Do you feel those who die in gang related activity deserved it?

[Austin Michael Dawursk]

So I just watched this video on YouTube, called Teen Shot in the head on camera (Brick City) newark nj challengeus.... I know it seems disturbing on why I would watch this but, as all humans, curiosity got the best of me. It doesn't actually show someone getting shot, but more of the aftermath the people in these towns the deceased leave behind. The neighborhoods are filled with gang violence, and the deceased gang members are called "fallen soldiers". It is sad, but what I found sadder is that people in the comments wrote nasty things the top comments being about how these kids and young adults insult real soldiers by calling their dead friends "fallen soldiers" and who they deserved what they got. This bothered me. I do not agree in what they do but I do see them as fallen soldiers. Not in the sense of a military vet, but of just life. And I feel that their deaths are our faults as citizens as much as it is the gangs themselves. Most of these gangs start because the neighborhood is poor, the education isn't up to par for colleges, and the kids of these neighborhoods are starving and lonely. The kids join these "families" to feel loved, get food, and feel important. Now, I am curious, and I want to know what the Nerdfighters think. Do you feel that gang members deserve being killed? Do you think that all gang members dealing in illegal activities are the scum of the earth and therefore not worth out time? My answer, this is our fault as a society, and we need to fix this just as much as child soldiers world hunger and genocide. How can we help others, when so much of our own country is just as bad as the rest of the world were trying to fix?

[Latch33570]

Yes I lived in an inner city neighborhood and of course went to school there. Thank god we moved after a while. That is why I am for school vouchers for all students. That way the parents can choose the school.

[CD]

What's a school voucher?

[Austin Michael Dawursk]

any sort of group that has a social order, and a leader or leaders is organized and if they commit crimes it is an organized crime group. and education is not free it never has been if it has then the high school that i just graduated from owes me a boat load of money. gangs are in very poor neighborhoods. they neighborhood schools are a lot of times over looked by the school boards in their districts and because the school doesnt get proper funding the education gets worse and if the education gets worse the school gets less funding. sure you can go to a richer school out side of your boundries but then it comes to trasportation. if you can't get to a better school because you can't afford the funds or afford to get there you go with wat you can afford. if the crappy school in your neighborhood is the only one you can afford guess wat you go there. and if it isn't enough to get you into college and you can't afford to pay for college. you have two options work at walmart or some other really crappy paying job you can't live off of by itself, or join your local gang that can feed you house you and "guarentee" a ton of money a day. you would pick walmart but i bet you went to an avarage or higher school district and lived in a neighborhood that has little gang activity or none at all. you have no idea what your talking about when you say that they do it for the sole purpose of fufiling their rebellious side. a lot of kids join because of abusive families and if you haven't noticed a lot of abusive families live in poor neighborhoods. so remove yourself from the your views on life for a second and think about how you don't know why they joined in the first place, you don't know you have had the luxury of not having to knowing, like me i don't know why they joined and i am thankful that i don't have too. but i am not going to assume that kids join gangs for feeling like a badass and that the law is beneith them. that is actually a very small majority of why people join gangs.

[Austin Michael Dawursk]

sorry got carried away but please understand that our views are limited and we can't just assume they're all ass holes looking to make a quick cash off of drugs and party all the time. there are other reasons.

[CD]

+100  You pointed out that there are multiple levels of variables we need to consider which means you've thought about the problem in some way instead of just judging people.

[Janeece Woodson Woodson]

There are people who live in poor neighborhoods, that never ever join gangs in their lives. And there are people who live in very wealthy neighborhoods and lead comfortable lives that still commit serious crimes. I'm all for improving poorer neighborhoods and being generous to the people who live in them, but Rome was right when its' people said that the family is the most basic unit. It all goes back to how they are raised, and even more, the external influences that affect them as a child.

Now that my rant is over.. do you mean gang members killed by other gang members? Because I think that's completely wrong. No exceptions. Or do you mean gang members executed by the government? In that case, I believe that the death penalty should only be served to people who murder adults. People who murder children should be made to rot in prison and have the other prisoners (who often times despise baby-killers and attack them constantly) to deal with. And in the process, they lose their youth, which is the number one reason that people kill children. They recognize the beauty and purity of a child.

[CD]

Interesting ideas.  How is the loss of youth the number one reason why people kill children?

[Latch33570]

CD a voucher is when the govt gives you a certificate for the parents to give a private school usually when the school fails to maintain a certain level of competency.

Austin I know a few gang members, well 2. By the time you are a teenager you know right from wrong. You know that the way out is an education. You are old enough to say no to your buddies and study or at least go to school. Plenty of people make it out some just don't care to. They know that gang bangers end up in jail or dead and still choose it.

[Latch33570]

No they don't deserve it but if they only shot each other it would be more acceptable.