An East Baltimore citizen suggests a freaky explanation for recent violence in the city: “Check the date they cut off free cable, and watch the next day the murder rates go crazy. The moment they stopped it the kids were on the street 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. No stories, no cartoon network, nothing to do. That’s the real problem,” says Eric Brockton, the founder of a group called No More Guns. (HT: Chuck Amos) [%comments]
TV and Crime
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yeah, that’s a believable zero sum game analysis- sponge bob or bloody murder eh?
If he’s lobbying for something, I hope he has more to go on than his gut and personal observations.
What he’s really saying is, kids with nothing else to do are hanging out on the street. This is the same reason we had a midnight basketball fad in the 90′s.
Of course, they should be in bed anyhow.
A fine enough reason for Obama to socialize TV distribution.
Free cable? I would KILL for free cable.
So, has anyone checked the stats?
This assumes that all of the youngsters concerned were incapable of either a) hacking a cable decoder box, or b) brokering the services of someone who could.
That’s the real trouble with youth these days: no entrepreneurial spirit.
I live in Baltimore and that is totally plausible. Everybody was getting free cable for decades and now with the paltry selection of over the air channels huge segments of the population is going to be left with nothing to do. I don’t know many people in the violence prone community that can afford 30-60 bucks a month for basic cable service. Perhaps one reason the FCC should move on a la carte pricing is to help provide an affordable distraction to intercity youth.