In an effort to point out the lack of intellectual diligence exhibited by the liberal youth movement, the constituency some would credit with the election of Barack Obama, I will share excerpts from an ongoing debate I am having with a student of Comparative Cultures from the University of Utah. My goal in sharing some of this debate is to placate friends who have asked me to share it, but more importantly, to illuminate the general propensity liberals have to take statistics at face value rather than pursue the more diligent and tedious course of discovering the driving characteristics behind them. The contrasting arguments should also reveal the power liberal academics and the mainstream media command over people apathetic about the difficult work necessary in understanding our world. The unwillingness of modern Americans to delve deeply into comparative histories and the palpable economic verities that informed the founders of this nation has given rise to the neo-Marxian policies currently being enacted by the executive and legislative branches. A ten second media spot seems to be all it takes to make the average American feel informed. Sciolism seems acceptable in this techno age.
The first entry:
He: Out of 8 countries the United States had the highest crime homicide rate of 5.5, while Germany and other European countries was around 0.9. Now you may say that is coincidence or whatever. However, if only one country had a low rate, I can see your argument, but 12 of the EU countries have a lower rate and are more socialist geared. When I mentioned dangerous I meant in terms of crime rate. This means something. Furthermore the United States is only 4% of the world's population, but contains one-quarter of the worlds entire prison population! The U.S. averages 685 prisoners per 100,00 people, compared to 87 in EU countries.
Me: The Bureau of Justice Statistics paints a complete picture. Homicide rates are high because of black on black crime. Like I said, poverty doesn't cause it, family disorganization and a failure of the culture to meet critical Judeo-Christian expectations does. Much of this stems from the liberal policies of the 1960's and 1970's, no fault divorce and irresponsible welfare policies which made the father of the black family obsolete. Read any number of books on the subject. Slouching toward Gomorrah and The Dream and the Nightmare are the two best I've read so far. Incarceration is high because we take crime seriously. Read the report.
