One set of parents from every US kindergarten class most likely will have to bury their child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

That's a mistake, as gun deaths have now passed traffic deaths as the biggest cause of death for kids. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/14/magazine/gun-violence-children-data-statistics.html

We should care about both. Countries that have taken dramatic steps to reduce one have usually also taken dramatic steps to reduce the other. Often around the same time in history. Countries like the Netherlands were motivated to totally redesign their transportation infrastructure back in the 70s because of the number of children being killed in traffic accidents, and they also passed strict gun control laws around the same time. It's a reflection of a culture that highly values the safety and welfare of children.

These countries also do things like give money to all families so they can feed and clothe their kids regardless off income (Finland) or provide extensive post-natal care and parental leaves and subsidized childcare, and this is done largely to benefit kids, not parents (though it does benefit parents). The idea is that children deserve the best possible start in life. And this stuff isn't restricted to Scandinavia. You see more child-centric policies in Africa, Asia, the Mid-East, than you do in the US. Often these policies are portrayed as feminist or pro-women, but that's not how they are conceptualized elsewhere. They are pro-child.

Americans do not value children. We do not value their lives, their education, their happiness. Our individualistic culture extends even to children. It's like a cult.

+100

I wouldn't put it this pessimistically, but we absolutely DO take the individualistic, "everyone can make their own choices" mentality too far. It doesn't count as supporting families making their own choices when policymakers are forcing parents to have fewer kids or be SAHPs when they don't want to, because of financial burden. Totally agree we need to invest in real childcare infrastructure and support working parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

That's a mistake, as gun deaths have now passed traffic deaths as the biggest cause of death for kids. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/14/magazine/gun-violence-children-data-statistics.html

If you look at the data, the biggest increase is in gun homicides among Black teens. Tripled since 2013.

Yes, and let's look at Chicago a city which has the most draconian gun control laws, yet experiences the highest incidence of gun violence, especially in the black community. So yes, gun control is a great topic to spout off about but does it really work? Are we then going to take away all the knives and sharp objects? If an evil person, and that's who the nashville shooter women was, wants to cause harm and use physical violence they will find a way. I think it's much better to properly secure our buildings and stop declaring these places as gun free zones which only encourages people like the nashville shooter. She knew it was low on security and she could get in there easily. JFC, let's be smart and protect our children with the technology and knowledge and man power we have, it's easier then you might think. And if society would stop demonizing every single cop as a horrible person our children could find some comfort in their presence. We need to be smarter and pro active, this constant cry about taking legal guns away from legal gun owners is never going to work.

Those guns come from Indiana which has pretty lax gun laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

That's a mistake, as gun deaths have now passed traffic deaths as the biggest cause of death for kids. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/14/magazine/gun-violence-children-data-statistics.html

We should care about both. Countries that have taken dramatic steps to reduce one have usually also taken dramatic steps to reduce the other. Often around the same time in history. Countries like the Netherlands were motivated to totally redesign their transportation infrastructure back in the 70s because of the number of children being killed in traffic accidents, and they also passed strict gun control laws around the same time. It's a reflection of a culture that highly values the safety and welfare of children.

These countries also do things like give money to all families so they can feed and clothe their kids regardless off income (Finland) or provide extensive post-natal care and parental leaves and subsidized childcare, and this is done largely to benefit kids, not parents (though it does benefit parents). The idea is that children deserve the best possible start in life. And this stuff isn't restricted to Scandinavia. You see more child-centric policies in Africa, Asia, the Mid-East, than you do in the US. Often these policies are portrayed as feminist or pro-women, but that's not how they are conceptualized elsewhere. They are pro-child.

Americans do not value children. We do not value their lives, their education, their happiness. Our individualistic culture extends even to children. It's like a cult.

+100

I wouldn't put it this pessimistically, but we absolutely DO take the individualistic, "everyone can make their own choices" mentality too far. It doesn't count as supporting families making their own choices when policymakers are forcing parents to have fewer kids or be SAHPs when they don't want to, because of financial burden. Totally agree we need to invest in real childcare infrastructure and support working parents.

P.S. I wish the conservative politicians who oppose supporting working moms would realize what an *economic* benefit it is for people to have access to affordable childcare.

Even if you only think in terms of dollar value, it is a win for society.

[Anonymous]

I have a picture that was taken at my 8th birthday party. 5 people are in the picture. Me and 4 others . The 4 others have all died. One drowned at age 21. One died at age 24 in a skate boarding accident. One died at age 35 skydiving the last one was also 35 and she overdosed.

[Anonymous]

The US isn’t developed at the same rate as the countries it’s being compared to. Apples and oranges. We should be compared to other nations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a picture that was taken at my 8th birthday party. 5 people are in the picture. Me and 4 others . The 4 others have all died. One drowned at age 21. One died at age 24 in a skate boarding accident. One died at age 35 skydiving the last one was also 35 and she overdosed.

!! From what town?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a picture that was taken at my 8th birthday party. 5 people are in the picture. Me and 4 others . The 4 others have all died. One drowned at age 21. One died at age 24 in a skate boarding accident. One died at age 35 skydiving the last one was also 35 and she overdosed.

!! From what town?

I’m from the west coast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teen overdoses are the big threat.

Don’t take street drugs. Solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

+1. My husband was hit while walking to the subway last week by an SUV likely going around 20 MPH. The culprit was a crazy mom bringing her son to middle school. She had total visibility, but I assume was busy doing something else. My husband is 6'1 and 185 and he broke bones in his back and needed staples in his head. I keep thinking what if he was a kid or what if he was a smaller adult. Our cities are really built for driving in a way that many other cities are not. I also feel law our traffic laws favor cars over pedestrians and bikers to a large extent. You can basically kill someone and as long as you don't flee the scene you're fine.

We'd all be much better off if most of us biked to work instead of driving. And yes, biking can be done in bad weather. We could heavily subsidize biking by giving money to people who either have no car or only one car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teen overdoses are the big threat.

Don’t take street drugs. Solved.

I used to think like this. But what if it is your kid who makes a stupid decision? Do they deserve to die for that stupidity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s gun violence and drugs. Mass shooting get all of the headlines, but the reality is that most of the gun deaths are gang members shooting each other and stuff like that.

But we should be helping! No one deserves to die from gang gun violence. It doesn't matter if it isn't my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

+1. My husband was hit while walking to the subway last week by an SUV likely going around 20 MPH. The culprit was a crazy mom bringing her son to middle school. She had total visibility, but I assume was busy doing something else. My husband is 6'1 and 185 and he broke bones in his back and needed staples in his head. I keep thinking what if he was a kid or what if he was a smaller adult. Our cities are really built for driving in a way that many other cities are not. I also feel law our traffic laws favor cars over pedestrians and bikers to a large extent. You can basically kill someone and as long as you don't flee the scene you're fine.

We'd all be much better off if most of us biked to work instead of driving. And yes, biking can be done in bad weather. We could heavily subsidize biking by giving money to people who either have no car or only one car.

Initial PP here. I bike to work regularly, rain or shine (the only weather around here I won't do is heavy, heavy wind or ice). It's a wonderful way to get exercise in.

Virginia basically does the "stick"/deterrent version of your proposed subsidy by taxing the s*** out of people with cars.

[Anonymous]

You could outlaw every gun in America and you still have people who want to murder 9 year olds. That didn’t happen 20+ years ago. Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would certainly love to see gun control measures passed but I worry the most about traffic safety. We are a car-obsessed country.

That's a mistake, as gun deaths have now passed traffic deaths as the biggest cause of death for kids. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/12/14/magazine/gun-violence-children-data-statistics.html

If you look at the data, the biggest increase is in gun homicides among Black teens. Tripled since 2013.

Yes, and let's look at Chicago a city which has the most draconian gun control laws, yet experiences the highest incidence of gun violence, especially in the black community. So yes, gun control is a great topic to spout off about but does it really work? Are we then going to take away all the knives and sharp objects? If an evil person, and that's who the nashville shooter women was, wants to cause harm and use physical violence they will find a way. I think it's much better to properly secure our buildings and stop declaring these places as gun free zones which only encourages people like the nashville shooter. She knew it was low on security and she could get in there easily. JFC, let's be smart and protect our children with the technology and knowledge and man power we have, it's easier then you might think. And if society would stop demonizing every single cop as a horrible person our children could find some comfort in their presence. We need to be smarter and pro active, this constant cry about taking legal guns away from legal gun owners is never going to work.

Those guns come from Indiana which has pretty lax gun laws.

Guns are legal in Illinois. Many come from Indiana but about half are from Illinois statistically.

[Anonymous]

I get that it is nice to pretend that this is just an issue in the African American community. But look at the figures. White Americans are twice as likely to die before 40 as white Europeans. Traffic is a big part of this.