Read The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker. Violence has consistently been on a long downward trend. There may be spikes localized by time or space, but it's doubtful we are reversing the trend on any long timescale or large area.
Police can change some classifications here or there, but it's kind of hard to reclassify homicides.
White kids in Oak Park have almost nothing to fear from Chicago gang violence.
The same is not true of black kids in Oak Park --- and we're well integrated --- and extremely not true of black kids in Austin. Kids in Oak Park have, for obvious geographical reasons, friends in Austin and vice versa. Oak Park kids have been shot and killed in parks across the street from Oak Park.
It is a huge problem, and one that is easy for policy-types to overlook and downplay because it isn't a problem for white people.
I wonder if it's because it fits into a narrative? An isolated incident is more easily dismissed or forgotten.
Getting back to the main topic, climate change has become a narrative, too, not just an isolated phenomena. Hurricanes, even if mostly random, become part of a larger story.
I just finished reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and it got me thinking a lot about narratives. Maybe people naturally have a strong desire to be part of a narrative. Perhaps the hero, perhaps a minor character in a big drama; or, if necessary, the villian.
Is that true? Last I looked, most mass shooting were domestic violence or gang-related
I agree that all crime is something to be concerned about, and that minor crimes are easier to sweep under the rug with creative record keeping. But let's also keep in mind what's really important.
>But let's also keep in mind what's really important.
Because of the factors mentioned above, I think I'm doing that.