4 ms·

How does replacing artists with tech bros lead to more crime ?

by stef25 4y ago

sammalloy 4y ago
> How does replacing artists with tech bros lead to more crime ? Honestly, if that’s what you took away from my comment, I don’t think there’s anything I could say to explain it to you. From a systems POV, artists are the bellwether indicator for the health of a city. They function to maintain homeostasis and self-regulation of the community. When they are forced out of a city, the city goes into decline. It’s more complex than that, but that’s part of it. Think about it for 30 seconds: if artists (the general class of writers, musicians, dancers, painters etc.) can afford to live in a city in a sustainable way, that means the economy has achieved a stability where inequality is low, wages meet cost of living, and there’s enough free time for people to create and invent and design without sacrificing their entire life at the altar of a 9-5 job. And when that niche is disturbed and the artists are forced to leave, you then have a large influx of high earners who replace them and raise the level of inequality for everyone, except this time, there is no real interest in maintaining the community and culture that existed before, but rather a new focus on increasing and preserving wealth. That wealth is than targeted and preyed upon by predatory criminals who before would not have paid much attention to low income artists. But to put your misinterpretation and misreading aside for the moment so as to focus on something more constructive, there is good evidence that as more money was pumped into the city from newcomers, a new predator/prey relationship arose from organized crime groups which focused on smash and grabs and home robberies. The so-called South American Tourist Gang has targeted homes throughout California, for example. It’s also of note that organized criminal gangs engaging in smash and grabs are not unique to California. The popular right wing talking point that blames progressive California laws and lax law enforcement for crime has almost zero support in the academic criminal justice community and is based mostly on fear and anger, not evidence. It makes for good political fodder for conservative candidates but isn’t based on reality.

How does replacing artists with tech bros lead to more crime ?

by stef25 4y ago

How does replacing artists with tech bros lead to more crime ?

> How does replacing artists with tech bros lead to more crime ? Honestly, if that’s what you took away from my comment, I don’t think there’s anything I could say to explain it to you. From a systems POV, artists are the bellwether indicator for the health of a city. They function to maintain homeostasis and self-regulation of the community. When they are forced out of a city, the city goes into decline. It’s more complex than that, but that’s part of it. Think about it for 30 seconds: if artists (the general class of writers, musicians, dancers, painters etc.) can afford to live in a city in a sustainable way, that means the economy has achieved a stability where inequality is low, wages meet cost of living, and there’s enough free time for people to create and invent and design without sacrificing their entire life at the altar of a 9-5 job. And when that niche is disturbed and the artists are forced to leave, you then have a large influx of high earners who replace them and raise the level of inequality for everyone, except this time, there is no real interest in maintaining the community and culture that existed before, but rather a new focus on increasing and preserving wealth. That wealth is than targeted and preyed upon by predatory criminals who before would not have paid much attention to low income artists. But to put your misinterpretation and misreading aside for the moment so as to focus on something more constructive, there is good evidence that as more money was pumped into the city from newcomers, a new predator/prey relationship arose from organized crime groups which focused on smash and grabs and home robberies. The so-called South American Tourist Gang has targeted homes throughout California, for example. It’s also of note that organized criminal gangs engaging in smash and grabs are not unique to California. The popular right wing talking point that blames progressive California laws and lax law enforcement for crime has almost zero support in the academic criminal justice community and is based mostly on fear and anger, not evidence. It makes for good political fodder for conservative candidates but isn’t based on reality.