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I Want You to Understand Chicago

aphyr.com

21–30 of 532 posts

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#21

This is really sad to read! Can folks who live in Chicago confirm/deny/comment on the extent to which this article gets it right? (I have no reason to believe that it's an exaggeration, but I sincerely hope that it is.)

Did you look at the links he posted? Have you seen the news reports he linked to? This is all actually happening right now. Please, read all he linked to an watched the videos of ICE kidnapping people violently.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/05/daycare-...

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't understand how critically violent Chicago is, especially in the number of Black people shot and murdered every week, then you have no business being engaged in this topic. Chicago is one of the most violent cities in the US.

Well then you should have no problem proving what you are now only insisting on. This is HN, not Reddit. Where's the citation? Prove what you said or I have no reason to take you seriously.

https://data.cityofchicago.org/Public-Safety/2025-Year-to-Da...

1646 shooting victims in chicago over 40 weeks = 36 shooting victims per week. Although these are cases so there are probably multiple victims in many cases.

If you go back 10 years, there are around 34,000 cases of gunshot victims.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/58-shot-weekend-chicago-governor-r...

https://cwbchicago.com/2025/11/two-killed-21-wounded-in-hall...

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#23
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is how many people enthusiastically voted for this madness, lawlessness and cruelty, and are still cheering it on. You can say "vote, vote, vote," and maybe it will work in 2026 or 2028, or 2030 or whenever, but the root problem is not going away: you are still surrounded by people all over the country who want this.

I don't know, man. That is definitely true, but they didn't win by a landslide. And a lot of their edge came from the MAGA Latinx vote. This ICE/CPB action is a total self-own. That Latinx vote is going to disappear, and we've already seen the results in the 2025 elections. I think the right will turn on itself in 2026. We could even end up with three parties, only one of them able to obtain a majority (Democrats). T…

> I think the right will turn on itself in 2026.

If they turn on themselves it will not be over immigration. This is the one issue where they are almost all in wild agreement. A massive, overwhelming majority of Republicans agree with these cruel treatment of immigrants[1].

They might disagree on the economy or tariffs or jobs or whatever, but there's no infighting here. They fully back this cruelty.

1: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/07/what-amer...

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well then you should have no problem proving what you are now only insisting on. This is HN, not Reddit. Where's the citation? Prove what you said or I have no reason to take you seriously.

https://data.cityofchicago.org/Public-Safety/2025-Year-to-Da... 1646 shooting victims in chicago over 40 weeks = 36 shooting victims per week. Although these are cases so there are probably multiple victims in many cases. If you go back 10 years, there are around 34,000 cases of gunshot victims. https://abcnews.go.com/US/58-shot-weekend-chicago-governor-r... https://cwbchicago.com/2025/11/two-killed-21-wounded-in-hal…

[deleted]

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#25
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, man. That is definitely true, but they didn't win by a landslide. And a lot of their edge came from the MAGA Latinx vote. This ICE/CPB action is a total self-own. That Latinx vote is going to disappear, and we've already seen the results in the 2025 elections. I think the right will turn on itself in 2026. We could even end up with three parties, only one of them able to obtain a majority (Democrats). T…

> I think the right will turn on itself in 2026. If they turn on themselves it will not be over immigration. This is the one issue where they are almost all in wild agreement. A massive, overwhelming majority of Republicans agree with these cruel treatment of immigrants[1]. They might disagree on the economy or tariffs or jobs or whatever, but there's no infighting here. They fully back this cruelty. 1: https://www.p…

No, you're right—I don't think it will be over immigration. I think they'll lose in 2026 and tear themselves apart infighting about who's to blame.

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed

If you don't understand how critically violent Chicago is, especially in the number of Black people shot and murdered every week, then you have no business being engaged in this topic. Chicago is one of the most violent cities in the US.

What does that have to do with federal officers conducting immigration raids against schoolteachers and random US-citizen paralegals? Do you suggest that those people are the ones shooting and murdering Black people every week?

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voting is what got us in to this. This is supported by a majority of the US. You do not live in the country you think you do.

> This is supported by a majority of the US. The election was fairly close. The winning candidate got elected by a coalition of people with differing views on an number of individual items within his platform. That does not equate to certain approval by the majority of the American population of any of the things the linked article recounts. All that said, as an American living abroad who votes left, the use of terms…

> The winning candidate got elected by a coalition of people with differing views on an number of individual items within his platform. That does not equate to certain approval by the majority of the American population of any of the things the linked article recounts.

There may be differing views on other topics among the party, but Republicans broadly support this vision of cruelty and these actions against immigrants[1] by huge margins. It's probably the one single vision they are united behind.

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45859760

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#28
This shit is so fucked up. And at a certain level I’m disappointed that we are still trying to fix it peaceably when every day of delay, there is irreparable harm to physical wellness, mental health and rights as citizens or residents. Also science in America is fucked for the next decade.

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#29

I’m so glad that Kyle wrote this. I’m so sad that he had to. Pay attention to what’s going on and vote.

The problem is how many people enthusiastically voted for this madness, lawlessness and cruelty, and are still cheering it on. You can say "vote, vote, vote," and maybe it will work in 2026 or 2028, or 2030 or whenever, but the root problem is not going away: you are still surrounded by people all over the country who want this.

There are some who voted for Trump and do celebrate the cruelty on display in Chicago. But I also think many wanted to deport "the worst of the worst" and that is what they thought they were promised. And per the media many consume, that is what's happening. It's an open question on whether the real extent of the crackdown will break through the echo chamber, but from conversations I've had with people who consume Fox News, I really do think a lot of Trump voters will not be ok with the tactics as they are actually being carried out. For example, I just don't think that earnest religious conservatives I know would defend denying the Eucharist to people in the processing facility (https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/02/faith-leaders-again-...) and then banning prayer outside the facility altogether (https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/feds-tell-faith-lead...). When you lay out this (and the many events in Aphyr's post) to them clearly, they really don't like it.

Re: I Want You to Understand Chicago

#30

I’m so glad that Kyle wrote this. I’m so sad that he had to. Pay attention to what’s going on and vote.

The problem is how many people enthusiastically voted for this madness, lawlessness and cruelty, and are still cheering it on. You can say "vote, vote, vote," and maybe it will work in 2026 or 2028, or 2030 or whenever, but the root problem is not going away: you are still surrounded by people all over the country who want this.

Margin of victory was ~2M votes, about how many voters 55+ die in a year. Hopefully enough voters have aged out or learned their lesson next time around (considering election results we've seen in the last week or so [1]). You're never going to convince unsavory voters to vote with empathy, the subject brain structure does not support it (anterior insular cortex, primarily), you can only hope they're aging out of the electorate at a reasonable pace (and not being replaced).

"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." (Planck's Principle [2] applied to voting)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818505

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle

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