where do kids get the guns from? (1 Viewer)

[conception_native_0123]

No we don't have Walmart per se. But I believe the company (Walmart) owns one of our supermarket chains (Asda)

per wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asda

In February 2021, the Issa brothers and TDR Capital acquired Asda. Walmart retains "an equity investment" in Asda, a seat on the board and "an ongoing commercial relationship"

 

[Isaac]

Gun violence and gun deaths are different statistics.

From personal experience, I've had hundreds of gun cases over the years and a very small percentage had a death involved.

The problem with the screenshot you posted isn't about death vs. injury. It's that it was sorted by frequency rather than rate.

It is the volume (frequency) of gun deaths in Texas that is in the low-to-mid 3000's.

And, interestingly, has NOT increased with the supposed proliferation of guns that liberals claim, since it's been that way since 2005.

 

[Saphirah]

Saphira, What exactly are you getting at?
I guess I'll just ask directly, Are you claiming that black people are inherently more criminal than others?
That is pretty dangerous ground. The notion that black people are more criminal than white has been a key element of white supremacism since the Nat Turner rebellion and the liberation of Haiti. It gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan and the lynching of thousands of black men.
Don't confuse correlation with causation.

I do think that the black community is more criminal than others, because that is exactly what the statistics are showing us.

The following part is just my opinion and the experiences i had, so it is not factually proven.
I do believe, that it has a lot to do with culture and the past, because everything that happens now, and every society and culture today is exactly like this because of the past.
Everything, including the slave trading, white people controlling the infrastructure in the past, the fact that slavery is prohibited only for around 100 years, and suppression is lifted by law since around 50 years depending on the country. All of that led to how things are today.
It is hard to explain that in a short post, because it is such a complex topic.

But hkc, be carefull overexaturating what other people are saying. By no means i am saying that black people are genetically more violent.
I do believe however that the culture of the black community today is the reason for their high crime statistics.

And i also do not believe that it is right to shut down every oppinion that speaks the statistical truth.
Which you tried to do, comparing my opinion to the Klu Klux Klan and lynching of thousand black men.

I understand that you have your opinion. And we can see that you are offended by ours. But this talk is not to get mad about each other, but to share different points of view on the topic. So please stay civil, because nobody will take you serious if you are just attacking everyone.

Also you can not change our opinion by attacking us. Everyone here is open to change their mind, as long as you show us statistics and prove. But right now the only proof is pointing at one direction. And that is exactly my opinion.

 

[Saphirah]

And NOW we get to the meat of this problem. There is no law that requires a private individual to be fair-minded. More precisely, there is no such law that it wouldn't overstep the "Freedom of Association" and "Security in one's business" ensconced in the U.S. Constitution. Just as "Freedom of Religion" has in the past been interpreted to include "Freedom FROM Religion" (for atheists), so "Freedom of Association" cannot block people who DON'T want to associate with certain others. And there have been many cases regarding privacy of business rights.

We are dealing with something that is ingrained in our evolution - the tendency to form selective groups. In anthropological studies, "MAN" is counted as a "gregarious" animal. If you look up that word, the first (therefore, primary) definition is "tending to associate with others of one's kind." The second definition relates to companionship.

How many "Karen" incidents have we seen? How many cases of anti-semitism or in fact any kind of religious persecution have we seen? The side effect of living in a free country is that people are free to isolate themselves within a smaller group and you cannot legally take that freedom away from them. In a sense, the extreme anti-vaxxers are another example of people who are choosing which herds to follow.

It comes down to this: The USA is a balancing act that allows or even encourages disparate and distinct groups to gather together in peace. We are ALL members of a living, breathing, MOSTLY peaceful but often self-contradictory uber-group. I make no excuses for ANY individual group that takes things to extremes. But here, folks have the right to associate with whom they please and to avoid those with whom they are displeased.

So... what about "non-discrimination in business" laws? Well, that gets into the question of Fourth Amendment rights (essentially, the right of privacy in our business dealings). I can't tell you at what level those laws become intrusive, but I will say that there are lawyers working attacking the fringes of those laws. A lawyer friend of mine once said that "law is made at the edges of conflicts." If you think about the really big decisions with the Supremes, they have had to rule MANY times regarding which law prevails when two laws are in conflict. So don't ask me what is legal. But I will say that there are enough different creeds that you KNOW some of them are in conflict as well.

In summary, while I certainly do not like the uneven and unfair way some people are treated, I question whether it will be possible to quickly improve matters. I don't think we know how without violating someone else's rights in the process.

That was a great post! I have never seen it from that perspective, so thank you for sharing.

 

[Saphirah]

Yes de jure discrimination by race is illegal now but de facto racial discrimination persists. This can be seen in continuing discrimination against blacks in housing and employment. It also persists in private enterprises and organizations not subject to federal anti-discriminaton laws.

Yes i agree to that. When i was changing apartments i was looking for someone who would take my place, so that i can leave earlier.
In germany you need to tell your landlord that you move out 3 months prior. BUT if you find someone who takes the room earlier, you can leave sooner.
Now, my landlord was around 70 years old and VERY conservative. And i had a beautifull young couple who earned much more than i did, small family, 3 people and everyone black.
So i showed them the house, showed them to my landlord. And he seriously told me they are not suitable because they are black.

So... that was a very bad experience. Not only for the couple, but also for me. I would have never thought that someone would be so stupid.

That aside, i also think that racism per se is only one side of the medal and should not be looked at alone.
The reason people are mistreated for their skin color is the same as any others. Be it intelligence, looks, behaviour, money etc...
People like to feel superior over others, so they are looking for any reasons to make themself taller by pushing others down.
It is a flaw in human nature.

In my school days i was treated horribly. Not because of a particular reason. These people saw me as someone weak and used every chance they could get to push me down. Be it looks, something i said, or just existing. (Don't worry everyone, that is long in the past.)
Skin color (sadly) is one of these "flaws". And that is because people know it is a sensitive topic. The same goes for being gay, muslim etc...
These people, who use these "flaws" and weaknesses are bullies.

And here you need to be really carefull crying racist, sexist etc...
There is a big difference between being RACIST or just using someones weakness.
Racists hate black people. Bullies don't.

And in my opinion, most "racist" today are bullies.
(My landlord is not though...)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

You are welcome, Saphirah. I call 'em like I see 'em. Often gets me chastised, but every now and then someone understands.

hkc, I would LOVE for the USA to have a better attitude towards its minorities. However, there is a lot of social momentum to overcome. There is another problem that we must consider, though.

"Relationship" is, by its very nature, a transitive subject - and a reflexive subject. There is no such thing as an isolated relationship because the word REQUIRES at least two participants.

Blacks and whites have a complex and unfortunate relationship. I'm white and I make it a point to not wallow in the muck. But here is the history of the black/white thing as seen through my 73-year-old eyes. After the end of World War II and the Korean war, and again after Vietnam, blacks came home with combat pay and VA benefits and other positive things as a result of their service, but the 1960s (post WW II and Korea) were a time of upheaval. Blacks (rightly) wanted equality. But fixing the laws wasn't enough. Now, 60 years later, there is STILL a great divide even though a couple of generations have been operating under better (admittedly imperfect) laws. People are looking to Congress to fix things and the last several things Congress tried to fix became so badly broken as to become useless. Congress has been throwing money around to education, to skills programs, to early education via Head Start, to college education via Affirmative Action, ... dozens of programs - and they haven't worked well enough to make things better.

Why is that? Because relationships are transitive and reflexive. As long as the black community waits for the white community to change, nothing will happen. This will sound like politics talking, and to a degree, maybe it is. But the BEST thing that could happen to this country is for the Dems to so badly screw the pooch that we end up for a while like Greece did, where there wasn't enough money to go around for all of those lavish benefits that their socialist-leaning government had offered. Because then the Liberal lie will be exposed. People will HAVE to work for food because there will be no money in the hands of those who used to hand it out. As long as large swaths of the black community remain on welfare and stay in run-down public housing, as long as they retain a "I'm a victim, you OWE me" mentality, as long as THEY don't change, we are going nowhere. To change a relationship, BOTH PARTICIPANTS must make the effort. And so far, everything that has been tried has partially or completely failed, because nobody expects the needy to change.

 

[conception_native_0123]

. I call 'em like I see 'em

especially when it comes to people like me, eh? =)