99.5% of Americans will never be a victim of violent crime

Started by Jmpty, March 15, 2013, 11:18:41 AM

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Jason78

Ok, well that's all right for the 99.5%.

What about the 0.5%?  In a population the size of americas it's going to be a huge number.
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Plu

I was in that 0.5%. Even in the 0.5%, most of them will get out without too much of a hassle. The number of people who become the victim of a violent crime and receive serious damage from it is even smaller.

Johan

This is new information?

Don Henley released Dirty Laundry in 1982. The media reporting on what sells and ignoring what doesn't is kind of old news isn't it?
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SilentFutility

0.5% is still 1.5 million people, or one in every 200 people.

That's still a small proportion though.

Brian37

So? We still have 2 million people in prisons and 32 people die each day on average from gun death. You look at other westernized nations and they do not have the crime RATIO we do.
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Brian37

Quote from: "SilentFutility"0.5% is still 1.5 million people, or one in every 200 people.

That's still a small proportion though.

SO? I have been a victim of violent crime. The stupid thing is because I got beat up as a teenager by a gang of bullies, we call that "Oh thats just boys being boys". I still got my nose broken and still suffered emotional trauma because of it. Then on top of that one of the guy's bigger brothers beat me up after that in school because his brother got arrested for it.

I don't care how SMALL you think the numbers are, they are still too high and totally unacceptable. Japan may have half our population, but that population lives in basically one giant city island with virtually NO CRIME at all.
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SilentFutility

Quote from: "Brian37"
Quote from: "SilentFutility"0.5% is still 1.5 million people, or one in every 200 people.

That's still a small proportion though.

SO? I have been a victim of violent crime. The stupid thing is because I got beat up as a teenager by a gang of bullies, we call that "Oh thats just boys being boys". I still got my nose broken and still suffered emotional trauma because of it. Then on top of that one of the guy's bigger brothers beat me up after that in school because his brother got arrested for it.

I don't care how SMALL you think the numbers are, they are still too high and totally unacceptable. Japan may have half our population, but that population lives in basically one giant city island with virtually NO CRIME at all.

Please point out the part of my post that said anything about violent crime being acceptable, or that because the numbers are smaller than I would have expected given media portrayal of crime in the US that the violent crime that does happen is totally fine?

I ended up in hospital with my hand broken (and the bones in it displaced and dislocated), and cuts all up my arm and a huge hit to my head after fleeing an attempted bike theft and nearly being hit by a car (which drove off) when I was 12. My bike was so smashed they didn't bother stealing it. Technically I wasn't physically asaulted but I don't doubt that the 5 of them would have done so if I hadn't escaped and hidden.

So again, expressing surprise at how small the proportion is, and quantifying it as a number of people (1.5 million) which is a lot of people is perfectly valid and in absolutely no way does it imply that crime is therefore a problem to be ignored. Understandable as it may be that you've had a knee-jerk reaction because it has happened to you, there's no need to be so confrontational.

Japan also bases a lot of convictions on forced confessions so their justice system isn't what I'd call ideal.

Brian37

Still I get a lip twitch when people post stories like this without clarification. It allows people to focus on the percentage rather than the actual numbers. It is still too high. When our crime rate gets to Japans levels, if we ever get our collective heads out of our asses, then and only then will I breath a bit easier.

Most of our problem is that corporate America is causing a pay gap and education gap that is keeping more and more people economically unstable and desperate. We address the pay gap, education and cost of living issues, you'd see less crime long term.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers." Obama
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Shiranu

Well, looks like we DEFINITELY need to be packing heat, faaaaaar too dangerous out there...
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Jmpty

I'm with you, Shiranu. I don't like those odds. If there's a half a percent chance I'm going to be a victim, I'm busting a cap in somebody's ass.
???  ??

Plu

Quote from: "Jmpty"I'm with you, Shiranu. I don't like those odds. If there's a half a percent chance I'm going to be a victim, I'm busting a cap in somebody's ass.

Thus substantially upping the odds.

Fidel_Castronaut

Quote from: "Plu"
Quote from: "Jmpty"I'm with you, Shiranu. I don't like those odds. If there's a half a percent chance I'm going to be a victim, I'm busting a cap in somebody's ass.

Thus substantially upping the odds.

Hoho. I see where this thread is going!  :Hangman:
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Jack89

Quote from: "Brian37"Still I get a lip twitch when people post stories like this without clarification. It allows people to focus on the percentage rather than the actual numbers. It is still too high. When our crime rate gets to Japans levels, if we ever get our collective heads out of our asses, then and only then will I breath a bit easier.

Most of our problem is that corporate America is causing a pay gap and education gap that is keeping more and more people economically unstable and desperate. We address the pay gap, education and cost of living issues, you'd see less crime long term.

I think we need to do a little more than that.  Everyone tip-toes around the elephants in the room, avoiding some glaringly important issues that need to be addressed to put a dent in the problem.  I think that ending the drug war is one of the biggies.  Decriminalize recreational drugs and release the non-violent drug offenders taking up prison space.  Decriminalize prostitution and release those non-violent offenders as well. That should lighten the prison load by about 300,000 plus (give or take) and significantly reduce violent crime on our streets.

Next are recognizing demographic factors.  Roughly half of all homicides are performed by young black males killing young black males. Yes I did say that, and no, I'm not in the least bit racist, so back off.  See //http://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf, page 3.  So over a 28 year period, from 1980 to 2008, 52.5% of all homicides in the U.S. were committed by an ethnic group that makes up 12.6% of the population.  Hispanics are disproportionately represented as well but don't show on the DOJ report.  California has some good demographic stats on it though.    

Here's some demographic stats on NYC from 2003-2011 - //http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map.  The disproportionate number of homicides for each ethnic group should give us a clue to what's going on.  LA has a similar map with a higher proportion of Hispanic on Hispanic homicides.  Surprisingly (or not), most murders are intraracial.  

This should provide a hint to what the problem is and it shouldn't be spoken in whispers.  How about we openly recognize poverty, residential segregation, poor education, and "Thug" culture as major contributors to the problem and aggressively address them?

Farroc

Good post Jack. What you said, along with tighter gun control and more jobs should really help with the crime.
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