Thank you, Terrell, for your lead. I will follow up on it this week. Let's be clear folks, just because I think Senator Berglin's bill is a bad idea that doesn't mean I approve of graffiti. Tagging is intrusive, tacky, aggressive and disrespectful. Furthermore, it often presents a serious safety problem as one of our members pointed out.
I've dealt with graffiti on my property and didn't like it at all. And I get very upset whenever I find out about a struggling small business in my neighborhood that's been tagged. However, I doubt Senator Berglin's bill will do much to fix the problem. Especially if most tagging is done by suburban adults as other list members suggest. But as for children in the city who do tag, we would serve their victims better, as well as everyone else concerned, if our efforts were directed towards rehabilitation and education instead of punishment. Because we live in a fragmented and hyper-individualistic society where bullying on the part of our national leaders is exalted, many children (not to mention adults) are oblivious to the effects of their actions on others. A police force based on the community service model, rather than the military occupation model like ours, would be an effective tagging deterrent. Those on the list who have enlightened me regarding the demographics of taggers have confirmed my suspicion that the real purpose of Senator Berglin's bill is to pander to conservatives who claim that Democrats are soft on crime. If passed, I'm afraid her bill will have a devastating effect on low-income minority parents who are already stressed out to the max. If I were indulging in black and white thinking, as one of the list member's indicated yesterday, then I'd be scapegoating parents for the actions of their children. But I think the problem of graffiti is more complex than that. Effective solutions will only come from exploring root causes. By the way, I may be wrong, but I've perceived less tagging over the past several years with the exception of antiwar graffiti, which I think is motivated, in part, by the vandalism of antiwar lawn signs and bumper stickers.------Peter Schmitz CARAG Virtue is an excellent thing and we should all strive after it, but it can sometimes be a little depressing.-----Barbara Pym <Excellent Women> TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
