tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post114348009499142191..comments2023-11-03T06:35:48.003-05:00Comments on Shark and Shepherd: It's the culture, stupid !Rick Esenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-1143664801183030612006-03-29T14:40:00.000-06:002006-03-29T14:40:00.000-06:00Would one call this playing the Christian card?Jus...Would one call this playing the Christian card?<BR/>Just asking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-1143575006675082752006-03-28T13:43:00.000-06:002006-03-28T13:43:00.000-06:00JPChristians believe that freedom is for restraint...JP<BR/><BR/>Christians believe that freedom is for restraint.<BR/><BR/>I'll have to check out g.j.'s suggestion.Rick Esenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-1143494022712174312006-03-27T15:13:00.000-06:002006-03-27T15:13:00.000-06:00“Self-restraint on the part of the free markets”.I...“Self-restraint on the part of the free markets”.<BR/>Is that an oxymoron?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-1143489814975347792006-03-27T14:03:00.000-06:002006-03-27T14:03:00.000-06:00I wouldn't rule that out entirely, but the problem...I wouldn't rule that out entirely, but the problem with placing too much emphasis on it is 1)African-American communities did not exhibit this culture in the past when they were much poorer and subject to far more discrimination and 2)economic solutions are unlikely to work without addressing cultural problems. That applies, I think, to both government transfer programs and enterprise zones.Rick Esenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-1143488617581227632006-03-27T13:43:00.000-06:002006-03-27T13:43:00.000-06:00Patterson doesn't reject the economic explanations...Patterson doesn't reject the economic explanations, he just says they're incomplete. <BR/><BR/>I agree that when you get into the subtleties of how crime operates in society, culture becomes a factor in creating expectations and norms as time goes on (although that doesn't make it a root cause). <BR/><BR/>This what Patterson is getting at when he writes: "Likewise, a cultural explanation of black male self-destructiveness addresses not simply the immediate connection between their attitudes and behavior and the undesired outcomes, but explores the origins and changing nature of these attitudes, perhaps over generations, in their brutalized past."<BR/><BR/>But you cannot separate economic factors from the analysis as a whole since they undoubtedly serve as a root determinant in the creation of the culture, which then in turn helps to perpetuate the existence of crime, over time.Seth Zlotochahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16391875601892087685noreply@blogger.com