221–230 of 346 posts
As one person without large resources the highest impact thing you could do today for the type of area you are describing is to procure a firearm and start killing drug dealers. I'm not suggesting you do this but this is without a doubt the answer to your question.
The single best thing you can do is pick a neighborhood - not the whole city - and invest deeply. Get to know everyone in the neighborhood and understand what they want and need, then try to find ways to bring that. When you have a strong network of neighbors and a little bit of cash, you can ramp up investment by cleaning up dirty corners and getting the basic services that a neighborhood is missing. Here’s an examp…
> When you have a strong network of neighbors and a little bit of cash, you can ramp up investment by cleaning up dirty corners and getting the basic services that a neighborhood is missing. I don't think you need a network to begin cleaning up dirty corners. Just pick up garbage you see on the street when you walk around. It has an immediate impact, is easy and doesn't cost anything. Other people may see it and may…
Even if you live in a rich / sheltered community, you can still help your neighbors understand the needs of underprivileged communities and how they can help.
Finally, organize community engagement days. One day a week for you and your neighbors to clean up, attend a city council meeting, learn about current events, or vote in local elections. Or just have a mini block party for people to chat.
- Getting involved in local politics. There are many opportunities to attend public meetings and many accessible public programs that most folks don't know about — even something as simple as requesting a speed bump to be installed on a neighborhood street with speeding problems or requesting a pickup of illegally dumped trash can make a real difference.
- Supporting local businesses, co-ops, urban farms, and folks building the future you'd like to see. Volunteering at local community organizations is a wonderful way to meet folks on the ground doing real and necessary work.
- Creating friendly dialogues with your neighbors and those around you. There's occasional violent crime around us, but the neighborhood watches out for one another. Our neighbors selflessly help each other in ways I could never imagine in SF or NYC.
- Investing in the community when and how you can. My partner bought and renovated an abandoned house in a less desirable neighborhood and has created a great small community of optimistic tenants and friends. There is a lot of unused and available land in the neighborhood and we're actively working on ways to reimagine it — for farming plots, new housing, community spaces and more.
None of these are as hard as they sound, and the impact from small actions is huge compared to wealthier areas.
As one person without large resources the highest impact thing you could do today for the type of area you are describing is to procure a firearm and start killing drug dealers. I'm not suggesting you do this but this is without a doubt the answer to your question.
This is nonsense. Even if I take your comment in the non-literal sense "get rid of drug dealers" then decriminalization has shown to be much more effective.
Decriminalization of the drugs that destroy users lives has been show to be more effective at what?
Don't. Get out. Get powerful. There is a threshold effect. Unless you have a non-normative path to power (organized crime or powerful family or lots of money already), don't do it. What you're doing is the equivalent of trying to get strong by pulling a 500 lb barbell every day without moving it. It is not effective. Go somewhere where you pull the 100 lbs first and get it off the ground. Then move up. One day you wi…
I think building stronger ties with your neighbors is a great way to recruit people to help you move 500 lb barbells. You don't have to be able to lift them by yourself, and why would you want to? You'd just become a single point of failure. Get to know your neighbors, organize with them, and do the work together to make your neighborhood better. Some reading never hurts, either. If you're in a city, I've found "The…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When you have a strong network of neighbors and a little bit of cash, you can ramp up investment by cleaning up dirty corners and getting the basic services that a neighborhood is missing. I don't think you need a network to begin cleaning up dirty corners. Just pick up garbage you see on the street when you walk around. It has an immediate impact, is easy and doesn't cost anything. Other people may see it and may…
Sure but the network is the thing which gives you leverage to do more than what you can do by yourself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think building stronger ties with your neighbors is a great way to recruit people to help you move 500 lb barbells. You don't have to be able to lift them by yourself, and why would you want to? You'd just become a single point of failure. Get to know your neighbors, organize with them, and do the work together to make your neighborhood better. Some reading never hurts, either. If you're in a city, I've found "The…
What if most of your neighbors are cooking meth
Fight for just housing/zoning policies and against NIMBYism Join orgs supporting the homeless and fighting against the criminalization of homelessness. Buy from locally-owned businesses that treat their employees well. Not the gentrifying upscale cafes and restaurants and boutiques
> Fight for just housing/zoning policies and against NIMBYism With you on that one. But this is a problem of successful, growing cities and it sounds like OP is in a city in the opposite situation that is lacking in economic opportunities. > Join orgs supporting the homeless and fighting against the criminalization of homelessness. When most people complain about homelessness, they're talking about the homeless on th…
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Automobiles (and their drivers) kill, maim, or injure significantly fewer people than intentionally aggressive individuals in major cities. For example, in 2017 there were 343 murders in Baltimore [0] (which I knew would be on the list before looking for one) vs. 38 fatalities due to car accidents [1]. Here's an example of a list: https://www.statista.com/statistics/217685/most-dangerous-ci... These lists are based o…
That's highly misleading. Overall cars kill way more people than murderers (at least double) in America. Baltimore just happens to be at the top of the list for murders per capita and apparently slightly below average for auto fatalities. For most cities there is a greater chance of dying from a car crash than from being murdered.