Death at age 24, give or take a few birthdays. If a disease caused such mortality there'd be massive federal funding as well as charity fundraisers to find a cure. But gangbanging is a social malady that largely takes the lives of people of color so we're unlikely to see such heroic efforts to halt this epidemic of violence. In treatment of any chronic disease like gangbanging the best strategy is to begin aggressive treatment early in the course of the disease to arrest it's spread and damage.
With gang members our criminal justice system does something different though. It's called "catch and release", and it reeks of past government programs like the Tuskeegee experiment.. Early in the gangbanger's "career" we let them skip school with impunity, because they were too much of a hassle for the administration there. We let them deal drugs, steal cars, etc.. with impunity, and once in a while we even give them a free vacation in Red Wing or similar environs. At age 18 our gangbanger's record is magicly wiped clean. We chase them around the 'hood, and give them the occasional free nights room and board at our county jail. If they really screw up we might give them a plea bargained stay of a few months, then dump them on an overworked parole officer who has no chance of tracking them as they play cat and mouse games in the 'hood's gang houses.
Now our gangbangers don't worry about formalities like concealed carry permits and such, they just pack heat, and lots of it. They don't bother with seat belts either- takes too much time to unbuckle when they bail from their latest stolen car with the police in pursuit. And despite the frequency of street prostitution and injectable drug use in the Hawthorne I've only seen one discarded condom and no needles over the years.
And so by age 24, give or take a birthday or two, our gangbangers are dead. Had said gangbangers been shown some consequences early on for their misbehavior they might have at least gotten a job and lived to ripe old age. Instead, by homicide, accidents, and AIDS we let gangbangers die before they become old enough to accomplish much of anything useful.
Demographers tell us that most people don't vote or buy a home until age 30 or so Many gang members are people of color, who tend to vote Democratic if they live long enough. Has "catch and release" killed off enough young people of color to throw elections to the Republicans? How many votes did Bush take Florida by? How many votes did Norm Coleman win by? Home ownership builds community and passes on an asset through the extended family. Would Hawthorne be a neighborhood of peaceful family homes instead of gang houses if the gangbangers lived past age 24?
hanging on in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
________________________________
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
