Big Wide World

I remember a not so distant past in which we could walk the streets of downtown toronto at any time of the day and night and not worry about a stray gang bullet hitting us in the head and killing us. My friends and I were often on the downtown streets at 1 am, and it was usually the saftest time to be there cause the only ppl that were around were the drunk (and they're too busy being drunk to bother any passer-by). But recently, Toronto has started to go down the proverbial drain. And its not just the recent shootings and killing but I'll stick to that for now.

It seems that everytime I turn on the news this summer, there's another shooting. Gangbangers are running around killing eachother, and the problem is is that they're also taking down some innocent ppl. And since there are no real solutions to the problem, police, politicians, and the general public has adopted the bandage solution of blaming the rise on cheap american gun imports.

But advocates of Toronto "The Great" site that toronto still remains one of the safest cities in n.america since (despite of summer shootings, the local homicide rate is still lower than it was in 1991.

Couple of issues here. First of all, I hate quick solutions of using blame to try to control a situation. What's going on in toronto isn't controllable. its going to get worse and worse, even if american gun imports are controlled. gangbangers will just find other sources or methods. why? well, that's simple. its not the illicit guns, its the illicit ppl. we have created a society with a lack of accountability for anything, and that further fosters crime. for example, bullying is still on the rise b/c instead of dealing with bullies and curbing the trend, we are too afraid of imposing tough sentences on bullies b/c they were once bullied themselves. umm, ok. what does that do? it says that if you were bullied and you become a bully, its fine, we'll take care of you, but don't worry, you can get away with it b/c we just want to give you a hug.

its the same with gangbangers. we want to walk on eggshells. recently, one politician suggested targeting the communities are are most likely the cause of the problem. this "racial profiling" was rejected. now, i'm not saying that racial profiling is right, but at least it was a more productive step in the right direction to curb the violence. tougher attitudes, tougher sentences, tougher zero policies. that's the solution. not this liberal, boo-hoo, rehab, slap on the hand bullshit. we're too busy trying to find them jobs rather then focusing on the moral questions and the lack of values that have been created. if the parents can't do it, well then, someone should.

as for the fact that toronto is still one of the safest cities. well, i guess the only thing i can say is that: "if that helps you sleep at night". maybe its still true. fine, i'll give them that, but the problem is not that toronto is still one of the safest, the question is for how long? cause the recent state of affairs in toronto is just going to cause more crime and we'll go from mediocre to get-out-while-you-can. personally, my love-hate relationship with toronto (a permanent state of internal chaos for most true torontonians) is quickly leaning towards the latter.