How would you solve inner city problems?

[FreeWits]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

 

[Kal'Stang]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

As far as gangs go...I'd declare martial law in the areas that they hang out and move most, not all, of the police force (and if necessary the national guard) into that area to conduct searches and confiscate any gun that is not legally owned and arrest those that have them. Most gang members have a rap sheet. Which generally means that they also are not allowed to own guns. The fact that so many shootings happen in those areas anyways should be enough evidence under martial law to be able to go and search every gang member house in those areas. With a warrant of course. I know...easier said than done.

As for violence outside of the gangs and employment...that is a MUCH harder question to answer. An answer that cannot possibly fill one single post. At least not in detail. Most of the things that I believe would work I've already said before in many threads. For now lets just say that improving education would be a big first step. The why's and hows I'll not get into at this time.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

Put the perps on probation, ask for ever more tax money to support race hustling poverty pimps and hope for change is the Chicago solution. A fish rots from the head down. As long as the criminal 'just us' system refuses to take thugs off the street permanently then witnesses' fear of retribution will trump any hope that gangs will be stopped.

The moronic idea that 20 'street drug' users/buyers are not the real problem and that the problem is really just the guy now making a (tax free) living selling them drugs has doomed the 'war on drugs' to failure. Prohibition simply does not work so long as demand legally exists.

 

[chuckiechan]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

I would use “factory busses”. Company busses would pick up employees at two or three places and take them to the job.

Regarding law and order, more stop and frisk. Most of the troublemakers are on searchable parole or probation. Stay on their asses.

 

[Middle_Ground]

My answer is pretty simple desegregate and I'm not talking about by color I'm talking about by class.
Stop putting all poor people in one area and that problem is solved.
Allow people with drug felons the opportunity to actually be able to go to school.
You know it's funny some of the absolute worse inner cities have been changed by gentrification. When people want sometging they sure know how to solve a problem.
Think Harlem NY, Mission Hill MA, 4th ward Georgia.
Chicago is just another city with all the same problems as everywhere else and when people decide they want to change it they will.
Remember we have a drug "crisis" right now although at the same time we have a drug war.

 

[Middle_Ground]

I would use “factory busses”. Company busses would pick up employees at two or three places and take them to the job.

Regarding law and order, more stop and frisk. Most of the troublemakers are on searchable parole or probation. Stay on their asses.

What would you do with the young man or woman that was raised by the drug addicted parent, couldn't finish school because parents wouldn't feed and cloth him/her earned a drug felony at 17, 18, 19 now they can't get a job or vote for that matter?

 

[dex4974]

Stop putting all poor people in one area and that problem is solved.

How exactly do we do that? There is segregation because some areas are ****tier/cheaper and that's where poor people go. I certainly don't want the filth living anywhere near me so I'll continue living in areas they can't afford.

 

[Gaius46]

There are lots of inner cities with problems. Why would you think a one size fits all solution would work for all?

 

[Middle_Ground]

How exactly do we do that? There is segregation because some areas are ****tier/cheaper and that's where poor people go. I certainly don't want the filth living anywhere near me so I'll continue living in areas they can't afford.

I don't consider being poor "filth".... you know anyone can end up poor. Maybe that's part of the problem right there.

 

[dex4974]

I don't consider being poor "filth".... you know anyone can end up poor. Maybe that's part of the problem right there.

Most poor people are poor because they're either stupid or lack self control and are addicts of some kind. Intelligent and well put together people are not living in ghettos. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. How do we do that? Varying costs are why there is so much segregation.

 

[Middle_Ground]

Most poor people are poor because they're either stupid or lack self control and are addicts of some kind. Intelligent and well put together people are not living in ghettos. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. How do we do that? Varying costs are why there is so much segregation.

Really so poor people are poor because they want to be. There are no poor people that have fallen in hard times and just need a hand up or to be shown there is another way?
We spend millions on housing "projects" why not give that poor family a voucher to move out of that project, which in turn gets their kids a better education which in turn moves the entire family out of poverty.
I'm not talking about the mentally ill or drug addicts you know those are not the only people there...right?

 

[dex4974]

Really so poor people are poor because they want to be.

This is clearly an issue that makes you a bit emotional. First of all, I never said it's because they want to be. I said most of the time it is because they are stupid or have self control issues.

 

[SonOfDaedalus]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

I would end the drug war. I would completely decriminalize all drugs and instead focus on education, prevention and treatment. This would hurt street gangs the same way ending prohibition hurt the mafia.

I would require unemployed single mothers on welfare to work as babysitters in daycare centers. Other single mothers would then be free to look for work because daycare would be extremely cheap.

I would pay poor children bonuses for good grades and attendance.

Once a single mother is on welfare, benefits would not increase if she had more children.

Finally, I agree with the push now to break up large housing complexes and spread them throughout the community.

 

[Middle_Ground]

This is clearly an issue that makes you a bit emotional. First of all, I never said it's because they want to be. I said most of the time it is because they are stupid or have self control issues.

Lol no emotions involved. But whatever. I'd rather come up with solutions than call people names.

 

[Middle_Ground]

I would end the drug war. I would completely decriminalize all drugs and instead focus on education, prevention and treatment. This would hurt street gangs the same way ending prohibition hurt the mafia.

I would require unemployed single mothers on welfare to work as babysitters in daycare centers. Other single mothers would then be free to look for work because daycare would be extremely cheap.

I would pay poor children bonuses for good grades and attendance.

Once a single mother is on welfare, benefits would not increase if she had more children.

Finally, I agree with the push now to break up large housing complexes and spread them throughout the community.

I agree with you on some if that. I do not want single mothers as childcare workers. There are so many programs right now for single mothers to work as child/elderly care workers it's pitiful and all it does is keep them in the same situation there in.

I think Im not positive but I think the no increase in benefits for more kids is already in place.

I don't think it's a good idea to pay kids for grades, that kind of stuff only breeds more entitlement. You should not be compensated for **** your supposed to do. (Not sure I'm saying that right).

My last thing is subsidies and such should never be lifetime unless there is a disability.

 

[dex4974]

Lol no emotions involved. But whatever. I'd rather come up with solutions than call people names.

I pointed out why I think your solution is nonsense and you didn't respond. What I said about the poor is true. We live in a sensitive culture so sometimes the truth comes off wrong.

 

[Middle_Ground]

I pointed out why I think your solution is nonsense and you didn't respond. What I said about the poor is true. We live in a sensitive culture so sometimes the truth comes off wrong.

Can you point out where you pointed out my solution as nonsense. Maybe I didn't see it I only remember you saying you didn't want them living next to you or something like that.

 

[dex4974]

Can you point out where you pointed out my solution as nonsense. Maybe I didn't see it I only remember you saying you didn't want them living next to you or something like that.

Are you serious? Maybe you should try to actually read what people write. Not only did I criticize your nonsense solution, I brought up my criticism again when you ignored it the first time.

 

[Middle_Ground]

Are you serious? Maybe you should try to actually read what people write. Not only did I criticize your nonsense solution, I brought up my criticism again when you ignored it the first time.

You asked a question I answered it, then you went on to tell me I'm being emotional.
What's your solution?
Other than saying poor are stupid or lack self control. Pointing out what's wrong with sometging is easy finding a way to fix it is usually not.
I'll continue to go by my great grandmother's golden rule "when you point at someone remember there are 4 fingers pouring back at you"

You know what's funny I had a friend a few years back middle class guy. And his attitude was somewhat like yours. He said something similar to you none of those people I don't want them in my area yada yada. I asked him how he knew they weren't already there? If they went to work everyday and a government subsidy was helping them with rent how did he know his next door neighbors weren't one of those people?
He sputtered and saud he knew all his neighbors. So I guess that translates to and I know how all there bills are paid.

 

[rickc]

I would end the drug war. I would completely decriminalize all drugs and instead focus on education, prevention and treatment. This would hurt street gangs the same way ending prohibition hurt the mafia.

I would require unemployed single mothers on welfare to work as babysitters in daycare centers. Other single mothers would then be free to look for work because daycare would be extremely cheap.

I would pay poor children bonuses for good grades and attendance.

Once a single mother is on welfare, benefits would not increase if she had more children.

Finally, I agree with the push now to break up large housing complexes and spread them throughout the community.

end the war on drugs. take that source of funding out of.criminal hands

Welfare to work programs. jobs programs in the inner cities. give companies incentives to locate there. heavy policing to protect them.

social programs to help single mothers with the issues of raising children and incentives to keep the father in the home.

promote education as the true path to success. keep the kids in a.school where they can get an education and feed them where they can concentrate and have proper nutrition in their diet.

it will take several generations but what we have done for the last 50 or 60 years sure hasn't helped. pay them to stay out of.sight and out of mind.

 

[dex4974]

You asked a question I answered it, then you went on to tell me I'm being emotional.
What's your solution?
Other than saying poor are stupid or lack self control. Pointing out what's wrong with sometging is easy finding a way to fix it is usually not.
I'll continue to go by my great grandmother's golden rule "when you point at someone remember there are 4 fingers pouring back at you"

You know what's funny I had a friend a few years back middle class guy. And his attitude was somewhat like yours. He said something similar to you none of those people I don't want them in my area yada yada. I asked him how he knew they weren't already there? If they went to work everyday and a government subsidy was helping them with rent how did he know his next door neighbors weren't one of those people?
He sputtered and saud he knew all his neighbors. So I guess that translates to and I know how all there bills are paid.

There will always be a poor underclass in every society. In America that underclass doesn't go hungry and most of it has access to the internet. All things considered they are doing alright. Something that could help the poverty/crime rate is ending the war on drugs. Putting people behind bars for nonviolent crimes is a bit draconian in my opinion, and ending the war would be a huge hit to the black market. Gangs from here to Mexico would disintegrate, and the youth in poor communities wouldn't so often have their lives ****ed up by early exposure to drugs and drug dealing. We could also introduce universal healthcare like every other first world country on Earth. That would go a long way towards alleviating pressure that poor people deal with. Outside of that I think they just need to suck it up. They have a full belly and a roof over their heads.

 

[Middle_Ground]

There will always be a poor underclass in every society. In America that underclass doesn't go hungry and most of it has access to the internet. All things considered they are doing alright. Something that could help the poverty/crime rate is ending the war on drugs. Putting people behind bars for nonviolent crimes is a bit draconian in my opinion, and ending the war would be a huge hit to the black market. Gangs from here to Mexico would disintegrate, and the youth in poor communities wouldn't so often have their lives ****ed up by early exposure to drugs and drug dealing. We could also introduce universal healthcare like every other first world country on Earth. That would go a long way towards alleviating pressure that poor people deal with. Outside of that I think they just need to suck it up. They have a full belly and a roof over their heads.

I've heard several people here say ending the war on drugs by making them legal I'm not so sure about that. I'm a little conflicted on the whole war on drugs. The things that really, really bother me about it is the 10-100 year sentences and even for those that don't get those sentences their chances of obtaining education and jobs to actually get them out of poverty are just taken from them for life in some instances.
And yes the poor in the US are probably better off than other places but thats not what I'm talking about. I would like to see if we can bring as many people out of the poor shadow as we can.

 

[apdst]

My answer is pretty simple desegregate and I'm not talking about by color I'm talking about by class.
Stop putting all poor people in one area and that problem is solved.
Allow people with drug felons the opportunity to actually be able to go to school.
You know it's funny some of the absolute worse inner cities have been changed by gentrification. When people want sometging they sure know how to solve a problem.
Think Harlem NY, Mission Hill MA, 4th ward Georgia.
Chicago is just another city with all the same problems as everywhere else and when people decide they want to change it they will.
Remember we have a drug "crisis" right now although at the same time we have a drug war.

And break up those Democrat strong districts? Yeah, that'll never happenm

 

[Cordelier]

Inner cities have extensive problems with a lack of employment, gangs and violence, etc. What do you think would be a good way to help solve these inner city problems, realistically?

I think the answer is a renewed War on Poverty. Back in the 60's and 70's, we made a real effort to reduce poverty... not just welfare programs, but also job training and community and regional development, and it made some serious reductions in the poverty rate. The poverty rate in 1979 was almost half of what it was in 1959, despite the fact that the overall economy was nowhere near as strong - this was a direct result of investing in people and the places where they lived. The problem now is that we still spend the same amount of money relative to GDP as we did in the 70's, but now it pretty much just goes into welfare. That's not solving the problem. We need to start taking a more pro-active approach again.

To give you a feel of what I'm talking about, here's a chart I did up a few years ago:



The black line shows the overall poverty rate (shown on the right vertical axis). The shaded areas show Federal spending on anti-poverty programs as a percentage of GDP (shown on the left vertical axis) - red is traditional welfare spending, green is spending on community & regional development, blue is spending on job training programs and yellow is spending on social services. Add them all together, and you'll see what we're spending on anti-poverty programs is just as much as we've ever spent, only today all of that spending is absorbed by welfare. We're just throwing money at the problem. If we want to start making things better, then we need to start putting back into the blue and green areas again and get people working on rebuilding their lives and their neighborhoods.

 

[JC Callender]

As far as gangs go...I'd declare martial law in the areas that they hang out and move most, not all, of the police force (and if necessary the national guard) into that area to conduct searches and confiscate any gun that is not legally owned and arrest those that have them. Most gang members have a rap sheet. Which generally means that they also are not allowed to own guns. The fact that so many shootings happen in those areas anyways should be enough evidence under martial law to be able to go and search every gang member house in those areas. With a warrant of course. I know...easier said than done.

As for violence outside of the gangs and employment...that is a MUCH harder question to answer. An answer that cannot possibly fill one single post. At least not in detail. Most of the things that I believe would work I've already said before in many threads. For now lets just say that improving education would be a big first step. The why's and hows I'll not get into at this time.

Sounds good, but do you think it's realistic? People will be screaming "RACISM" in the planning stages, since the majority of those in most inner cities are minorities. I live outside of Detroit and have seen it happen too many times. We have a small island called Belle Isle with a bridge that connects it to Detroit. The state took over and cleaned it up since Detroit let it fall into disrepair and started running plates of cars that went over the bridge and what do you know...they found one felon after another. Of course it was considered racism (inner city politics). I think we have to work on defeating identity politics first and start to get competition in city governments instead of just Democrats for the most part. Then maybe follow Rudy's example in NYC and start with the small stuff like trash pick up and working utilities to get people feeling hopeful again and build on that. Not that this would be easy either, but for a place like Detroit, maybe a little more realistic.