@Cruiser IMHO these “problems” you list are emblematic of a much larger problem and that is a breakdown of the social and moral fabric of modern society largely driven by a piss poor economy that has left our country, states and cities bankrupt with no funds to throw at these problems.
If they are a sign of moral decay of some sort, or because the economy is tanking, to not even be willing to discuss it from a middle-of-the-rode fashion, how would you ever know where to throw the money if it ever showed up?
Police departments are underfunded and to add to the problem our officers do not get the kind of training that truly is needed to prepare the officers to face the growing discord in our urban communities.
More policing will not solve some problems. For example rabid homelessness, how would more policing move to solve that unless a community criminalizes homelessness? Criminalizing homelessness is the only way more policing can get involved, but simply removing a homeless person off the street to a cell temporarily, is that solving homelessness or simply rearranging the seats on the Titanic? If people say I don’t want to discuss those lazy slackers, etc. how can any new direction be found?
[..IMO it is because we have a Federal government that has fucked up big time in addressing the real problems our society and communities face.
Well, the government is the government we sit by and let run, if it is truly the government of the people and for the people, the people would exercise more of the control the people are supposed to have to have the government work for them, and not the other way around. If people do not care to discuss the failings of government, because it would mean putting a less than bright spotlight on their party, then problems will never find a solution or even head that way.
These problems are real, they are growing and soon they will be out of control if someone of authority with a backbone does not step up to address our countries real problems and frustrations.
Rather than waiting for a knight in shining armor to show up, maybe like other grassroots projects, people need to come together, admit there are problems even if their party, community, race, etc. is part of it and talk about what fixes are available or can created to right the situation, if people simply say issues are too close to home, to ugly to talk about, polarizing, etc. and fall back to the old adage, don’t talk about politics and religion, it won’t matter who is in office because the person in office still needs people to work any solution coming from the Capital building, etc.