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Here's a newsflash for ya: DON'T BREAK THE LAW!!! If they weren't breaking they law there would be no need to send them to jail. I grew up around a bunch of p

Here's a newsflash for ya: DON'T BREAK THE LAW!!! If they weren't breaking they law there would be no need to send them to jail. I grew up around a bunch of potheads and saw by their example that I never wanted to be involved with drugs. Instead of spending my time getting drunk and high I spent my time in the library reading. I grew up in a trailer park, and now live in a middle-class suburb. Because I was interested in video games, I learned about computers. Poor people are held down by the chains of their own bad habits, not by rich people.

sneak 13y ago
There are so many laws in the US that everyone there is committing several felonies a day. It's the poor and minorities the cops choose to scrutinize and enforce against most. Few times have I seen such obliviousness to white middle-class privilege on HN.
- bilbo0s 13y ago
  Yeah... I guess this one is true. I'd have to challenge AutoCorrect's implicit assertion that (s)he doesn't break the law. There are so many laws that the assertion is a little difficult to believe. Your explanation is far more likely... ie - this is the US and it's far better to be white than black, or rich than poor. And the worst is to be poor and black.
glesica 13y ago
runako already dealt with this by pointing out that because poor areas are militarized, run-ins with the law are more likely even for "normal" law-breaking. What kid doesn't break the law? I did, tons of times. I wasn't out murdering people, but I took part in the usual American youth mischief. If I'd grown up in a poor, black neighborhood, there's a good chance I would have gone to prison. As it is, I grew up in a middle-class white neighborhood, so I got away with it (and turned out MUCH better than I would have if I'd gone to prison). Aside from this, militarization leads to people who didn't even break the law being incarcerated or killed. Take a look at the Innocence Project, and AFAIK they don't even handle people wrongfully convicted of minor offenses.

sneak 13y ago

There are so many laws in the US that everyone there is committing several felonies a day. It's the poor and minorities the cops choose to scrutinize and enforce against most. Few times have I seen such obliviousness to white middle-class privilege on HN.

bilbo0s 13y ago
Yeah... I guess this one is true. I'd have to challenge AutoCorrect's implicit assertion that (s)he doesn't break the law. There are so many laws that the assertion is a little difficult to believe. Your explanation is far more likely... ie - this is the US and it's far better to be white than black, or rich than poor. And the worst is to be poor and black.

glesica 13y ago

runako already dealt with this by pointing out that because poor areas are militarized, run-ins with the law are more likely even for "normal" law-breaking. What kid doesn't break the law? I did, tons of times. I wasn't out murdering people, but I took part in the usual American youth mischief. If I'd grown up in a poor, black neighborhood, there's a good chance I would have gone to prison. As it is, I grew up in a middle-class white neighborhood, so I got away with it (and turned out MUCH better than I would have if I'd gone to prison). Aside from this, militarization leads to people who didn't even break the law being incarcerated or killed. Take a look at the Innocence Project, and AFAIK they don't even handle people wrongfully convicted of minor offenses.