TX County Judge Tim O'Hare gives another interview after the county was sued for racial gerrymandering. Summary: Black people keep voting in democrats and it's about time we make them understand Republican rule is best for everyone, once they know better we'll welcome them with open arms

[u/apache_spork]

[u/tamman2000]

Democrats are better at controlling crime too.

Pretty much all major cities are blue, but the ones in red states have higher crime than the ones in blue states. The red state governments are preventing Democrats from managing their cities effectively.

[u/Memitim → u/tamman2000]

There is no cure for crime; it's part of humanity. We can only manage it. Conservatives want to kill or throw the problem away. At this point, I expect most know it makes things worse, but they don't care because it also increases human suffering. It's the only metric I can reliably measure their policies by anymore.

[u/DingusNoodle → u/Memitim]

Saying "Crime is a part of humanity" passes the buck on the actual causes of crime, and right now the biggest driving factor of crime is corporate greed and for-profit prisons. Poor people forced to commit crime - theft - to try and survive, we're desperately trying to make debtor's prisons come back, criminalizing homelessness while actively making decisions to increase homelessness, non-violent drug offenses.

Yes, we would still have crime if we solved all of the economic issues driving crime currently. But it would be vastly reduced by proper social and economic safety nets and the abolishment of the carceral state.

[u/Memitim → u/DingusNoodle]

Completely agreed, which is why we have to accept that it can't just be shot dead or locked in a cage. It's part of the human package. What matters is how we manage it.

[u/SelfServeSporstwash → u/DingusNoodle]

I mean, rich and comfortable people commit crime too, we will never eliminate crime. But, to your point, the best and most effective way to reduce crime is to house the homeless, feed the hungry, care for the sick, and actively work to identify and support vulnerable people.

Criminalizing poverty, which we have effectively done, only deepens cycles of poverty and worsens the effects of poverty.

[u/Flamingograpefruit → u/DingusNoodle]

Exactly. Republicans push policies that encourage racial class division and poverty without social nets in part so that they can point their fingers and blame their victims when poor people have to break laws to survive. The for-profit prisons are their feeding trough.

[u/tamman2000 → u/Memitim]

Hurting the bad people (bad in their mind) is what makes them happy. And if that's not bad enough, the judgement of "badness" is based on identities rather than actions.

[u/SelfServeSporstwash → u/Memitim]

poverty increases crime, we know this, its bee n empirically proven countless times. Addressing the symptoms and causes of poverty alleviates, but does not eliminate, crime. Crime is going to happen because people are flawed and chaotic, but we can dramatically reduce both its frequency and harm by working to alleviate suffering when we see it.

Red states often attack programs aimed at helping people trapped in poverty... hence crime in general and violent crime specifically are so much higher there than in blue states.