Quality

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02152009/news/regionalnews/cop_plan__go_on_offense_155296.htm

I don't expect much from the New York Post, so picking on anything that comes out of the rag is probably a bit unfair. However, the article linked above does report on something that is concerning, to say the least. A report that police are going to go on the "offensive" should raise some eyebrows, and lead to some questions. What are they attacking? What is the threat that we, the innocent, law-abiding public are facing?

Oh, yes. Of course. "Quality-of-life." In other words, the systematic removal of people whose appearance offends our sensibilities of right and wrong. It means the eradication, in the face of economic uncertainty, of any signs that our consumer utopia might be starting to crumble.

Now, I'm not saying that "petty crime" is necessarily ok. What bothers me, however, is that homelessness is basically being placed on the same level as prostitution. Notice the neat little trick in the article? The media does it all the time - talks about crime and homelessness in the same breath, implying that there is an obvious correlation between the two. Do this enough times, and the law-abiding public soon begins to equate homelessness with criminality - see how that works?

And then, you get the police involved, and you get the paranoia of "if there's a homeless person on your block, that's a threat."

At the very least, I am somewhat surprised that the comments section of the article shows more support for the homeless than I would have expected from readers of the Post. Perhaps people are starting to realize that we're all on the same sinking ship, and all responsible for each other. However, that doesn't change the scary tone of the police representatives. We could be in for an interesting summer.