Is Texas Next?
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@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@thwr said in Is Texas Next?:
@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@MattSpeller said in Is Texas Next?:
@BBigford I share your enthusiasm for firearms even if I do not own nearly as many. What I don't understand is why anyone would carry one around. It.... just does not compute for me. We may need another thread for just that.
Aside from a few home invasion attempts in various cities, I've also had various people try to enter our vehicle when we come to a stop sign or pedestrian crossings. We have the doors locked so I typically just pull away quickly when I hear them on the door handle. Some areas were very nice neighborhoods and they were just dumb kids that looked like they were on drugs, others were sketchy neighborhoods that couldn't have been avoided because of how the layout of the city was and where our destination was.
I also have been approached when I'm biking or on foot by aggressive homeless people in some of the parks that I will jog in or bike on the trail. A gun is just a tool, nothing more. You can't brandish it at someone to intimidate them or make them go away. But if it comes down to it, you have the tool to survive a situation. Luckily I've never had to draw on someone, and I hope I never have to. But if I'm put in that situation, I won't be the one that ends up in the obituaries and force my family to find another means of financial support. That's why I carry a firearm.
Land of the free? Armed to teeths? Hijacking in the middle of nowhere? That scares the hell out of me, really. What's the point in living in such an area? And sure, there are dangerous hotspot areas here too, but nothing this serious I guess.
Saw once some documentary comparing Detroit to a neighboring city on the other side of the border (London/CA?): High crime and tons of weapons in Detroit and so on and next to no weapons and left open doors in the other city.
Most, if not all, of the weapons in those crimes are obtained illegally and are used by people who are unfit to own weapons. Criminals will get guns, watch the first episode of Underworld, Inc. called "Ghost Guns". It talks about illegal manufacturing of firearms in the Phillipeans and shipped to gangs in the USA.
I really can't compare any sketchy places I've lived and visited to the likes of Detroit, Chicago, or pretty much the entire state of Mississippi. Those are far worse, what I've been through is uncomparable to even traveling through one of those places, let alone live there. In some areas like that, nobody owns furniture. Not cause it's expensive, but because you want to be below the window sill due to stray bullets, so everyone just sits on the floor. We moved here for school and work. I'd love to move somewhere safer and overall just nicer, but in my experience, every city has bad areas. That might not be true and some cities are super safe. I also don't want to live in a state where gun laws are tight as my family members are very big gun advocates and we train quite a bit every week. Losing that right would be like saying you can't enjoy your favorite hobby anymore because it's illegal. Couldn't do it. But there are 41 other states I could live in with my current permit.
I do not have a problem with firearms in general, served in the German Navy. And I can understand that your ultimate and very valid goal is to protect your beloved ones.
BUT: If I were in your spot, I would gather my belongings in this very second and get my family out there as soon as possible. Would just move to some safe place where I don't need to carry a f*cking gun at all - you may still carry it around, but you would know the "DEFCON" level is rather low at the new place.
I just could not sleep well if I would have to think every second about the safety of my family. A whole bunch of weapons in a hostile area doesn't really increase safety at all. It may add to your safety in case of a dangerous situation, but they can also be a threat on their own if not locked away, like kids playing with them, for example. And I don't want to discuss any Barbie doll styled weapons made for kids at this point. That's simply obscene.A safe area is actually the single best method to protect your family, IMHO.
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@thwr said in Is Texas Next?:
A safe area is actually the single best method to protect your family, IMHO.
A key reason that we opt for Europe over Texas. Our family in Texas lives in the city ranked #7 safest in America (and it is pretty safe to be sure) and they still live in near abject fear that someone is going to break in to their home. I'm not sure why, I feel very safe there. But nowhere near as safe as I feel in Romania or pretty much any other European location. In what is possibly the safest town in Texas (of any rael size, it has over 7K people at least) we still need to watch out for insane traffic, know that guns are absolutely everywhere, that everyone locks their doors and cowers at night, that cars must be locked and kept in lit areas, etc. It's so nice going to Romania where locking the car doors or even the house doors seems pretty silly - where when travelling to places "more dangerous" like Bosnia we were warned by our priest that "if you don't lock your car and leave valuables on the seat in the Balkans, someone might take them."
Even in the safe areas of Texas, you are more worried about people coming through your windows to take your car at a stop light than apparently you are about leaving cash on the seat of an unlocked car in the Balkans!
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How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
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@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
I've noticed you mentioning homeless people before. Is that really that big of a problem over at your place? Can't really imagine that, because we have a rather powerful social system. Everyone, virtually everyone, will get some place to sleep or even some small apartment, at least the most important things (very basic things like a toothbrush, soap, towels, something to eat, clothes, ...), healthcare (or help on getting away from drugs) and this way a real chance to get back into "normal" life.
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I guess the drug problem must be of epic proportions in Texas then. I haven't seen this issue while visiting Chicago, LA or San Francisco. Not saying they don't have the drugees, but I haven't been part of a carjacking or attempted car jacking while visiting these places, nor in my own city.
That's not say it does happen in all of them, I know it does. I've heard news stories of carjackings on a sorta highway thoroughfare we have here in Omaha.
So what makes drugs huge a larger problem there than here?
As for those breaking into people's houses, around here it's a toss up mostly between unemployed people and what I'll call bored teens. It's rarely drug heads (as reported by the news anyhow). So the break ins I put more on the pressures of supposed to be living the good live.
But the drug addicts looking to pay for their next score.. yeah, that's pretty scary.
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
Not at all. Consumer culture effectively does not exist. Not as we know it anyway. There is advertising, but nothing like in the US. And what there is doesn't seem to drive people to act in the same ways that it does here. The views that you have to keep buying stuff that you can't afford, even that you take out a mortgage for a house, aren't common. Nor is the idea that you compare yourself to others based on income.
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@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
Having lived in the heart of Newark, NJ, one of the most dangerous places anywhere, that's not what it is. Drugs some, yes, but poverty, no. Tons of opportunity, plenty of money. More a desire to not work than poverty itself.
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@scottalanmiller said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
Not at all. Consumer culture effectively does not exist. Not as we know it anyway. There is advertising, but nothing like in the US. And what there is doesn't seem to drive people to act in the same ways that it does here. The views that you have to keep buying stuff that you can't afford, even that you take out a mortgage for a house, aren't common. Nor is the idea that you compare yourself to others based on income.
That's changing, at least in central Europe.
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@thwr said in Is Texas Next?:
I've noticed you mentioning homeless people before. Is that really that big of a problem over at your place?
It's huge, especially in California and Texas (weather reasons mostly) but even in the north east where the weather is brutal. One of the most striking things when you get to Europe is the lack of homeless people on every corner. In many of the big US cities, and even smaller towns, you see homeless everywhere. Not literally every door, but nearly every block has a few. Whole areas are almost nothing but homeless. You can see it constantly, it's almost never out of site.
And they are out begging everywhere. At stop lights, on sidewalks, in the parks. I know a bridge overpass in downtown San Francisco that must have 200+ homeless in a self made camp.
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
I guess the drug problem must be of epic proportions in Texas then.
It is. It's similar to VA and FLA.
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
Not saying they don't have the drugees, but I haven't been part of a carjacking or attempted car jacking while visiting these places, nor in my own city.
Even in small upstate NY cities that are very, very far from NYC I've had the cops pull my wife over for being white and told her to immediately drive out of the city, not to even stop at the lights. Just go... because it was so dangerous to let the car slow to a speed that someone could come through a window. She didn't get car jacked. But the fear of it was very, very real.
In the same city she's been at a restaurant (not a bar, no alcohol) that had people thrown right through her table while she was eating there. Entire table smashed to the floor.
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I've heard stories like this before Scott, granted never first hand (and technically this is second hand), and they generally seem over stated. not saying it's not true, I guess I live a sheltered life in the middle of this madness grip locked country we live in.
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
I've heard stories like this before Scott, granted never first hand (and technically this is second hand), and they generally seem over stated. not saying it's not true, I guess I live a sheltered life in the middle of this madness grip locked country we live in.
@eric and I have walked out of a club in upstate NY and had the fed rush in in swat gear and guns drawn. Boy were we glad we left when we did.
My dad had a friend's dad mowed down from machine gun fire while bartending just a few blocks from where my wife was told to leave without stopping.
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And none of that is in places as dangerous as Newark or Flint, both of which I have lived in.
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@thwr said in Is Texas Next?:
@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
I've noticed you mentioning homeless people before. Is that really that big of a problem over at your place? Can't really imagine that, because we have a rather powerful social system. Everyone, virtually everyone, will get some place to sleep or even some small apartment, at least the most important things (very basic things like a toothbrush, soap, towels, something to eat, clothes, ...), healthcare (or help on getting away from drugs) and this way a real chance to get back into "normal" life.
Yeah it's pretty bad on the west coast. I haven't been on the east coast or the south very much but it is extremely problematic. When you get that many homeless in an area, especially around middle and upper class citizens, there is a kind of resentment when you interact with many of them. Also the "steal from the rich and give to the poor" mentality comes out, where people who wouldn't normally steal, start to do so because they think the middle and upper class can afford to lose certain things off their property.
Homeless people as a social behavior aren't the problem, it's when you put a desperate person in a situation where they can take what they need, because to them it is a life or death situation. If they don't assault you and take material items that they can sell for money to buy food and water (anything else like drugs or alcohol aside), then that is survival. It's the wildly aggressive homeless that are a problem, and it becomes more of a problem if you run across some that are high or intoxicated, especially at night in dimly lit areas that should be avoided.
There are shelters and programs, especially in really big places like Seattle. But they often get overrun and people stand in lines for many blocks. A lot of them don't get in, or can't get fed because there simply aren't enough supplies or beds available for the night. To rotate people, they will kick you out for the day to stand in line for another bed. You might not get one the next night.
There are some other REALLY great programs to help people find work, get them into affordable housing, and help rehabilitate them from drugs and alcohol, but it's a societal struggle because when you help 1,000 people, you may have another 1,000 that are newly addicted, unemployed, and their house foreclosed so they're on the streets.
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@scottalanmiller said in Is Texas Next?:
@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
Having lived in the heart of Newark, NJ, one of the most dangerous places anywhere, that's not what it is. Drugs some, yes, but poverty, no. Tons of opportunity, plenty of money. More a desire to not work than poverty itself.
I've saw a few people like that but not many out here. Mostly just dirt bags that don't have a criminal history, but just couch surfers and occasionally stealing something out of a pickup bed but not getting caught. Are those kind of people just committing crimes because they simply don't want to work, or are they gang affiliated and that is what they simply do for a living?
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@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
I've heard stories like this before Scott, granted never first hand (and technically this is second hand), and they generally seem over stated. not saying it's not true, I guess I live a sheltered life in the middle of this madness grip locked country we live in.
I'd like to live there. What area do you live in?
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@scottalanmiller said in Is Texas Next?:
And none of that is in places as dangerous as Newark or Flint, both of which I have lived in.
Wow... Flint is marked as the most dangerous city in Michigan when you look at crime rates. Why did you live there? I can't imagine there was any good work available, at least something that couldn't be done remotely...
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@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@scottalanmiller said in Is Texas Next?:
@BBigford said in Is Texas Next?:
@Dashrender said in Is Texas Next?:
How's the advertising over there compared to over here, Scott? I think of of the things that drives the crime sprees here is that our advertising drives people to think they don't have enough, they aren't good enough where they are. That whole thing where companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the spending public.
Is that the case there?
What kind of people do you think are committing crimes? It's not middle class workers that want a new materialistic thing that they can't afford. It's people who got addicted to drugs and are feeding their demons with every item they can pawn for cash to score more drugs. Along with people who are homeless and can't even beg for enough money to pay for stuff. Push someone to the edge of desperation; have them question if they'll survive unless they harm you, and you'll see the animal inside of them.
Having lived in the heart of Newark, NJ, one of the most dangerous places anywhere, that's not what it is. Drugs some, yes, but poverty, no. Tons of opportunity, plenty of money. More a desire to not work than poverty itself.
I've saw a few people like that but not many out here. Mostly just dirt bags that don't have a criminal history, but just couch surfers and occasionally stealing something out of a pickup bed but not getting caught. Are those kind of people just committing crimes because they simply don't want to work, or are they gang affiliated and that is what they simply do for a living?
Gang stuff has to exist and is probably all around, but it was not organized in that way where I was.
