An Armed Robbery, Psychological Trauma, and My Daughter: Part II

The apparently uncontrollable rise in the seemingly senseless violence in the United States is directly related to economics. It's not guns. It's not race.They're a hideous manifestation of the problem, but they are not the cause.

There, I've presented my opinion. Accept it, dismiss it. Ignore it at your own risk. But, at least consider it. How many times have you heard someone say, "Follow the money." I have come to believe it. The country itself was formed in response to monetary inequalities, cloaked in a desire for the purity of freedom. We have been revising history since the first history books were written. The Civil War was not fought over slavery. At least not in regard to the idea that all men are created equal.

The idea that capitalism is somehow patriotic has led to the breakdown of society. The" American Dream" has nothing to do with Democracy. It thumbs its nose at it. A more accurate description of our society would be "Darwinian." It's survival of the wealthiest. However, those who acquire the wealth don't simply survive, they virtually step over the carcasses of the poor and prosper on those who supply the the means to their wealth.  

Unfortunately, that system, condoned by a government controlled by the wealthy,  has evolved to the point where there are less and less of those who supply the means, which results in more and more of the poor. The survivors are now referred to as the one percent. A growing number of the rest are being referred to as criminals. Donald Trump is capitalizing on the demise of the ones who once supplied the wealth. They want things back to the way they used to be. At least they weren't poor. It's not a hard cause to champion. And, they're apparently willing to accept highly questionable methods to regain their position.

How does this relate to the psychological trauma inflicted upon my daughter as the result of a vicious armed robbery? Well, the robbery, and the increase in other forms of violent crime in my community, is the result of a steep economic decline. The same thing has been occurring in cities from one end of the country to the other. My once-thriving city suffered a near-death blow from the virtual demise of the Big Three automakers. Since then, it's been one recession after another, spurred on by greedy businessmen and government officials who take advantage of the system. 

The area was highly industrialized, supplying nearly everything required to assemble cars and trucks. However, there was a serious lack of economic diversity. All the eggs were in one basket. The nearby Chrysler assembly plant instituted massive layoffs with little chance for a recall. So did other car makers across the country. The drastic reduction in the manufacturing of cars and trucks meant a drastic reduction in the need for the locally produced parts. The suppliers went out of business. They were owned and operated by my friends and neighbors.

The unemployment rate, which once reached 25 percent, combined with the shrinking tax base, affected the funding of all forms of local government, as well as the public school system. Those who could, sought employment elsewhere. The public schools began to suffer, losing experienced educators, and the ability to maintain its infrastructure. Many who remained employed, fled to the smaller, surrounding communities, bolstering those tax bases and educational systems. Others opted for private or religious schooling, leading to the construction of a number of church-funded schools. The public system was left to educate the underprivileged or those who did not have the ability to relocate.

My junior and senior high schools were closed due to "budgetary concerns." However, a community group sued the school district and, after years in court, was surprisingly able to prove racial bias. For example, my former schools were supplied with used text books, transferred from other schools, while they received new ones. The buildings themselves were declared more costly to maintain than others, having been built in the days preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor. Engineers proved that wasn't the case. In fact, they were in better shape than many of the newer schools that remained open. Nonetheless, winning a lawsuit did nothing to change the present or the future. The damage had been done.

The city has never recovered.

 My high school was later re-opened as a middle school, but it was too late. Those who produced the wealth had abandoned the neighborhood. The area's industrial backbone had also disappeared and nothing has moved in to replace it. The aging buildings remain vacant. The homes have fallen into decay. The streets have been taken over by gangs of young thugs, who have little or no hope of finding employment, like their parents before them. Gangs have become they're ancestry. They rob, steal and kill to survive, when they're not fighting amongst themselves for territorial rights associated with the drug trade. Again, it's economics. A gutter-level version of free enterprise.

The illegal drug trade is booming, with heroin as its featured product. The increasing number of overdoses is alarming in itself. Two or more are being reported per day and it's getting worse. The overwhelming number of local gang members are black. It is a fact. Their families have been suffering from years of proven racial discrimination. It is a vicious cycle. The overwhelming number of local police officers are white, which is representative of police forces across the country.  So, it appears as a though it's a battle of white vs. black. It is not. It is crime vs. punishment. Law enforcement officials are finding it more and more difficult to find recruits of any color who can pass the required exams. Some are gang members attempting to infiltrate the department. Most fail the background checks. Many no longer seek to become members of law enforcement because it has become an increasingly thankless and deadly profession. Who's left to fill those positions if the cream of the crop is no longer interested?

The local hospital, once famous for its children's services, resembles a military field hospital. Ambulances scream through the night, carrying numerous gunshot victims to the emergency room. One or two a night stumble themselves into the emergency room, also suffering from gunshot wounds, but they fail to report where the incident occurred. They plead ignorance. They say they have no idea why anyone would want to shoot at them. They say it must have been a random drive-by. However, they just happened to be standing on the corner or walking down the street between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., which is prime time for burglaries and home invasions, conducted by gang members. They have no job to go to in the morning, anyway. What's an unemployed thug to do?

No attempt at controlling guns will eradicate these economic issues, let alone guns. Budding or experienced criminals will always find access to guns. We're a nation of guns and have been since the beginning. At this point in time, we can't just legislate them away.  As a result, potential victims of violent crimes are arming themselves at an alarming rate. In fact, more and more are being allowed to carry concealed weapons. Now, there are more guns than ever, making controlling guns nearly impossible, anyway. The good, the bad, and the ugly all have guns and they're not about to allow them to be taken away. Whether there's a constitutional right to bear arms or not, everyone has the right to defend themselves -- and they're going to do it whether they can legally possess the guns they own or not. If stricter gun-control measures are enacted, once law-abiding citizens will become criminals in the eyes of the law. That's all that would change.

We often hear about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Perhaps, we need to expand the parameters of the diagnosis to include those who have grown up and live in abject poverty, have lost their livelihood, or have watched their 401k plans disappear overnight. Those are traumas that affect a much higher number of people. Many of them are supporting Trump. Apparently, political correctness has no place in business or government. It's purely societal in nature.

If I had lost my trust and faith in the majority of law enforcement,  perhaps, I would have sought out the men who caused harm to my daughter and blown their brains out. In a worst case scenario, I may have taken my anger out on the first young, black men I saw, and drop them dead in their tracks. Emotions run high, and the recent carnage in Dallas is exhibit A.It would not have been a racial issue, it would have been an issue of vigilante justice. Economics would have snickered, having gotten away scot-free.

I do not propose to be a sociologist, criminologist, political analyst, or a member of any other profession, who possess the required credentials to be an expert witness regarding these issues. I am somewhat educated, I try to remain informed, and I observe my surroundings. I've been around the block a few times and I have a lifetime of firsthand experience. Perhaps, more than I would like. I encourage everyone to be brutally honest with themselves, as I have, and formulate their own candid opinion. As an American, I have the right to vote based on that opinion, but I am no longer secure in the thought that I can count on it to make a lasting difference, no matter which candidates are elected.

It's a sad state of affairs. As some have pointed out from afar, this is not the "Great Nation" is once was. I must reluctantly admit that. Nonetheless, if so many people from other countries continue to seek the freedoms it once represented, they must be extremely idealistic. We could use a little idealism. However, they're learning that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Persecution exists here, too, in an increasingly deadly form. Let's hope that our business and governmental leaders can somehow get past their "Darwinian" views and return us to the forms of economics that led to the greatness -- before we have a another civil war. The use of guns, the violence and the racial tension would subside. If much greater number of people had a decent-paying job, there would be less need to rob, steal, and kill to survive and our daughters would be able to sleep well at night. 

By the way, my 10-year-old grandson is half black. He's the only non-white player on his little league baseball team. No one seems to notice, including him. On a level playing field, we're all the same color. I obviously don't know exactly how to solve these issues, but I'm at least prepared to vote my conscience.

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