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EDITORIAL: Madison joins the argument
Behavior, not bank accounts, behind crime.
BRACE YOURSELF: Even in liberal Paradise - more commonly known as Madison - the tranquility can be disturbed by the rudeness of reality.
News item (from Madison's Wisconsin State Journal): “A top Madison Police Department official says the city should reduce or freeze building low-income housing because the tenants are overwhelming police services.”
The statement, by Capt. Jay Lengfeld, said the “at-risk population in Madison has exceeded the ability of service providers to service them.” Lengfeld went on to argue for city action to weed out bad landlords and to allow good landlords more opportunities to legally reject tenant applicants who have a history of causing problems.
AN ADVOCATE for the poor, Alderwoman Brenda Konkel, took exception to Lengfeld's stand. The captain, she said, “bought into the stereotype that poor people cause crime. Poor people are poor. Criminals cause crime. ... Limiting places for poor people to live will not prevent crime.”
Such arguments may sound familiar in Beloit.
The community has grappled in the past with the question of how much is too much when it comes to low-income housing. The compassionate argument holds that society must extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. The flip side is the if-you-build-it-they-will-come argument, that more low-income housing just attracts more people seeking taxpayer-subsidized services. There's a certain amount of truth to both positions.
Likewise, crime does occur with more frequency in disadvantaged neighborhoods. There may be many explanations for the crime rates, but that's of little consolation to the victims.
THE IDEA THAT being poor doesn't make one a criminal is bolstered by history. The problems associated with crime - particularly violent crime - are of relatively recent vintage. As the Good Book says, there are always poor people. But thuggery is a more modern phenomenon.
Here's our take. The more broken homes and single moms, the more thuggery. The more absentee dads, the more thuggery. The more disinterest in education, the more thuggery. The more dropouts, the more unemployed, the more thuggery. The more substance abuse, the more thuggery.
The problem is not the thickness of one's wallet.
The problem is the thickness of one's head.
Neighborhoods deteriorate when all those old-fashioned things that once meant something are gone - respect for others and oneself, parental oversight, politeness, reading and learning, watching the language one uses, setting a good example, speaking softly and with reason.
Tax-subsidized housing can never substitute for personal responsibility.
IF THERE'S good news in this, it's that Madisonians' eyes are being forcibly pried open to the sort of problems which have long plagued other cities. As the seat of government, Madison clearly has more capacity to act than most.
That, of course, doesn't mean Madison will act. The policy paralysis that comes from stubborn ideology is difficult to overcome. Even so, this should be interesting. Pull up a chair to watch Madison argue with itself.
BRACE YOURSELF: Even in liberal Paradise - more commonly known as Madison - the tranquility can be disturbed by the rudeness of reality.
News item (from Madison's Wisconsin State Journal): “A top Madison Police Department official says the city should reduce or freeze building low-income housing because the tenants are overwhelming police services.”
The statement, by Capt. Jay Lengfeld, said the “at-risk population in Madison has exceeded the ability of service providers to service them.” Lengfeld went on to argue for city action to weed out bad landlords and to allow good landlords more opportunities to legally reject tenant applicants who have a history of causing problems.
AN ADVOCATE for the poor, Alderwoman Brenda Konkel, took exception to Lengfeld's stand. The captain, she said, “bought into the stereotype that poor people cause crime. Poor people are poor. Criminals cause crime. ... Limiting places for poor people to live will not prevent crime.”
Such arguments may sound familiar in Beloit.
The community has grappled in the past with the question of how much is too much when it comes to low-income housing. The compassionate argument holds that society must extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. The flip side is the if-you-build-it-they-will-come argument, that more low-income housing just attracts more people seeking taxpayer-subsidized services. There's a certain amount of truth to both positions.
Likewise, crime does occur with more frequency in disadvantaged neighborhoods. There may be many explanations for the crime rates, but that's of little consolation to the victims.
THE IDEA THAT being poor doesn't make one a criminal is bolstered by history. The problems associated with crime - particularly violent crime - are of relatively recent vintage. As the Good Book says, there are always poor people. But thuggery is a more modern phenomenon.
Here's our take. The more broken homes and single moms, the more thuggery. The more absentee dads, the more thuggery. The more disinterest in education, the more thuggery. The more dropouts, the more unemployed, the more thuggery. The more substance abuse, the more thuggery.
The problem is not the thickness of one's wallet.
The problem is the thickness of one's head.
Neighborhoods deteriorate when all those old-fashioned things that once meant something are gone - respect for others and oneself, parental oversight, politeness, reading and learning, watching the language one uses, setting a good example, speaking softly and with reason.
Tax-subsidized housing can never substitute for personal responsibility.
IF THERE'S good news in this, it's that Madisonians' eyes are being forcibly pried open to the sort of problems which have long plagued other cities. As the seat of government, Madison clearly has more capacity to act than most.
That, of course, doesn't mean Madison will act. The policy paralysis that comes from stubborn ideology is difficult to overcome. Even so, this should be interesting. Pull up a chair to watch Madison argue with itself.
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beloitstatistician wrote on Oct 6, 2008 1:33 PM: