd have to define "born", but the short answer is that relatively few countries could claim to have committed the level of genocidal violence that the US did to acquire its territory. And also there's the little matter that it's still doing it to many other countries as well! Haha.
Henry Rodgers is that you?
Thank you for this piece. For 20 years, I’ve been moderating focus groups with Americans who live in poverty, often homeless or living in projects, section 8 or other income adjusted buildings as part of community development/block grant or fair housing studies. The people I’ve met, of every race, color or creed, from all over the world, want their local government and public housing agency to do something about crime. To fix the broken security doors on their buildings, to stop the drug dealers from propping open doors and doing business in stairwells, who rob the elderly tenants, who make their community so unsafe mothers keep their kids indoors. All ask for more police. The defund movement, no cash bail, reduced charges, and anything else that keeps criminals from being accountable for their actions adds new victims to the altar of “social justice” and is paid by the blood and treasure of the poorest and truly most vulnerable in every city. And our government ignores them. There are no funds to fix security at low income housing. But there’s plenty of government and foundation cash for the trendy causes (climate change? Systemic racism? gun control?” that make life harder on the voiceless, regular people and empower those who seek to victimize them.
Just heartbreaking! Lee - what a story!
Virtually every family in the United States, at some stage, fit the bill as described by the Statue of Liberty:
"“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Our ruling class has stolen that lamp to burn the very same masses. If anyone here thinks they're safe, they're a fool.
Reclaim the lamp.
Perhaps we add evil, right & wrong, personal responsibility back in to our conversation & teachings. The former moral high ground has been replaced. Seems, as humans, we can only handle so many rules. Noticed how many of the perpetrators were juveniles who may only know the Woke rules.
Thanks for highlighting these crimes and shining a light on the victims. We can all conclude that cowardly criminals often prey on the invisible. It reminds me of an outstanding series on HBO from 2016 called "The Night of."
I kept waiting for that list to end as I was scrolling. It just didn’t. For a horribly long time. 😮💨
Very chilling that we’ve got all this murder and mayhem that is being committed by our youth, the lagging indicators in our destruction of the family and law enforcement.
Excellent piece -- much truth, sobering.
Everybody has to submit to white guilt navel-gazing.