Once again, the GOP reverts to type. If you can't beat 'em with facts and data, bludgeon 'em with fear-mongering, bullshit, and lies. Sure, not everyone will believe you...but enough will to make it worth your while. After all, MAGA runs on lies and bullshit, no?
I feel like something is going on. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but the courts are GOP toadies; we know the media is favoring the orange menace because of the massive amounts of coverage they give him; the nitwit threatens blood in the streets if he loses, and who knows who will be counting the electoral votes if the GOP finds a way to bribe or threaten the electors in swing states? I feel this could be the nail in the coffin of democracy. I hope and pray I'm wrong.
In NYC you will have a hard time with anyone believing you given the subway crime everyday. The mental health situation is dire and homelessness, drugs and violence continues to contribute to these perceptions regardless of what the polls or stats say. I have lived in the city since grad school in the 1970s but every New Yorker I know and in my Jackson Height East Elmhurst neighborhood is on constant alert all the time. This is not a way to live. The turn style of bail reform by Bragg and our of so ultraidiotic city council results in fantasy about some human behaviors as one size fits all but it does not. And I am a progressive but the proof on a daily level is in the pudding.
I live in New York. Disorder is not the same as high crime. I take the subway every day. I am not afraid of crime, not any more than usual. The stories are real but your chances of being a victim are still low and there is law enforcement present. Have lived here all my life and this is no way like others times in my life here with no police and the rate much higher..
New York City is noisy and disruptive, and because so many people live cheek-by-jowl they're constantly on "high alert". But when my then-wife moved us upstate to Syracuse in Central NY, we lived in a college neighborhood—but the crime rate there is 42 crimes per 1,000 people, as opposed to New York City's 38 per 1,000 persons.
Neither is exactly "crime-free", but you wouldn't expect a metropolis of NYC's 18,937,00 people to have a LOWER crime rate than a small city with a population of 145,454.
Sorry but assume you are not female, elderly and so on when traveling. I could care less for statistics and pollsters. I survey my fellow and sister and genderfluid travelers to get a grip on how people who are traveling from queens - and Bronx feel about their daily commute. Gun licenses for concealed carry and carry are up from 300plus to 6,000 plus in NY so I want you to vet the stats and dig down deeper. I have been shoved off the platform while carrying two shopping bags, told by Robert Therman the great Buddhist teacher to meditate on whatever lesson I was supposed to learn from that while I was doing a retreat on loving kindness which was extended me by two people who pulled me back from deaths door. I could have ended up like the poor woman whose alleged “boyfriend” pushed her on to the tracks as a train approached ending with her losing both feet! Tell me more about on paper stats!
::sigh:: Anecdotal Evidence is impossible to argue against when the arguer is the anecdote in question. I fear you sound like a "9/11 Conservative", one of those formerly liberal people who went HARD Right after 9/11 and refused to admit they had, like Dennis Miller, Ron Silver, or my ex-wife.
The problem isn't New York City—it's overpopulation and inequality in general. I may not be female, but I am elderly (relatively speaking)—a retiree in my mid-Sixties living alone in Jersey City (the rent is borderline affordable here), and unlike Bernie Sanders I'm not a former track & field athlete who's still in pretty good shape. If somebody wants to mess with the old guy, I'm an easy target—and yet, I felt far less safe in Syracuse than I ever felt in NYC itself when I lived there, or in Jersey City where I live now. I'd also point out I moved to NYC originally in 1980, when every headline screamed how "dangerous" it was to live here—and while I was younger, admittedly, I quickly learned to adapt as New Yorkers do.
You'd be in just as much danger in a small city or town where you weren't known to most of the local population—in fact, you'd be in more because you're an *auslander*, and smaller urban centers are hotbeds for xenophobia and violence! I know because I was born in a small town in the Midwest, where I'm related to half the people there—which is why I don't live there now, and it doesn't surprise me that some of my cousins who stayed there are the victims of "Pink Monkey Syndrome"....
Really good point: Democrats must fight back THROUGH the media. Not TO the media, where our fights and arguments die. Democrats cannot expect to fight USING the media, either: media ownership, let's face it, skews GOP. And what employees are going to piss off their bosses day after day?
The media are NOT our friends, despite Conservatives' decades-long effort to paint them as our ally.
Mental illness is the real story, and as long as the needs of those with mental illness aren’t met (more hospital beds, services, etc.) the media will report on these violent incidents and lead viewers to the conclusion it’s all (once again) President Biden’s fault. But notice how the mental illness, clearly demonstrated by Drumpf and the people who “enjoyed” the painting of Joe Biden hog tied, gets a pass; these pro-violent acts are also mental illness and lead to more dangerous acts.
Thanks, Michael, for providing some insight on crime rates and for including statistics. Biggest drop in the murder rate ever! WOW! On a recent visit with family in central Florida, I heard my contemporaries (sisters and in-laws) rage about tent cities, smash-and-grab style burglaries, and “millions” of people illegally crossing the southern border, among other things. They all profess to be independents and aren’t fond of Trump. But they also all dislike Joe and blame him for these problems. Try as I may, I couldn’t make a dent in their beliefs. Worse were my grandsons, nieces and nephews who are in their 20’s and 30’s. They are completely disgusted with the entire government and from what I heard, they all plan to not vote at all in November. And several of these younger people expressed their belief that another Civil War is coming. Those conversations were frustrating and leave me worrying about the future.
Once again, the GOP reverts to type. If you can't beat 'em with facts and data, bludgeon 'em with fear-mongering, bullshit, and lies. Sure, not everyone will believe you...but enough will to make it worth your while. After all, MAGA runs on lies and bullshit, no?
I feel like something is going on. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but the courts are GOP toadies; we know the media is favoring the orange menace because of the massive amounts of coverage they give him; the nitwit threatens blood in the streets if he loses, and who knows who will be counting the electoral votes if the GOP finds a way to bribe or threaten the electors in swing states? I feel this could be the nail in the coffin of democracy. I hope and pray I'm wrong.
In NYC you will have a hard time with anyone believing you given the subway crime everyday. The mental health situation is dire and homelessness, drugs and violence continues to contribute to these perceptions regardless of what the polls or stats say. I have lived in the city since grad school in the 1970s but every New Yorker I know and in my Jackson Height East Elmhurst neighborhood is on constant alert all the time. This is not a way to live. The turn style of bail reform by Bragg and our of so ultraidiotic city council results in fantasy about some human behaviors as one size fits all but it does not. And I am a progressive but the proof on a daily level is in the pudding.
I live in New York. Disorder is not the same as high crime. I take the subway every day. I am not afraid of crime, not any more than usual. The stories are real but your chances of being a victim are still low and there is law enforcement present. Have lived here all my life and this is no way like others times in my life here with no police and the rate much higher..
Smells like Rudy Giuliani's excuse for going after "quality of life crime", while letting the cops harass anything they thought LOOKED suspicious.
New York City is noisy and disruptive, and because so many people live cheek-by-jowl they're constantly on "high alert". But when my then-wife moved us upstate to Syracuse in Central NY, we lived in a college neighborhood—but the crime rate there is 42 crimes per 1,000 people, as opposed to New York City's 38 per 1,000 persons.
Neither is exactly "crime-free", but you wouldn't expect a metropolis of NYC's 18,937,00 people to have a LOWER crime rate than a small city with a population of 145,454.
Sorry but assume you are not female, elderly and so on when traveling. I could care less for statistics and pollsters. I survey my fellow and sister and genderfluid travelers to get a grip on how people who are traveling from queens - and Bronx feel about their daily commute. Gun licenses for concealed carry and carry are up from 300plus to 6,000 plus in NY so I want you to vet the stats and dig down deeper. I have been shoved off the platform while carrying two shopping bags, told by Robert Therman the great Buddhist teacher to meditate on whatever lesson I was supposed to learn from that while I was doing a retreat on loving kindness which was extended me by two people who pulled me back from deaths door. I could have ended up like the poor woman whose alleged “boyfriend” pushed her on to the tracks as a train approached ending with her losing both feet! Tell me more about on paper stats!
::sigh:: Anecdotal Evidence is impossible to argue against when the arguer is the anecdote in question. I fear you sound like a "9/11 Conservative", one of those formerly liberal people who went HARD Right after 9/11 and refused to admit they had, like Dennis Miller, Ron Silver, or my ex-wife.
The problem isn't New York City—it's overpopulation and inequality in general. I may not be female, but I am elderly (relatively speaking)—a retiree in my mid-Sixties living alone in Jersey City (the rent is borderline affordable here), and unlike Bernie Sanders I'm not a former track & field athlete who's still in pretty good shape. If somebody wants to mess with the old guy, I'm an easy target—and yet, I felt far less safe in Syracuse than I ever felt in NYC itself when I lived there, or in Jersey City where I live now. I'd also point out I moved to NYC originally in 1980, when every headline screamed how "dangerous" it was to live here—and while I was younger, admittedly, I quickly learned to adapt as New Yorkers do.
You'd be in just as much danger in a small city or town where you weren't known to most of the local population—in fact, you'd be in more because you're an *auslander*, and smaller urban centers are hotbeds for xenophobia and violence! I know because I was born in a small town in the Midwest, where I'm related to half the people there—which is why I don't live there now, and it doesn't surprise me that some of my cousins who stayed there are the victims of "Pink Monkey Syndrome"....
Really good point: Democrats must fight back THROUGH the media. Not TO the media, where our fights and arguments die. Democrats cannot expect to fight USING the media, either: media ownership, let's face it, skews GOP. And what employees are going to piss off their bosses day after day?
The media are NOT our friends, despite Conservatives' decades-long effort to paint them as our ally.
The media only has one “friend”-money.
Mental illness is the real story, and as long as the needs of those with mental illness aren’t met (more hospital beds, services, etc.) the media will report on these violent incidents and lead viewers to the conclusion it’s all (once again) President Biden’s fault. But notice how the mental illness, clearly demonstrated by Drumpf and the people who “enjoyed” the painting of Joe Biden hog tied, gets a pass; these pro-violent acts are also mental illness and lead to more dangerous acts.
Every democrat accusation is a confession always
Thanks, Michael, for providing some insight on crime rates and for including statistics. Biggest drop in the murder rate ever! WOW! On a recent visit with family in central Florida, I heard my contemporaries (sisters and in-laws) rage about tent cities, smash-and-grab style burglaries, and “millions” of people illegally crossing the southern border, among other things. They all profess to be independents and aren’t fond of Trump. But they also all dislike Joe and blame him for these problems. Try as I may, I couldn’t make a dent in their beliefs. Worse were my grandsons, nieces and nephews who are in their 20’s and 30’s. They are completely disgusted with the entire government and from what I heard, they all plan to not vote at all in November. And several of these younger people expressed their belief that another Civil War is coming. Those conversations were frustrating and leave me worrying about the future.