Chicago crime thread: Place all crime-related posts here (Grant Park: theater, dangerous)

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by Bitey

I didn't say there are lockdowns in the present day causing the problems, I said the riots that erupted from turning the populace stir-crazy damaged the social fabric, and yes, we absolutely are still feeling the fallout of that frayed fabric to this day. The effects of a bomb don't just go away the second after the chemical reaction is complete; the human toll lasts for days or weeks or months or longer.

The riots had nothing to do with Covid.

The riots were fed by perceived and real issues of black people being killed by police.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E..._racial_unrest

[Bitey]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

The riots had nothing to do with Covid.

The riots were fed by perceived and real issues of black people being killed by police.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E..._racial_unrest

I guess you think the timing is a coincidence; I don't. I seriously doubt the riots would have been nearly as severe, had they happened at all, had the population not already been cooped up for months with no end in sight. You can't do that to hundreds of millions of people and not expect serious societal fallout.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by Bitey

I guess you think the timing is a coincidence

We'll never know about the severity angle. But the riots/protests were not about Covid. That's fact. People weren't out there with signs saying stop the lockdowns.

Also, I think many people are lengthening the lockdown period in their heads. People used "quarantine" when they are forced to wear masks on a plane. That's not a lockdown.

Quarantine part of Covid was 2 months long here from March 21st to May 29th.

"As the virus spread further, the state enacted an even stronger shelter in place order, affecting schools and businesses across the state.[6] At first declared between the dates of March 21 and April 7, the order was later extended until April 30, then May 29.[7][8][9]"

But back to the issue...I agree with you that the pandemic is one factor causing our societal decay.

And I 100% agree society is collapsing right in front of our eyes.

1) Severe political division in the last 10 years or so
2) Media sensationalism and pushing narratives
3) Smart phones giving us immediate access to information, and keeping us from making real connections
4) Reduction in church attendance and belief in God
5) Increased income inequality, growing more severe by the year
6) Pandemic causing people to forget when normal is anymore, so many missing graduations, proms, milestones

I'm probably missing others, but a lot of these are recent and destroying our social fabric. I am so thankful I grew up in the 70s-80s before cell phones and Facebook. I got to experience life on both sides.

I watch TikTok - there are people my age posting videos from the 80s and all the Gen Zers comment about how awesome it looks and nobody is buried in phones - they all wish life today was like that. It's unbelievably sad.

[Bitey]

For the record, May 29th just happens to be right about when the riots went supernova.

Were people literally locked in their homes? No. But there was still severely restricted access to places of public accommodation (both indoor and outdoor), many were locked out of their workplaces, their kids were locked out of their schools, etc. So while they weren't literally locked down, there was nowhere for people to go and nothing for them to do -- a de facto lockdown if not a de jure lockdown. So I hope you'll humor my continuing to use the term "lockdown" as shorthand to describe the circumstances above.

Do we know for sure whether the riots were nurtured by these circumstances regardless of the cause people were purportedly rioting about? Of course not. But major societal upheaval of some sort was easily predictable. There's nothing special or unique about my predictive powers; anyone could have or should have seen some sort of major upheaval was in the offing.

A major reason we just bought a base-camp property in Wisconsin is to drag our kids up there from time to time to get their faces away from screens for a couple days.

[TBideon]

The hoodrats used the increased tensions and fear stemming from both Covid shutdowns and also the George Floyd protests to opportunitstically riot and destroy neighborhoods and downtowns with semi carte blance. It isn't that complicated

[Kmanshouse]

Protests were a chance for people to gather during a time when they weren't allowed to gather, generally.

So that part is accurate. Likely, more people attended these than otherwise would have.

Looting is just another animal altogether. Do you guys remember the 2nd wave of looting that happened in August? I forget what the "reason" was....but I had to cancel my wife's 50th birthday plans and we left town for the weekend instead.

[Master Jay]

Kmanshouse, are YOU suggesting that these "protests" were not completely "peaceful"???

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Kmanshouse, are YOU suggesting that these "protests" were not completely "peaceful"???

Well, most of them were. A couple got heated here in Chicago.

The looting wasn't a protest. That was just a bunch of thieves who found an opportunity to rob stores.

Some people lick their lips during chaos....

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

And I 100% agree society is collapsing right in front of our eyes.

1) Severe political division in the last 10 years or so
2) Media sensationalism and pushing narratives
3) Smart phones giving us immediate access to information, and keeping us from making real connections
4) Reduction in church attendance and belief in God
5) Increased income inequality, growing more severe by the year
6) Pandemic causing people to forget when normal is anymore, so many missing graduations, proms, milestones

I'm probably missing others, but a lot of these are recent and destroying our social fabric. I am so thankful I grew up in the 70s-80s before cell phones and Facebook. I got to experience life on both sides.

I watch TikTok - there are people my age posting videos from the 80s and all the Gen Zers comment about how awesome it looks and nobody is buried in phones - they all wish life today was like that. It's unbelievably sad.

This is an amazingly accurate post.
It's going down like some disgraced cosmonaut.
Fortunately there are still some who are grounded in reality, who see that polarizing news is intended to distract us from your 6 points above.
7) The breakdown of traditional family structure, and lack of proper role models/mentors.

[Master Jay]

Kmanshouse, if you remember the movie Blood In, Blood Out, the leader of one of the prison gangs makes a comment:

"Where there is war (chaos), there is opportunity."

So your comment would definitely coincide with the criminal attitude of those who chose to "protest."