Posted on 08/22/2014 5:51:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As the events in Ferguson, Missouri continue to unfold, a common excuse being offered for the riots and looting is poverty and income inequality.
An article written by retired NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar outlines what he calls the reasons for a coming race war that stems from class warfare and systemic racism. The article was so full of liberal talking points and delusional distortions that I had to take a break after each paragraph.
He, like others, claims that the rich are somehow holding back poor blacks in order to maintain control of their riches. He also claims the rich are hurting the poor by lobbying to cut food stamps, refusing to extend unemployment benefits and refusing to give relief to burden of student debt.
Everything that he mentioned is something that would require government intervention. In other words, the government could fix poverty if politicians would just all agree. Liberals have all reached a consensus that Ferguson’s rioting and looting are the results of poverty. Blaming criminal behavior on poverty is not a new hypothesis. Sociologists and criminologists have done studies on the topic dating back to the 1960s. According to the Heritage Foundation, the real cause of crime is the breakdown of the family:
* Over the past thirty years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers.
* High-crime neighborhoods are characterized by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers.
* State-by-state analysis by Heritage scholars indicates that a 10% increase in the percentage of children living in single-parent homes leads typically to a 17% increase in juvenile crime.
* The rate of violent teenage crime corresponds with the number of families abandoned by fathers.
* The father's authority and involvement in raising his children are also a great buffer
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“Poverty Is Not The Cause of Criminal Behavior”
I am living proof of THAT!
I am struggling along as always and still not a criminal.
My grand parents are an example as well. They came here with absolutely NOTHING. They could not even speak English.
They struggled TOO. AND at that time, there was NO social legislation and no safety net to assist struggling families.
They got themselves through a depression, a world war and everything else, without resorting to crime or whining about how things were.
I don’t GET a crowd of freeloaders who have existed ALL THEIR LIVES on the taxpayers’ dime and STILL complain and demand more and more.
Two things hurt blacks in America.
Blacks and the Democrat Political Party
The Democrats GIVE things to blacks. In return for votes. But the things they give them only keep them trapped in the inner cities still poor, still largely uneducated, still unemployed.
You see the Democrats only give enough to keep the blacks dependent on them. Never enough for them to break free.
For their part the Blacks keep electing Democrats even though that never gets them out of their entrapment. Blacks also use racism as an excuse for everything. Not marrying, having more children then they can afford to have, lack of education and lack of opportunity. They buy into the liberal democrat political lie that racism IS the reason for all their problems and nothing is their fault but the fault of rich white folks. Rich white liberals not included because “they care”!
Thanks, Democrats! Your POLICIES caused this. Thanks for destroying The American Family, Jerks!
Agreed. My stepfather lived in a tent for a time when he was a kid, and he worked his way into the Middle Class — even upper Middle Class — by the time he died. He never committed any crime to do it. On the flip side, Bernie Madoff wasn’t exactly poor.
my family came from Glasgow Scotland.
we have no criminals in my family. none.
criminal behavior is not an economic condition. if libs believe that, are they ok with no taxation on those making less then $50k/yr? (less then 3% of all taxes come from this category)
“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... like others, claims that the rich are somehow holding back poor blacks in order to maintain control of their riches. He also claims the rich are hurting the poor by lobbying to cut food stamps, refusing to extend unemployment benefits and refusing to give relief to burden of student debt”
Lew Alcindor is a hypocrite if he has not given away all of his wealth to take care of the problem of the poor before he lectures others.
Lew Alcindor is also not very bright. The goobermint has already spent hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the “war on poverty”, Lew, and poverty has only gotten worse. That’s because redistributing wealth is not a solution to poverty. The solution is to work, use your money wisely, and have a stable home life.
Of course, I realize this is not what “the community” may want to hear. The preferred message there is apparently that “the man” is keeping them down. The sense of victimhood appears to go hand in hand with other bad life choices.
Unfortunately, we have created this situation by offering benefits to women and children if the father is not officially present. And if the father is not officially present he has no authority. And if the father is not officially present, he is encouraged to further abandon his family responsibilities.
We also have a system of unequal justice where the rich are less likely to get charged, get better lawyers when they are charged, are less likely to get convicted, and if convicted are more likely to get probation or suspended sentences. The poor are more likely to get charged, are unable to afford a lawyer, are less likely to make bail. Then their court-appointed lawyer negotiates a plea deal that results in real jail time. They are separated from their families, fired from their jobs, and then have a record that makes it harder to get a new job when they get out.
Their abandoned sons are more likely to join a gang. And the process is repeated in the next generation.
This is not just a black problem. As the number of whites and latinos join the welfare roles, the problem grows.
I suspect that there is a correlation between poverty and crime/lawlessness. But my guess is that an irresponsible and destructive mindset causes one to commit crimes rather than apply oneself to diligent effort. So this mindset which cause crime, also causes poverty.
I believe that poor people who apply their best efforts towards constructive advancement rather than destructive goals will succeed in creating a better life for themselves and their families.
Creating this ‘can do’ mindset should be a goal of the church, and of well meaning private citizens.
Let’s say it simply. It isn’t lack of money or possessions or even social status. It is a poverty of spirit, of intelligence, of morals and inner philosophy of life and what it means to be a human in a civilized society. The underclass is self-perpetuating. There is a different DEFINITION of good/evil entrenched from birth in people whose ‘families’ indoctrinate them in aberrance. All that non-criminal families call wrong, these thug-machine families call right. The prey wants to live, and sees the predator as the enemy-the predators consider the prey fair game and their desire to kill normal. Until that changes- if it can be-all society can do is contain or eliminate the predators.
Until blacks and others address this human moral problem the fundamental problems will continue unbridled. In the black community it has become an accepted and celebrated part of their culture.
‘It is a poverty of spirit, of intelligence, of morals and inner philosophy of life and what it means to be a human in a civilized society.’
Well put.
And, IMHO, the offering of benefits to women and children at the levels at which they are offered (when considering the myriad of benefits available from various taxpayer-funded sources), actually encourages them to have more and more children with absent fathers.
The single, proximate cause of everything afflicting black Americans, outside of sickle cell anemia and high blood pressure, is sex outside of marriage.
It is no surprise that most black Americans strive to be hypersexual, as they are propagandized with this from a very young age. Likewise, “black culture” strongly encourages sexual license.
The proof of this would be made manifest if some wealthy black person, such as Mr. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, were to set up a black community designed solely for couples devoted to monogamy and raising their children as a couple.
No, zero, birth control or abortion, but otherwise good OB/GYN and pediatric services. Family oriented culture and religion, with charter schools that encouraged chaperoned gender integration from a young age.
No single outsiders or transients allowed in, nor any other representatives of “poisonous culture.”
What could be expected? A growing birthrate, very little abuse of alcohol or drugs, children oriented to success not just survival, zero gangs and very low other crime, and surprisingly good academic achievement.
What could also be expected? Extreme hatred directed at the community from liberals and leftist radicals, who would make tremendous efforts to outlaw, undermine, attack, and corrupt that community. They would be willing to commit millions of dollars in an effort to harm such families, and to take control of the situation to prevent any successful outcome.
As such, that community could only likely survive in the reddest of red states, or it would likely be overwhelmed with money draining litigation, serious opposition by liberal state and federal judges, and the bitterest of attacks by NGOs and leftist organizations. Likewise it would either be vilified by the media, or preferably ignored altogether, in the hope it would fail without publicity. Some real determined evil at work to stop it.
>This is not just a black problem
It is a cultural problem. It is about honor!
With welfare creating an authority gap by eliminating fathers and grand fathers as clan leaders, young men find gangs as the answer to the void. In a gang they can find the cultural
solution for how they fit into the honor pecking order.
I heard that there is more Biblical reference to white collar crime (sin) than what a poor person would commit. Haven’t done that study yet. Often wonder how the Messiah will run the diamond district or the gold mines. Won’t be easy to commit fraud or embezzle when the angels and the resurrected from the tribulation are policing the world. No worries about transparent governments, closed door meetings, setting prices. Best of all, BABY BOOM!
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