Maybe your area is a good enough one that you don't need to worry about your kid walking home from school, maybe it's only the areas a few counties away that are the "badlands". And maybe you don't feel any empathy for those people, which again tbh is fine. It's not about empathy, it's about being pragmatic; these problem areas spill over and affect the areas around them, and if the root cause of their existence isn't dealt with and grows, it will affect you more and more.
For example, would you care more if Ezio was attacked walking back from school one day?
Poverty levels heavily correlate to an area's crime rates. Poor people are desperate people, more likely to steal/rob/assault to fill their basic needs, more likely to get into gangs, more likely to find ****ty ways to amuse themselves as teens. Everyone knows there are areas you just don't go to alone after dark, hell sometimes even in the day. They ain't rich areas lemme just say.
As somebody who was born in a legitimate ghetto, has been homeless, lived in super rural areas, lived in a really middle of the road area, and now lives in what most consider a "white privilege" area I can tell you 100% you're going to find crime of all sorts in all of these places. Are different crimes more prevalent to one area over the other? Sure, but that doesn't detract anything and giving these people more options doesn't really change it much. I have some very controversial opinions when it comes to these kinds of things just because of what I've experienced in my lifetime. Just because of where I live people think it's less likely to have crime. Straight up wrong. Last week 3 houses got broken into in broad daylight (with people in them, 2 streets up from me), just like last year when cars were being broken into almost every night. Last night in the neighborhood over a dude got stabbed by his neighbor for setting off fireworks. In the spring there was a dude trying to kidnap kids from my son's school (that's 2 blocks from me). For the past 6 months teenagers have been getting into vacant and under construction houses to f*ck, do drugs, drink, and vandalize. Somebody broke into the HOA pool area and set fire to the bathrooms then got into the pool and broke off the drain. There's graffiti on the school zone sign and the bridges over the creek going through our neighborhood. All kinds of stuff you'd expect in a ghetto or in Dallas in general. Nope, semi-rural ranch area in a big community of 300k+ houses. (Yes my house value went up 50k in just a year because of how "nice" it is). There are cars donked here, dudes bumping loud systems, no different than the run down ghetto looking area I rented in that had drug deals in the house behind me. People (including my own family) will look at this area and think this is where "rich" people live.
Part of that controversial thought process is no, I do not think giving more of MY money for any extra form of government funding will prevent these things from happening or better shape the people that might "spill" over. I live in a country where diabetic medication is a for profit thing but heroin abusers get a free get out of death card. I live in a country of people where giving too much help causes a dependency, and too much help simply causes more open hands wanting a hand out. I firmly feel and have for years that no amount of extra help is really deserved in a country that gives more money to other countries over helping it's own citizens. I'd rather keep that extra cash in my pocket so I can not need to work those extra hours for bills and make sure my son wouldn't need to walk home. I'd rather choose with whom I help as I feel my decision would be better suited than the junkies the government deems necessary to help or those that abuse the system to not need to work. Even if it is buying a graphics card for a friend because he makes less money than me. It'd be more appreciated than a homeless person that'd spend that 20 you gave them to buy alcohol and drugs. Most don't agree with my stance, but in a lot of cases I've been there done that and know exactly the kind of people I'm talking about and the areas being referred to. I mean, my mom and sister lives in THE ghetto of DFW (I'm talking nightly murders, THE place you don't walk at night). I don't feel any safer here than I do there tbh.
Or on life expectancy, I think we'd all have liked to hang onto our dad/mum for longer than we got to. Are you really telling me you don't care if your dad could've lived longer/healthier, got to be part of your son's life?
Those aren't pleasant thoughts and I'm sorry if it's dredging up anything, but for some their reality is far worse and far harsher than that.
In most people's case, life choices cause their demise and ignoring signs. You have cancer victims and the such, sure, but a lot of times it's texting and driving, not taking care of themselves, drinking and driving, etc. You get the point. No amount of superior healthcare system or government funding will cure stupidity. Let's use my own dad's death as an example. He died of a heart attack, because he had too many fatty foods and ate entirely way too much salt on all of his meals the duration of his life. He knew about his heart condition, said nothing to anybody, and did nothing to help himself. Fast forward to him in the hospital. Our incompetent medical system was informed about his naturally low blood pressure, and still proceeded to raise it to what they deemed "normal" causing him to have a cardiovascular failure which led to him becoming brain dead on the bed due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Let's take my gf for example. She's following in his footsteps regardless of my warnings. Again, no amount of funding of superior systems will cure stupidity. I had a diabetic episode at work, went to the doc, had a 5.8% A1C, immediately switched my diet to better myself. In 2 months I was back down to 5.1% but unlike others I'm not just going to immediately fall back to the old habits. I could be killed tomorrow by somebody texting and driving. Just my outlook on that. Would I like to have my dad here today? Sure, but on the flip side if he was still here I'd still be depending on him for a ton of things. I wouldn't be where I am today, wouldn't have learned things on my own. In fact, if my dad didn't die I wouldn't have my son. So there's that I suppose. Idk man, on that I feel if it's your time it's your time. Things happen the way they're supposed to.
I wouldn't say you're an ******* for saying "idc cause it doesn't affect me", but I would say you're being shortsighted and unimaginative.
It's the complete opposite rather. I've been in these areas, around these people, and experienced first hand a lot of what we've referenced. No amount of my tax dollars can fix a corrupt, addicted, entitled, and unappreciative society that this country has formed. And yes, this kind of attitude and outlook on how ridiculous this country has become is simply called "being an *******". Rather, looking after myself and my household first is. No, I don't want to help that junkie if he doesn't want to help himself, and no I don't think all of us paying for his medical bills will change that. No, I don't think having better education systems for cities generally run by gang bangers will change the city of gang bangers. I don't care if our literacy rate is low, idc what our homicide rate is, idc what our homeless rate is. Nothing I do or the mass public will do can change that based on the past 50 or so years of history and it's quite obvious giving more tax dollars to these same people just continues the cycle or makes it worse. The next argument could be well if it changed now your son could have a better future! Oh yea? Tax rates have gone up, gone down, we've been through a recession, housing boom, war on drugs, war on this, war on that, even have health insurance forced on us now under a blanket term since I was his age. Has our state of life gotten any better in the past 30 years? Nope. If we turned all that around right this second would it change things? Maybe.... but only maybe, and we all know that would never happen. And even then, my son would be my age or older so what would it matter with me giving it two thoughts when I'll already be dead? The only thing I've gotten out of the whole "grand scheme of things" is point your nose in a direction and follow it. Tax dollars didn't put me where I am, superior education didn't put me where I am (in fact mine was worse than what my son is getting now), working got me here. My own money. Not choosing drugs during depression to further ruin my life when I was under a bridge. All of that jazz, and I stand by it. Insert moral inducing general bull**** speech here.
To iterate in a nutshell, the people here do not want to help themselves. They would rather sit at home and spark up pointless nonsense on social media while sitting on their phone instead of working to better themselves. Our societies and countries differ greatly to where I'd have to say that you would need to live here for at least 5 years to completely grasp and take in everything I'm saying to see it at face value. This country is too greatly divided by invisible ridiculous lines that nothing will help until there's a huge reset.
in a purely capitalistic market you wouldn't tax anything, because that's inherently a social function.
