4 ms·

I'm speaking of climate change, healthcare, education, taxes, womens & minority rights, etc.. (central issues that matter to the country). It's entirely on you

by imilk 5y ago

I'm speaking of climate change, healthcare, education, taxes, womens & minority rights, etc.. (central issues that matter to the country). It's entirely on you if you choose to get involved in the hot button social issue discussion of the week. If you don't care to engage in that, it doesn't affect you at all.

inglor_cz 5y ago
Depends. I am not sure what combination of policies created the San Francisco street filth and petty crime problems and whether those policies qualify as far left in the U.S. It is certainly an outlier in the developed world, too, especially when the total wealth of the region is taken into account.
- imilk 5y ago
  Take a trip to any of the major US cities (especially older US cities) and you'll find them by and large to be much much worse than SF in terms of crime. Which is a much more a result of the gross economic disparity found in America than any "far left" policies. Some people are very poor while others are very rich. The poor people feel desperate/trapped and want what the people living near them have. The only places with as much economic disparity as America that have less crime most often have authoritarian governments. Blaming a local city government for country-wide issues is quite short-sighted in perspective and not helpful when talking about solutions.
  - atweiden 5y ago
    China doesn’t have the same problems as the US, but has almost as much wealth disparity [1]. Economic determinism is junk science. [1]: https://china.usc.edu/wealth-inequality-us-and-china https://china.usc.edu/wealth-inequality-us-and-china
    - imilk 5y ago
      > The only places with as much economic disparity as America that have less crime most often have authoritarian governments.
      - atweiden 5y ago
        Sweden has higher wealth inequality than the US, but far lower crime. See also: https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/ https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/
        imilk 5y ago
        If you look at income inequality, the United States is far more unequal than Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq... If you look at wealth inequality, they are pretty much exactly the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_in... But that also leaves out large programs in Sweden that vastly narrow the gap between rich & poor, which America does not have. Namely universal healthcare, free child care, free prenatal care, free school lunches, free college, union participation in 70% of the workforce (which provides additional unemployment benefits & pensions), and most retired persons being able to receive multiple public & private pensions. You cannot measure the desperation of poor in America vs Sweden without taking all of this into account. Furthermore, I'm struggling to see what your point is. All of the policies I listed above are considered "far left" by many people in America, yet seem to reduce the desperation of lower classes (and crime). So are you saying the America and cities like SF should adopt these "far left" policies? Because that's the exact opposite view of the parent comments that I've been replying to.
        atweiden 5y ago
        Being poor in and of itself isn’t a globally accurate predictor of crime rate. This would seem to contradict your earlier statement: > [Crime is] much more a result of the gross economic disparity found in America than any "far left" policies. The reason this can’t be true is China and Sweden have comparable wealth disparity to the US, yet vastly better public safety outcomes. If “gross economic disparity” were as predictive of crime as you claim, surely China and Sweden would have comparable crime rates to the US, irrespective of social programs. The fact they have much lower crime rates than the US disproves economic determinism along this axis.
  - EricE 5y ago
    >Take a trip to any of the major US cities (especially older US cities) and you'll find them by and large to be much much worse than SF in terms of crime. Show me video from other major American cities of smash and grab looting flashmobs of ANY frequency comparable to what is routinely happening in the bay area today. Hell it's gotten so bad the SF mayor was recently ranting, sounding more like a conservative. Of course talk is cheap. Will they fire their useless DAs and actually support the police? I'm not holding my breath.

by imilk 5y ago

inglor_cz 5y ago

Depends. I am not sure what combination of policies created the San Francisco street filth and petty crime problems and whether those policies qualify as far left in the U.S. It is certainly an outlier in the developed world, too, especially when the total wealth of the region is taken into account.

imilk 5y ago
Take a trip to any of the major US cities (especially older US cities) and you'll find them by and large to be much much worse than SF in terms of crime. Which is a much more a result of the gross economic disparity found in America than any "far left" policies. Some people are very poor while others are very rich. The poor people feel desperate/trapped and want what the people living near them have. The only places with as much economic disparity as America that have less crime most often have authoritarian governments. Blaming a local city government for country-wide issues is quite short-sighted in perspective and not helpful when talking about solutions.
- atweiden 5y ago
  China doesn’t have the same problems as the US, but has almost as much wealth disparity [1]. Economic determinism is junk science. [1]: https://china.usc.edu/wealth-inequality-us-and-china https://china.usc.edu/wealth-inequality-us-and-china
  - imilk 5y ago
    > The only places with as much economic disparity as America that have less crime most often have authoritarian governments.
    - atweiden 5y ago
      Sweden has higher wealth inequality than the US, but far lower crime. See also: https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/ https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/
      - imilk 5y ago
        If you look at income inequality, the United States is far more unequal than Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq... If you look at wealth inequality, they are pretty much exactly the same: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_in... But that also leaves out large programs in Sweden that vastly narrow the gap between rich & poor, which America does not have. Namely universal healthcare, free child care, free prenatal care, free school lunches, free college, union participation in 70% of the workforce (which provides additional unemployment benefits & pensions), and most retired persons being able to receive multiple public & private pensions. You cannot measure the desperation of poor in America vs Sweden without taking all of this into account. Furthermore, I'm struggling to see what your point is. All of the policies I listed above are considered "far left" by many people in America, yet seem to reduce the desperation of lower classes (and crime). So are you saying the America and cities like SF should adopt these "far left" policies? Because that's the exact opposite view of the parent comments that I've been replying to.
        atweiden 5y ago
        Being poor in and of itself isn’t a globally accurate predictor of crime rate. This would seem to contradict your earlier statement: > [Crime is] much more a result of the gross economic disparity found in America than any "far left" policies. The reason this can’t be true is China and Sweden have comparable wealth disparity to the US, yet vastly better public safety outcomes. If “gross economic disparity” were as predictive of crime as you claim, surely China and Sweden would have comparable crime rates to the US, irrespective of social programs. The fact they have much lower crime rates than the US disproves economic determinism along this axis.
- EricE 5y ago
  >Take a trip to any of the major US cities (especially older US cities) and you'll find them by and large to be much much worse than SF in terms of crime. Show me video from other major American cities of smash and grab looting flashmobs of ANY frequency comparable to what is routinely happening in the bay area today. Hell it's gotten so bad the SF mayor was recently ranting, sounding more like a conservative. Of course talk is cheap. Will they fire their useless DAs and actually support the police? I'm not holding my breath.