Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... Archived Message
Posted by Liberal on December 29, 2010, 2:20 pm, in reply to "Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve..."
i can actually make a very valid and supported arguement that their current sad stasis is a result of race riots and "white flight" - which led to extreme poverty and a lack of funds for the city, which began a detoriation process. take into account racial division, which is vast in this area, and that detoriation process then becomes a justification for a white person to never go and shop there, in the same way blacks were not allowed to shop in granite city at one time; except it is flipped. business cant move in, or doesnt want to, because of the crime. but the crime cant be fixed unless the police have the proper budget, and they cant have the proper budget without taxes...and there is no taxes without commerce. catch 22. and thats assuming that if the cops got the budget, that corruption would not exist and the money would be properly spent...which opi...you claim has not always been the case. it is an area where many ppl say "screw it...it is a lost cause..." but i have heard ppl say this about downtown granite as well...and i make up my own mind and formulate my own thoughts...and i am an optomistic person. i think downtown granite can see growth and improvement just like ESL. so how do we break the cycle? that is the question to ask when thinking of resolve...or at least to make things better. no matter what it will take time... and no matter how you cut it...it is a result of racism. using history; documents, facts, and common sense...i see the connection between racism and capitalism, and how it has failed the people of that region. social welfare has been the last and only string keeping this place from being a straight out war zone. the only bit of hope and the only thing dividing their miserable existance from despair and starvation is these programs. from an economic standpoint - when thinking of it in consumer-side mentality...that welfare you refer to is probably the only bit of money spurring any kind of economic presence. you take away welfare in this area and these poor ppl stop spending money at the stores, they stop spending, which has a "trickle-down" effect on businesses. in a dream world, much like the place where communism and reagonomics exist and are perfect concepts...we can remove welfare and every other problem would just work itself out...take away welfare...ppl have to get jobs. then they dont need to do crime or partake in gang activity... nice dream...but very far fetched. again i reiterate... i think welfare should include a more aggressive approach to helping to obtain and maintain a job. i think reform is much needed, because as i have said before...i think the current system actually promotes extreme poverty as a way of life. some ppl have no qualms living in extreme poverty, and as long as they contribute to society in some way...that person in the projects who works at burger king is no less a person than bill gates. so i feel...feed everyone. as much as i have seen some abuse and some become too apathetic...i have seen some brilliant hard-working ppl emerge from situations like that, and those ppl have a humility and grace...a strength which most ppl will never know, because of the adversity they have endured. looking at some rich relatives i can say that growing up poor has instilled a different set of values in me than them. i only view esl the same way. i see the strength. i see the leadership. i see the hope. i hope and wish for a better ESL. sadly...i also see the dark cloud looming overhead that seems to quash that strength, leadership, and hope.
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- east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - Liberal December 25, 2010, 2:08 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - opinionated December 25, 2010, 3:03 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - 3Dee December 25, 2010, 3:12 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - dogwhisperer2003 December 26, 2010, 12:12 am
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - bob December 26, 2010, 1:42 am
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - GaryBusey December 26, 2010, 1:59 am
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - MrsC93 December 26, 2010, 2:26 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - catching12 December 28, 2010, 5:00 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - Dr. Ray Langston December 30, 2010, 5:09 pm
- Re: east st. louis...christmas eve's eve... - elcooksta January 13, 2011, 5:38 am
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