The Bay Area Crime Wave(darrellowens.substack.com)
darrellowens.substack.com
The Bay Area Crime Wave
https://darrellowens.substack.com/p/the-bay-area-crime-wave
7 comments
Similarly, as I wrote in /r/bayarea a few weeks ago in response to a post titled "At 16/25, almost 2/3 of the posts on the first page of this subreddit are about local crime. I don't think that's an accurate impression of the Bay Area":
The narrative that this post itself is part of:
* Crime is ackshaully down, not up, so...
* ... the subreddit is talking about crime too much ...
* ... and anyways, only out-of-town Nazis/Republicans/Trump voters are posting these articles ...
* ... and anyways, only big companies with insurance are being robbed, so we shouldn't care ...
* ... and anyways, slavery, white supremacy, and redlining made these benighted souls commit these victimless crimes
The narrative that this post itself is part of:
* Crime is ackshaully down, not up, so...
* ... the subreddit is talking about crime too much ...
* ... and anyways, only out-of-town Nazis/Republicans/Trump voters are posting these articles ...
* ... and anyways, only big companies with insurance are being robbed, so we shouldn't care ...
* ... and anyways, slavery, white supremacy, and redlining made these benighted souls commit these victimless crimes
This essay is well-articulated nonsense.
"I don’t really know if there’s a crime wave regardless of the perception that there is one.
...
What really gets to me though is that there _is_ a clear crime wave happening. Oakland’s at its 127th homicide as of typing this."
He seems to be arguing that the police should be spending more effort stopping crime in poor neighborhoods, that doesn't get as much publicity as smash-and-grabs in Union Square. Fine with me!
"I don’t really know if there’s a crime wave regardless of the perception that there is one.
...
What really gets to me though is that there _is_ a clear crime wave happening. Oakland’s at its 127th homicide as of typing this."
He seems to be arguing that the police should be spending more effort stopping crime in poor neighborhoods, that doesn't get as much publicity as smash-and-grabs in Union Square. Fine with me!
> it starts with an unnecessary felony conviction from a poor decision, which initiated a chain reaction that ultimately destroyed people rather than helped them.
The crux of the author's argument seems to be that the punishment outweighs the crime. But I am still hard-pressed to see how the alternative of not pursuing criminal charges is any better.
> Many of those kids who participated are probably suffering from anxiety right now, knowing any day the police will show up to their door and arrest them, let alone the aggressive media coverage they’re getting. For many of those youths, that terrible anxiety or a simple arrest is enough to never do it again. Yet the Bay Area’s DAs are all announcing felony charges for those involved.
Would they be 'suffering' the anxiety if the consequences were less severe? How do we know they would never do it again? In fact, aren't they just as likely to be pulled into a life of crime if the punishment is too lenient as too severe?
The crux of the author's argument seems to be that the punishment outweighs the crime. But I am still hard-pressed to see how the alternative of not pursuing criminal charges is any better.
> Many of those kids who participated are probably suffering from anxiety right now, knowing any day the police will show up to their door and arrest them, let alone the aggressive media coverage they’re getting. For many of those youths, that terrible anxiety or a simple arrest is enough to never do it again. Yet the Bay Area’s DAs are all announcing felony charges for those involved.
Would they be 'suffering' the anxiety if the consequences were less severe? How do we know they would never do it again? In fact, aren't they just as likely to be pulled into a life of crime if the punishment is too lenient as too severe?
[deleted]
This column posits that this crime might not happen if these young perpetrators had jobs. We are living in a time when businesses are cutting back store hours or closing permanently because they can’t find enough employees. The notion that these young people wouldn’t be attacking jewelry stores with hammers if they could just get honest work is just nuts.
This is a gross oversimplification of the author's detailed (if a bit editorialized) analysis. The author actually acknowledges, and later expounds upon, the apparent incongruity you mentioned:
> I look at communities like Detroit and I understand why the youth there resort to crime, but what the hell is the matter with the Bay Area? Arguably the wealthiest metropolitan area in the United States. A place with too many jobs and not enough people to fill them.
> I look at communities like Detroit and I understand why the youth there resort to crime, but what the hell is the matter with the Bay Area? Arguably the wealthiest metropolitan area in the United States. A place with too many jobs and not enough people to fill them.
because they can’t find enough people to accept an unlivable wage while big companies make record breaking profits.
Unlivable wage? I can go to a warehouse here in cheap Central PA and have a job tomorrow making $30-35/hr working on the loading dock. You can live on that here. I think you are making excuses for them and it's not helping them.
The article's about the Bay Area, though.
I mean, it's a lame excuse for crime, but your counter-argument doesn't work.
I mean, it's a lame excuse for crime, but your counter-argument doesn't work.
Are you saying that the Bay Area doesn't have these same worker shortages driving up pay to never-before-seen levels? It's certainly happening here in PA, and it was happening back in my Texas hometown when I went back for Thanksgiving. It's happening in Kansas when I visited there last month.
Is it really a lack of jobs driving these young people to crime, like the essay claims?
Is it really a lack of jobs driving these young people to crime, like the essay claims?
I'm saying that
>> I can go to a warehouse here in cheap Central PA and have a job tomorrow making $30-35/hr working on the loading dock. You can live on that here
isn't going to get you enough to live in the Bay Area.
> Is it really a lack of jobs driving these young people to crime, like the essay claims?
No, it's their own moral weakness plus perceived opportunity. I thought I made that clear in my previous comment.
>> I can go to a warehouse here in cheap Central PA and have a job tomorrow making $30-35/hr working on the loading dock. You can live on that here
isn't going to get you enough to live in the Bay Area.
> Is it really a lack of jobs driving these young people to crime, like the essay claims?
No, it's their own moral weakness plus perceived opportunity. I thought I made that clear in my previous comment.
That specific place has a worker shortage problem? An actual shortage problem, not one they're pretending to have to jack up prices? Are they hiring people with a high school education at that rate?
Yes, an actual shortage problem. My region is the transshipment hub for the entire Mid-Atlantic region. Part of the reason shipping is such a clusterfuck is because these docks are dreadfully understaffed. They will give you a $5000 bonus in your first paycheck if you go start a job on their loading docks tomorrow. Same story at virtually every biz around here.
Edit: don't take my word for it, though. See for yourself: https://jobs.abf.com/abfjobs/JobDetail/Carlisle-Pennsylvania...
Edit: don't take my word for it, though. See for yourself: https://jobs.abf.com/abfjobs/JobDetail/Carlisle-Pennsylvania...
I can’t sleep at night knowing I can’t shop at Louis Vitton at Union Square one night a year.
He's pretending to give a shit but each time that's just a setup for him to downplay the issue and scold you for not caring about other things instead.