Why is "not living in fear" so important to conservative identity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

LOL. If you are having to explain why 8 murders in a weekend is no big deal or comparatively better by comparing a purported world class city to Birmingham, you have already lost the argument. Kinda like that ABC News lady fact checking Vance over the fact that it was just a few apartment complexes in Colorado controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them.

The response should be really, really simple: “8 murders in a weekend is too many and we welcome a cooperative relationship with the federal government to bring down violent crime.” Instead you guys are minimizing (“do the math”) what every reasonable person can see is a big problem because . . . Trump.

But come on!

It’s really not that many murders, comparatively speaking, when viewed through the lens of historical statistics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A number of academic studies have explored the different ways that Republicans and Democrats view the world, and some suggest they even have different brain patterns that orient them toward one or the other political party. The study below suggests that fear drives conservative's political views, more so than that of Dems.

It found that conservatives:

1. tend to focus on the negative.
2. have a stronger physiological response to threats
3. fear new experiences
4. have brains that are more reactive to fear

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes

Conservatives focus on reality.

Democrats focus on being nuts.

That's not reality when your chances of being the victim of a violent crime are tiny. Do you worry this much about dying in a car accident? I refuse to live my life in fear. I cannot thrive that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well they want some people to live in fear, like women and minorities. It’s very important to them.

I am a woman and do not live in fear. In fact, now that it is safe to go into DC, I actually feel secure. It hasn't been like this in a while, and I love feeling free to walk into the metro knowing that the MPD and NG are intimidating and removing the bad actors.

You absolutely do live in fear if you couldn't "walk into the metro" four weeks ago. Please.

Who couldn't walk into the metro. How do you think we get to work. I felt completely safe. We live in a city. Do I keep my head on a swivel, yes. But do I live in fear that something will happen, no.

[Anonymous]

Given the economic vitality and innovation of a city, I am not willing to give up the arts and community because I have an unrealistic fear of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

LOL. If you are having to explain why 8 murders in a weekend is no big deal or comparatively better by comparing a purported world class city to Birmingham, you have already lost the argument. Kinda like that ABC News lady fact checking Vance over the fact that it was just a few apartment complexes in Colorado controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them.

The response should be really, really simple: “8 murders in a weekend is too many and we welcome a cooperative relationship with the federal government to bring down violent crime.” Instead you guys are minimizing (“do the math”) what every reasonable person can see is a big problem because . . . Trump.

no one is saying 8 murders in a weekend is acceptable, but the fact is, you are more likely to be impacted by violent crime in Birmingham than Chicago. Hence PER CAPITA. There are more PEOPLE in Chicago than Birmingham, so the raw number of incidents will be higher, but the RATE if crime is higher in Birmingam. If the GOP were really wanting to do something about gun violence, they would do something about guns, alas.

And just a few Colorado apartment complexes were controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them...

If the answer is that Trump’s surges are wrong or to be rejected because crime is worse elsewhere then you are going to get tagged with the ulterior motive of being soft on crime. And, for what it’s worth, many of the people impacted by crime in places like Chicago will welcome a reduction in crime, even if crime is, in fact, worse elsewhere.

This is purely an optics issue and explaining away your nuanced position is terrible optically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well they want some people to live in fear, like women and minorities. It’s very important to them.

I am a woman and do not live in fear. In fact, now that it is safe to go into DC, I actually feel secure. It hasn't been like this in a while, and I love feeling free to walk into the metro knowing that the MPD and NG are intimidating and removing the bad actors.

You absolutely do live in fear if you couldn't "walk into the metro" four weeks ago. Please.

Who couldn't walk into the metro. How do you think we get to work. I felt completely safe. We live in a city. Do I keep my head on a swivel, yes. But do I live in fear that something will happen, no.

The only thing I do is stay back from the tracks until it stops, otherwise I could be at the mall or anywhere else public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

LOL. If you are having to explain why 8 murders in a weekend is no big deal or comparatively better by comparing a purported world class city to Birmingham, you have already lost the argument. Kinda like that ABC News lady fact checking Vance over the fact that it was just a few apartment complexes in Colorado controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them.

The response should be really, really simple: “8 murders in a weekend is too many and we welcome a cooperative relationship with the federal government to bring down violent crime.” Instead you guys are minimizing (“do the math”) what every reasonable person can see is a big problem because . . . Trump.

no one is saying 8 murders in a weekend is acceptable, but the fact is, you are more likely to be impacted by violent crime in Birmingham than Chicago. Hence PER CAPITA. There are more PEOPLE in Chicago than Birmingham, so the raw number of incidents will be higher, but the RATE if crime is higher in Birmingam. If the GOP were really wanting to do something about gun violence, they would do something about guns, alas.

And just a few Colorado apartment complexes were controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them...

If the answer is that Trump’s surges are wrong or to be rejected because crime is worse elsewhere then you are going to get tagged with the ulterior motive of being soft on crime. And, for what it’s worth, many of the people impacted by crime in places like Chicago will welcome a reduction in crime, even if crime is, in fact, worse elsewhere.

This is purely an optics issue and explaining away your nuanced position is terrible optically.

If it's going to be the same as DC, then it is purely for optics. The NG didn't go where crime was high. They stayed in the touristy areas. If that's the same in Chicago, what's the point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

LOL. If you are having to explain why 8 murders in a weekend is no big deal or comparatively better by comparing a purported world class city to Birmingham, you have already lost the argument. Kinda like that ABC News lady fact checking Vance over the fact that it was just a few apartment complexes in Colorado controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them.

The response should be really, really simple: “8 murders in a weekend is too many and we welcome a cooperative relationship with the federal government to bring down violent crime.” Instead you guys are minimizing (“do the math”) what every reasonable person can see is a big problem because . . . Trump.

no one is saying 8 murders in a weekend is acceptable, but the fact is, you are more likely to be impacted by violent crime in Birmingham than Chicago. Hence PER CAPITA. There are more PEOPLE in Chicago than Birmingham, so the raw number of incidents will be higher, but the RATE if crime is higher in Birmingam. If the GOP were really wanting to do something about gun violence, they would do something about guns, alas.

And just a few Colorado apartment complexes were controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them...

If the answer is that Trump’s surges are wrong or to be rejected because crime is worse elsewhere then you are going to get tagged with the ulterior motive of being soft on crime. And, for what it’s worth, many of the people impacted by crime in places like Chicago will welcome a reduction in crime, even if crime is, in fact, worse elsewhere.

This is purely an optics issue and explaining away your nuanced position is terrible optically.

Is it a problem? Yes. Is it an emergency that requires the National Guard? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

I certainly hope the Dems have you writing campaign ads in 2026 and 2028.

"Chicago is bad, but if you calmly and rationally do some mathematical calculations, Birmingham is worse!!!"

Yes, maybe the three-term Democratic mayor of Birmingham can use that for his next campaign!

Excellent! Democrats produce bad outcomes, and Democrats produce worse outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the kind of thing you resort to when you can't do math. Trump claims that Chicago is the "murder capital of the world." He also referenced 50 people being murdered recently, but he's likely incorrectly describing a recent weekend when 8 people were killed and 50 were wounded. Yes, Chicago did have 573 murders in 2024 and that's a horrible thing. But it also has a population of 2.7 million people - and any time you gather that many people in a single jurisdiction numbers get higher. Birmingham, Alabama had 153 murders last year with a population of only 200k. Scale that up to Chicago's size and we're talking more than 2000 murders. I would much rather visit Chicago than Birmingham - but the Dem governor of Illinois makes a much better foil than the GOP governor of Alabama.

LOL. If you are having to explain why 8 murders in a weekend is no big deal or comparatively better by comparing a purported world class city to Birmingham, you have already lost the argument. Kinda like that ABC News lady fact checking Vance over the fact that it was just a few apartment complexes in Colorado controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them.

The response should be really, really simple: “8 murders in a weekend is too many and we welcome a cooperative relationship with the federal government to bring down violent crime.” Instead you guys are minimizing (“do the math”) what every reasonable person can see is a big problem because . . . Trump.

no one is saying 8 murders in a weekend is acceptable, but the fact is, you are more likely to be impacted by violent crime in Birmingham than Chicago. Hence PER CAPITA. There are more PEOPLE in Chicago than Birmingham, so the raw number of incidents will be higher, but the RATE if crime is higher in Birmingam. If the GOP were really wanting to do something about gun violence, they would do something about guns, alas.

And just a few Colorado apartment complexes were controlled by Latin American drug gangs, not all of them...

If the answer is that Trump’s surges are wrong or to be rejected because crime is worse elsewhere then you are going to get tagged with the ulterior motive of being soft on crime. And, for what it’s worth, many of the people impacted by crime in places like Chicago will welcome a reduction in crime, even if crime is, in fact, worse elsewhere.

This is purely an optics issue and explaining away your nuanced position is terrible optically.

Is it a problem? Yes. Is it an emergency that requires the National Guard? No.

The National Guard is trained to help in emergencies. They aren't trained in law enforcement or police tactics. This is an expensive temporary bandaid at best, and authoritarian power grab at worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGAs are such cowards.

I mean, what’s so bad about out sitting on the metro on your phone and then getting stabbed in the neck? (from behind).

Agree! Dumb MAGAs.

#UrbanCrimeIsFake

One example causes you to live in fear? God I’m a woman who lives in DC and walks a puppy in the middle of the night constantly. Grow a pair. The likelihood that you would be on public transpiration in a city is pretty low. You might want to take a statistic class.

975 armed carjackings in a single year, in the tiny land-area of DC where you live:

- doesn’t cause you any concern at all ??

It was concerning when it happened. Carjackings have dropped. I also am smart about not sitting in my car with the motor running with the doors unlocked. But these days (before the uninvited federal enforcement), carjackings are rare and are in specific areas. You are working from dated assumpti ons.

Those dummies! Getting carjacked through their own stupidity!

Another person we can all hope is creating campaign ads for the Democrats the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want the world to know that they're tough and brave?

Because they are really snowflakes who are scared of women and people of color and need to hde behind their guns and false machismo.

My fellow Ukrainian was just murdered, and you calling me a snowflake because I am scared now to ride on the public transportation? By the way, she was murdered by the person of color, and no, she was not hiding behind any guns or false machismo.

Yes, bad people do bad things, it is true. It was, however a crime of opportunity and the people responsible will be held accountable. It was horrific and tragic. But unless you are putting armed military on every car of every train and every bus and Uber, and every streetcorner in American, I am not sure the solution. Better education, but jobs, make sure people are not so desperate so as to resort to crime and make sure those who are mentally ill receive treatment or institutionalization. We had a lot of this through the 1970's, but Reagan came in and started cutting and gutting and the GOP has followed suit at every chance and now we basically have minimal services for the people who need it most.

The criminal who murdered her had been apprehended tons of times and set free. If we had stricter sentencing for repeat criminals, she would be alive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want the world to know that they're tough and brave?

Because they are really snowflakes who are scared of women and people of color and need to hde behind their guns and false machismo.

My fellow Ukrainian was just murdered, and you calling me a snowflake because I am scared now to ride on the public transportation? By the way, she was murdered by the person of color, and no, she was not hiding behind any guns or false machismo.

Yes, bad people do bad things, it is true. It was, however a crime of opportunity and the people responsible will be held accountable. It was horrific and tragic. But unless you are putting armed military on every car of every train and every bus and Uber, and every streetcorner in American, I am not sure the solution. Better education, but jobs, make sure people are not so desperate so as to resort to crime and make sure those who are mentally ill receive treatment or institutionalization. We had a lot of this through the 1970's, but Reagan came in and started cutting and gutting and the GOP has followed suit at every chance and now we basically have minimal services for the people who need it most.

(DP) I like your list. I’ll add that I have particular concerns about the high number of violent crimes committed by teens and young adults— which seem to increase as opportunities for them have decreased. In DC, at least through the 70s, there were robust job training and employment opportunities for teens 14 and up. There were vocational high schools. There were inexpensive and free recreational programs. All of these programs connected teens and young adults with adult supports in their communities. They also actively celebrated and rewarded teens and young adults for their growing pro social skills. I’d assert that being and feeling valued and having available positive role models are associated with reductions in crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want the world to know that they're tough and brave?

Because they are really snowflakes who are scared of women and people of color and need to hde behind their guns and false machismo.

My fellow Ukrainian was just murdered, and you calling me a snowflake because I am scared now to ride on the public transportation? By the way, she was murdered by the person of color, and no, she was not hiding behind any guns or false machismo.

Yes, bad people do bad things, it is true. It was, however a crime of opportunity and the people responsible will be held accountable. It was horrific and tragic. But unless you are putting armed military on every car of every train and every bus and Uber, and every streetcorner in American, I am not sure the solution. Better education, but jobs, make sure people are not so desperate so as to resort to crime and make sure those who are mentally ill receive treatment or institutionalization. We had a lot of this through the 1970's, but Reagan came in and started cutting and gutting and the GOP has followed suit at every chance and now we basically have minimal services for the people who need it most.

The criminal who murdered her had been apprehended tons of times and set free. If we had stricter sentencing for repeat criminals, she would be alive.

DP. Agreed. But sending the National Guard into cities is not going to fix that particular problem. That is a problem with the judicial system and the local political system.

Another aspect to this story is the perp's mental health history. That is also something that can't be addressed by the federal government sending troops to urban areas.

In January 2025, he was arrested for misusing 911 after claiming during a welfare check that a "man-made" material inside his body was controlling his actions, such as when he ate, walked, or talked—indicating possible delusions or mental health issues. Officers classified it as a medical matter and released him without further action. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to some reports, and his mother reportedly advocated for his incarceration prior to the incident due to concerns about his behavior.

[Anonymous]

Simple,

We don’t want to be murdered by repeat offenders who have been arrested 14 times, but were let out of prison.


Just ask the Ukrainian girl murdered in NC.

Maybe if he was put in jail instead of released by a liberal judge, she would be alive??????