Crack!!! Wow

I was browsing a couple blogs today that somewhat disturbed me, but, nevertheless, I have to voice my thoughts.

In this day and age, urban (rural, as well...) america has embraced the crack epidemic with such a shoulder shrug that it is very discouraging. As our moral values continue to be revealed by the increasing un-utterable acts that the media tends to harp about, I wonder when will the turning point come? Going by my simple religion or spirituality (not to mention old school soul), I know that a change gone come. God hasn't just let go of us all, but He is letting us see that we're tearing ourselves down.

In a post by another, a resident of Detroit derided a protest for a strip club to change hands, since it resulted in a half-million dollar lawsuit against the city. He suggested that the protesters' claims that strip clubs harbor crime and lead to urban blight are stupid. I'd agree that they don't necessarily HAVE to foster such an environment, but c'mon now. Travel just a lil bit. At any rate, within the same post, reference was made to the crack dealers that are plaguing the city (as well as other areas).

I am not one to pose a moral debate, but crack is bad and strip clubs are cool? I don't condone crack and I have visited a strip club, so I see where he's coming from, but we can't be so negligent with our beings.

Me and Mary still have an ongoing affair, so once again...I'm not one to talk.

Crack (heroine, etc) has led to a number of problems in our society, but it just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Incarceration tends to curb the habit of some dealers, but the lack of job opportunity brings em right back. The risk of death tends to shy some would-be dealers, but it tends to increase the number of deaths as well (kill or be killed). Supposedly, survival of the fittest, ey? People tend to say, "how come they can't get a real job?" Nobody wants to wait for the pay day, enduring bullshyt from this or that one. It's just that much easier, it seems, to go out and get paid.

With all of the hoopla of moving WEIGHT, I wish more people could actually revisit the front lines. The violence and degraded morals that people can resort to could possibly change the minds of those who tend to glamorize the world of coke.

The thing that bothers me most is that people don't really WANT to do what they're doing, they just want the MONEY (some want the power, as well, but I digress). But man, what the love/need for money can lead one to do.

I haven't built myself up to look at the Wire really just yet. How many people realize that Baltimore's city blocks have been emptied as a result of this drug game? I tend to respect individuals' capacities to adapt to an ever-changing environment (i.e. surveillance), but dayum. The same thing is happening AND HAS ALREADY HAPPENED across the U.S., depending on where you look at. We talk about gentrification and how it changes the demographics, but never look to seriously reclaim what is ours to begin with.

Stop giving up hope. Dope dealer: there is another option. Resident of a crack-infested neighborhood: this doesn't need to be the only landscape you'll see.

But we have to look above for that change to come.