30 years of cuts to social safety nets, and life becoming affordable will do that. When as a country we prefer funding more policing, and less on affordable housing, healthcare, and education, we end up with a crisis like this. The fact that people act surprised is mind boggling. People have been warning about this for decades. I fear that this is only the start of a worsening trend.
Honest question here: How does poverty imply violent crime? I’ve been to impoverished areas of China and it was safer than any place in the US for example. I don’t see how when someone is struggling with poverty that will increase their probability of engaging in violence.
In my experience, especially in South America, the twin forces of poverty and civic dysfunction produce desperation - and that seems the driving force behind the sorts of “crime in the streets” that gets headlines.
Of course in other places on the same continent corruption (narco, mining, logging, etc) produce violent crime that plays out quite differently.