Ah, Good 'Ol Boston

[pernox]

Think about that for a second...I read one comment that basically said, "for those that can legally, gets guns...

How else are you going to protect yourself?

I understand perhaps the railing against insensitivity. But the final distillation of the quote you have attacked is that you can't count on anyone to help you. Either you protect yourself, you move, or you cross your fingers and pray. What are the alternatives?

 

[BigMike]

You know, I was in the process of writing another post, my first post, when I came across this thread.

I must say, I find some of the comments made by some of you guys to be very uninformed and downright upsetting...and that's me trying to be mindful of my word choice. I know this is the Internet, but you guys DO understand that we are talking about real people, actual people here, right?

I swear, I wish I could live in the fantasy world that some of you all obviously live in.

More "feel-good bullshit"? Really? There are parents out there mourning the deaths of their children, IN ACTUALITY. Yes, there are innocent victims also that get caught up in the violence. And yes, despite what a lot of you may think, there is a community out there that WANTS there to be change, that wants progress and a cessation of violence on our streets. Is it really as easy as arming all of the individuals that can and should be legally armed? Think about that for a second...I read one comment that basically said, "for those that can legally, gets guns...if you have a problem, shoot a mofo in the head...sure, one or two are gonna die, but eventually we'll clean the place up real good, right? Right?"

Really, guys? Is that really how you see the problem?

And then another comment that basically said, "move out". Because life is JUST THAT SIMPLE. Cracks me up in its simplicity. I was born and raised in Dorchester, and proudly. Bought my first home here. Plan on raising my kids here. Work a good job here. Have LOTS of my family here, at least 80%. Sure, let me just up and move away from everything I've ever known and loved...that'll solve the problem.

Next time there's a real discussion on the violence problem in Boston, lemme know, I will more than gladly participate. This is obviously not one...

Change comes from within. Until a majority of people want that positive kind of change, the violence will be there.

And until then, MA should stop disenfranchising their citizens from their right to protect themselves.

 

[namedpipes]

...Is it really as easy as arming all of the individuals that can and should be legally armed? Think about that for a second...I read one comment that basically said, "for those that can legally, gets guns...if you have a problem, shoot a mofo in the head...sure, one or two are gonna die, but eventually we'll clean the place up real good, right? Right?"...

You're probably referring to my comment, which, although made in jest, has a grain of truth in it, too.

A very wise NES Alumni once said: "What you tolerate, you validate; What you put up with, you deserve!"

Nobody is infiltrating the streets of Dorchester, down from Manchester By The Sea, to sell drugs and rent out women.

Hoodlums from Wellesley are not slinking into town to rob your stores, mug your pedestrians and drive by shoot your playgrounds.

Note that I am not stating that all crime in your community comes from within. Neither *should* you have to deal with it alone.

What you cannot do without being a hypocrite, is claim that society has a duty to come in and fix that you refuse to even try to fix, or even acknowledge. "What you tolerate, you validate; What you put up with, you deserve!" There is a not so different phrase from the Bible, that I leave as an exercise to the student to research.

By the way, if you and your community collectively decided that enough is enough, that you will take back your home no matter the cost, there would be terrible bloodshed, but afterward, your streets would be safe again. This is an prediction based on opion, not a recommendation.

"What you tolerate, you validate; What you put up with, you deserve!"

 

[BigMike]

Actually I should point out that violence will ALWAYS be in your neighborhood. Bad things are gonna happen to good people.

There aren't any protests, t-shirts, sit-ins, ad campaigns, laws that are gonna stop it.

 

[center442]

You know, I was in the process of writing another post, my first post, when I came across this thread.

I must say, I find some of the comments made by some of you guys to be very uninformed and downright upsetting...and that's me trying to be mindful of my word choice. I know this is the Internet, but you guys DO understand that we are talking about real people, actual people here, right?

I swear, I wish I could live in the fantasy world that some of you all obviously live in.

More "feel-good bullshit"? Really? There are parents out there mourning the deaths of their children, IN ACTUALITY. Yes, there are innocent victims also that get caught up in the violence. And yes, despite what a lot of you may think, there is a community out there that WANTS there to be change, that wants progress and a cessation of violence on our streets. Is it really as easy as arming all of the individuals that can and should be legally armed? Think about that for a second...I read one comment that basically said, "for those that can legally, gets guns...if you have a problem, shoot a mofo in the head...sure, one or two are gonna die, but eventually we'll clean the place up real good, right? Right?"

Really, guys? Is that really how you see the problem?

And then another comment that basically said, "move out". Because life is JUST THAT SIMPLE. Cracks me up in its simplicity. I was born and raised in Dorchester, and proudly. Bought my first home here. Plan on raising my kids here. Work a good job here. Have LOTS of my family here, at least 80%. Sure, let me just up and move away from everything I've ever known and loved...that'll solve the problem.

Next time there's a real discussion on the violence problem in Boston, lemme know, I will more than gladly participate. This is obviously not one...

marc, welcome to NES. I hope you stick around and interact with the folks here.

Regarding the violence in Boston (or anywhere, for that matter) I am sympathetic to the good people who are stuck in that situation. Parents should not have to bury their children. But the hard question is what to do about it. I'll tell you that I honestly don't know.

What I do know is this: holding peace rallies and increasing social programs isn't working. The very people who would benefit from those programs won't participate in them. The people who advocate those things have good intentions, but they're preaching to the choir. That's why folks here, myself included, believe it's simply feel-good hand wringing.

No one is making fun of the grieving families. What people are criticizing is the foolishness of repeating the same actions that haven't worked up to now. Perhaps it's time to try a different methodology?

Sadly, sometimes the only thing that deters violence is meeting it with equal violence. Non-violent protests can sway politics, given enough time. When you're confronted by a street thug...not so much.

 

[peshooter]

...increasing social programs isn't working. The very people who would benefit from those programs won't participate in them.

I think it's not so much about getting gang members to take summer jobs as it is to keep kids from getting into that situation in the first place. Give them a positive environment to spend time in and make some money instead of hanging around the neighborhood with nothing to do. I think it's a positive thing but I haven't seen statistics or anything on how effective it is.

 

[center442]

I think it's not so much about getting gang members to take summer jobs as it is to keep kids from getting into that situation in the first place. Give them a positive environment to spend time in and make some money instead of hanging around the neighborhood with nothing to do. I think it's a positive thing but I haven't seen statistics or anything on how effective it is.

Understood. My issue is that this shifts the responsibility for raising kids the right way from the parents and family to society in general. It is not my job to rear other people's children, nor should it be the government's. To me, it's almost like a threat: "If you don't give me a made-up job and amusements, I'm going to become a thug and victimize you!" If that's the new social contract that we have, then things are really FUBAR.

 

[pernox]

I think it's not so much about getting gang members to take summer jobs as it is to keep kids from getting into that situation in the first place. Give them a positive environment to spend time in and make some money instead of hanging around the neighborhood with nothing to do. I think it's a positive thing but I haven't seen statistics or anything on how effective it is.

This seems to be the problem - you can give them all you want, but until they want it bad enough to go out and earn it it won't mean a hill of beans. Where's the desire to go out and earn it come from? Parents, grandparents, other role models.

My Grandfather's first job after finishing his tour in Korea was digging graves at St. Joe's Cemetery here in Pittsfield. He pulled himself and his family up from that and retired rather comfortably a mile away from the beach in Plymouth with a bigass pool that I used to love swimming in. The moral of his story when he told it to me was "You gotta start somewhere, even if it's digging holes for dead people. If you dig a better hole than everybody else there, your hard work can take you places, and soon you'll be supervising somebody else digging the holes. Remember that. Hard work, no matter the job. Everybody's gotta start somewhere."

 

[peshooter]

I guess it always comes back to being a cultural thing. There is a general sentiment in some of these places that it's "ok" to never accomplish anything in life, that it's cool to drop out of school, etc. Especially when their parents, their friends, everyone around them is content to just sit around... And why would they want to bust their ass for minimum wage when they can make easy money selling drugs?

Sad situation and I don't know the answer...

 

[M1911]

Last weekend I chatted with a Boston police officer that I compete with. I asked him what the heck was going on in Boston. He said, basically, same old same old. Every summer the same sorts of things happen and this year isn't much different than last year.

 

[bandaid bandit]

I have an easy solution to the issue of gangs and gang related violence/killings/etc in and around Boston.

Arm the citizens, train and instruct them to put "two in the hat" of whomever they see wearing gang colors, comitting crimes and whatnot. There might be a few that get killed back, but as the gangs are thinned out it will become much more dangerous for them to act publicly. When walking down the street with their colors and their droopy pants earns a hail of bullets, they'll knock that stuff off.

Why waste a perfectly good hat?