No Rules Good or Bad?

[sctx]

Originally Posted by catnhat

The municipal planner appeared to have been drunk. All the properties in town had seemingly been tossed into a giant paper bag, given a good shake and dumped on the ground in a dizzyingly haphazard manner. A gated mansion sat by a Quonset hut crammed with truck tires, which was beside a franchised chicken joint, which was next to a cornfield, followed by a car lot, a hospital and a farmhouse.

wow..... what a great description of Houston, Texas

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Opatije

FWIW: I did experience living in many different places (including Canada) for the last 20 or so years and have never seen so many people living on the streets like they do in Calgary/Canada.

Well, have you seen the cost of housing and rent there lately?


I bet homelessness is actually more rare in Mexico- because of the lack of social net, and families are more close-knit there.


Or is that another myth?

[Opatije]

Originally Posted by Rissask

Well, have you seen the cost of housing and rent there lately?


I bet homelessness is actually more rare in Mexico- because of the lack of social net, and families are more close-knit there.


Or is that another myth?

Agree, rent/housing is an issue however, enormous decrease in cultural values and social hardship for the underprivileged can also be attributed to the loss of "middle-class" - a fundamental instrument in achieving social stability.

[Just Lucky]

Originally Posted by Opatije

Agree, rent/housing is an issue however, enormous decrease in cultural values and social hardship for the underprivileged can also be attributed to the loss of "middle-class" - a fundamental instrument in achieving social stability.

Good point. Which in a tie in with some of earlier posts, advances the theory that gross inequities in income distribution also tend to create gross inequities in the criminal justice system and the enforcement of laws.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Opatije

Agree, rent/housing is an issue however, enormous decrease in cultural values and social hardship for the underprivileged can also be attributed to the loss of "middle-class" - a fundamental instrument in achieving social stability.

Sure....and Mexico has a HUGE percentage of people living in poverty, right? So that is pretty much inevitable.


The gap between the rich and poor is growing at an astronomical pace globally too, because of higher birthrates in very poor countries, the ratio of the rich to poor is shrinking rapidly. I was just reading about that somewhere, and what the likely consequences are going to be...The Earth is Flat, maybe?


Another reason why cities out West are the most dangerous in the country (Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Regina are the top three), is because there is more poverty, yes, among other reasons.

Again, the issues and demographics vary from city to city, but poverty and marginalization, both by race and neighbourhood, are often part of the mix. The top three high-crime communities also have proportionately the largest urban Aboriginal populations of any Canadian cities. Nine per cent of the populations of both Regina and Saskatoon are Aboriginal, as is 10 per cent, more than 68,000, of Winnipeg's population — most of them concentrated in the inner city.

"The size of local Aboriginal populations is a big part of the picture," says University of Ottawa criminologist Ronald Melchers, whose recent research includes a study of policing in northern Saskatchewan. The Aboriginal population, which reached 1.2 million in 2006, is dramatically younger. Its median age is 27, compared to 40 for the Canadian population as a whole. Younger people commit substantially more crimes, regardless of race, says Melchers. The lack of strong Aboriginal cultural and family roots in urban centres make the young especially vulnerable to the allure of gangs, he says. "They head up a whole series of factors of risk: no single-family housing, poor parental guardianship, substance abuse issues, alcohol issues, histories of family violence." Melchers says. "When you sum it all up, the tragedy has a huge impact."

The gross overrepresentation of Aboriginals in custody is both an indicator of the problem and part of the reason it is perpetuated. In Saskatchewan, Aboriginal youth represent 75 to 90 per cent of all youth in open and closed custody, estimates a 2003 report by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). Often, they are both victimizer and victim. Nationally, Aboriginal people are three times more likely than non-Aboriginals to be assaulted, sexually assaulted or robbed. They are seven times more likely to be victims of homicide — and 10 times more likely to be charged with homicide. The FSIN report says Aboriginal people accounted for 55 per cent of Saskatchewan's homicide victims and 60 per cent of those accused of homicide between 1994 and 2000. There is little reason to believe that has improved.

more HERE


It's pretty freakin' grim, actually.

[Just Lucky]

The dispartity in the distribution of wealth in the US has been growing for years. It has accelerated under the Bush administration.

[MaripositaII]

Originally Posted by Thor Henning

I think the goods should be more evenly distributed in Mexico. It's so many poor people and the rich people are among the richest in the world. And they should enforce their laws better and get rid of corruption.

I prefer it in Norway.

(Though I like the climat, beach, people, culture and so on in Mexico. And I like to travel and see new places. But I like to live in my country. I think it is one of the best places to live. And I like to live where I grew up.)

Written like a true Norwegian. I can't tell you how many Norwegians said the same thing to us when we lived there. They used to be very proud of paying high taxes too. A very strange concept for this side of the pond

[Mr Cancun]

Capitalism is bad, the political systems of socialism and communism are intended to diminish the conflicts arising from the unequal distribution of wealth. The idea is that a government, serving the interests of the proletariat, would confiscate the wealth of the rich and then distribute benefits to the poor.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by Mr Cancun

Capitalism is bad, the political systems of socialism and communism are intended to diminish the conflicts arising from the unequal distribution of wealth. The idea is that a government, serving the interests of the proletariat, would confiscate the wealth of the rich and then distribute benefits to the poor.

sarcasm doesn't become you

Not saying that at all.

You know what the key is (speaking globally)- better education and more rights for for women.

[Just Lucky]

Originally Posted by Mr Cancun

Capitalism is bad, the political systems of socialism and communism are intended to diminish the conflicts arising from the unequal distribution of wealth. The idea is that a government, serving the interests of the proletariat, would confiscate the wealth of the rich and then distribute benefits to the poor.

And of course anyone concerned about the underprivileged must be a commie in your book.

Is your motto, "let them eat cake"?

[roni]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

And of course anyone concerned about the underprivileged must be a commie in your book.

Is your motto, "let them eat cake"?

Save the sugar-free, low carb icing for me, por favor

[sctx]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

The dispartity in the distribution of wealth in the US has been growing for years. It has accelerated under the Bush administration.

crap, and I thought it was all my hard work finally paying off

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by sctx

crap, and I thought it was all my hard work finally paying off

hoo boy

[Just Lucky]

The truth is the world is far from flat for the world's poor. While some accumulating wealth in the US, Mexico, India and China the poor are having a harder time getting by.

The price of rice has doubled over the last few months. There is talk of a worldwide food shortage. Many countries which usually export rice or wheat are not doing so this year. It is quite likely this is going to be a very tough year for the poor in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

[Rissask]

yeah, I was just reading about that recently....and it hasn't really registered that much here in North America.


More cropland for growing biofuel, is one reason. And the rate at which India and China are becoming bigger consumers..... ruined crops due to droughts, like in Australia, etc.