Last month, two shooting incidents landed Toronto in the national news because of the links to gangs (
including this in which two people, including a child, were murdered). These two incidents were
preceded another gang related shooting which resulted in the death of one man.
In their coverage of these incidents, the msm have been
rhetorically asking what can be done to solve the problem of gang violence. Municipal, provincial, and federal politicians have also been very publicly wrestling with the problem,
including at least one who suggests that it might be an immigration problem.
But there are those who might also ask
why should we spend all the promised resources on a problem that will not affect most Canadians?
Let's face it. Most of us will never be affected by gang crime, especially gang violence. Such violence is found in a fairly narrow demographic in Canada which is related to poverty,
something we have already briefly discussed on this blog. If you, like the vast majority of Canadians are, in the middle class, the odds of being a victim of gang violence is very low (
which isn't to say it never happens). There's also no danger whatsoever of the average street gang influencing the political process. We'll never have an active member of any street gang who will be able to impose his or her criminal ideas on the rest of the population.... the mafia and associated political corruption notwithstanding.
So why is our society afraid of gangs? There are a lot of legitimate reasons, including the very real violence that they engage that does affect some segments of society which results in severe injuries and deaths. and because they engage in anti-social behavior that corrupts young people and results in, for too many, a very bleak future; one of an early death or frequent incarceration.
Yes, we're oversimplifying a complex issue, but bear with us for a moment as we draw a parallel.
Earlier today, our fellow blogger
Michael Murphy (BCL) appeared on Michael Coren's Sun T.V. program to discuss the dangers of white supremacist violence (this was in response to
the events in Wisconsin in which 7 men were murdered by a
member of a notoriously violent hate group). Before Mr. Murphy spoke, Coren stated that while Wisconsin was a horrible event, it is so rare that we shouldn't be at all concerned with white supremacist violence because, to paraphrase his argument, it never really happens. He ridiculed white supremecists as welfare losers who sit in their parent's basement plotting about taking over the world (we have to admit that when we heard this characterization, we immediately thought of
Tomasz Winnicki), but they are not a credible threat. Rather, the real threat in our midst is Islam, though we can't quite remember if he made the distinction between the radical extremists or ordinary Muslims.
White supremacists should be left alone to post their ideas on hate sites but otherwise ignored since their ideas can't harm anyone. Their crimes don't affect most people and they are not a threat to national cohesion.
The problem is that white supremacists HAVE harmed people. A lot of people.
