The homicide rate in Los Angeles is down 80% from its peak in the 1980s. Other violent crimes are down nearly as much. Despite the recession, these rates have continued downward over the past two years.
So much for the dystopian visions of a coming gangland hell that people bandied about in the 90s. There is much resilience to human society, and predictions of doom are as unlikely to be fulfilled as predictions of revolutionary bliss.
Some of that hysteria was purely racial fear.
ReplyDeleteOne of the weirder beliefs of the time was that "crack babies" would inherently be sociopaths. Most of the hype about "crack babies" was pure nonsense.
I agree. Fear of immigrants also played a part.
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