11-15-2019, 12:06 AM
Thanks for the additional opportunity to clarify and discuss.
First, and particularly to @RiverNotch, on the issue of group (in particular black) criminality, statistics are clear in the first instance (yes, more recorded criminality per capita) but subject to question on what the statistics may fail to capture (do more crimes go unreported in non-group areas?) In view of that wider issue, the dog (not) barking here is loud, violent protests when a group member (black) person is shot by police but none when a non-group (white, for example) person is. Can this biased sensitivity be justified?
Second, if greater group (black) propensity to crime is stipulated, do "root causes" excuse it? Well, sure, but if a murderer had a rotten life he is still, objectively, a murderer and must be punished accordingly. This is particularly applicable in spur-of-the-moment situations - that is, his rotten life may excuse his actions, but his actions excuse the police for shooting him (which is not punishment but self-defense).
And to both, but particularly for @UselessBlueprint, (under the Spoiler veil since it explains the work),
Shorn of rhyme and rhythm, what the poem is saying in plain moral/ethical terms is,
First, and particularly to @RiverNotch, on the issue of group (in particular black) criminality, statistics are clear in the first instance (yes, more recorded criminality per capita) but subject to question on what the statistics may fail to capture (do more crimes go unreported in non-group areas?) In view of that wider issue, the dog (not) barking here is loud, violent protests when a group member (black) person is shot by police but none when a non-group (white, for example) person is. Can this biased sensitivity be justified?
Second, if greater group (black) propensity to crime is stipulated, do "root causes" excuse it? Well, sure, but if a murderer had a rotten life he is still, objectively, a murderer and must be punished accordingly. This is particularly applicable in spur-of-the-moment situations - that is, his rotten life may excuse his actions, but his actions excuse the police for shooting him (which is not punishment but self-defense).
And to both, but particularly for @UselessBlueprint, (under the Spoiler veil since it explains the work),
Shorn of rhyme and rhythm, what the poem is saying in plain moral/ethical terms is,
Non-practicing atheist

