RW> If poverty causes crime then why wasn't crime rampant during the 
RW> great depression?  A lot more people were a lot poorer then than they 
RW> are now.
RB> Well, first of all, there was a lot of crime (a lot less
Hum. . .not from the numbers I saw last.  As a
percentage the crime rate a lot lower.  I can't
remember the numbers right now but I'll see if I can
find them.
RB> did not have it as bad as people today. Then, there were 
Then when you lost your home you went on the street, no
homeless shelters then.  There was no unemployment
insurance, no job no money.  There wasn't any welfare,
no job no home.  There wasn't any medicare/medicaid, no
money no medicine.
Now how was it not as bad then?
RB> huge communities of poor people and there were active unions
RB> that fought it out 
RB> in the streets for equal rights for workers. Today, the
You better reread your history; there weren't jobs and
unions couldn't hold together because if they went out
on strike.  If they did there would be 5 men willing to
take the place for each union worker.
RB> If you have trouble establishing a link between poverty and
RB> crime, pick up  *any* basic sociology book, because its
RB> pretty much an established fact. 
Neither of the ones on my book shelf shows poverty
CAUSES crime.  If it did the crime rate in the poor
rural areas would be just as high as the poor urban
areas.
RW> Have you read any history?  A lot of the Founding Fathers fought long 
RW> and hard to have slavery outlawed in the Constitution.
RB> Yeah, well they didn't fight hard enough. I guess it was
RB> easy for them to  compromise on the issue, though, because
RB> they weren't slaves themselves. As for 
It was either compromise or have no US.
RB> your contention that some of them died poor, I'd like to
RB> hear which ones rather 
I do believe Thomas Jefferson died owing more money
then he had.  I think Hancock also died totally
bankrupt.
RW> Have you ever live in a TRULY racist surrounding?  I was born and 
RW> raised in the South, I didn't even know there was another word for a 
RW> nigg** until I was well into my school years, well there were the 
RW> other non-PC words. By the time I reached high school I had several 
RB> I live in one right NOW. I've lived with racism my whole
RB> life. Do you think all 
Really?  You mean that it is common practices to
address a black man as "boy" on your street?  And when
a white man gets on a full bus a black stands up to
give him a seat?  When was the last time they found a
black man hanging from a tree there with a sign around
his neck saying he was hung because he touched a white
woman?  These are the signs of a truly racist
surroundings.
No you don't live in a truly racist surrounding.  There
might be some racist, there might even be a lot of
racist but that doesn't make your surroundings racist.
RB> of these problems have been solved in the last 20-30 years?
RB> Do you even think  its *possible* to solve those problems in
RB> 30 years? 
Nope.  Not 30, not 300 and not 3000.  There was, is and
always will be people who hate.
                      Remember:  Freedom isn't Free!
--- timEd-B11
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