Everyone has a role to play in replacing culture of violence with something better

EDITOR:

The recent Vindicator editorial decrying “the culture of violence that has resulted in Youngstown having one of the highest homicide rates in the nation” was eloquent and appropriate, but describing the situation as “so very, very sad” is not enough. The local situation will not improve until there is concerted action to make it improve. No single intervention can succeed. Only a community effort, having many parts and sustained over many years, can do the job.

Some key elements will require money, and lots of it. The Youngstown school system must be adequately funded so that it can stop being a “dropout factory” and help many more students to succeed. We need upgraded, more intensive law enforcement to put more vigorous and sustained pressure on the lawless. We need upgraded community services in mental health, support of families and related areas. All of this will require development of the area’s economy, softening of the “no new taxes” drumbeat, and consolidation of local government services for greater efficiency. Also, there must be continuing pressure on the Ohio Legislature to deal with the shameful mess of state funding for public schools.

The private sector also plays a key role here. There is surely room for people to spend a bit less on fancy homes and cars, while giving more generously to the United Way and the many voluntary agencies that serve our needy people so faithfully. Many retired people give of their time as community volunteers and find this a rewarding experience. There are countless opportunities for more of us to contribute time and talent to these endeavors.

Our religious congregations can surely play a larger, more effective role in being “good Samaritans.” We sometimes feel that we have fulfilled our duty to the Almighty if we attend worship services and contribute to our local church budgets, but God expects more than that from us. Let us show our gratitude for our many blessings by looking beyond the walls of our local church buildings and doing more to share with those in need in the larger community.

In the book of Proverbs we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” A vision of the truly good life tends to get lost these days in our busy, noisy, cluttered, glitzy, self-centered, greedy, violent, erotic, dollar-driven world. Sad to say, values such as caring for others, obeying the law, helping those in pain, thinking about the long-term future and consistently telling the truth are falling by the wayside, and we are poorer for their loss.

My dreams are puny compared to those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but here are a few of them: I dream of a day when people will understand that buying illicit drugs is not a victimless crime because it underwrites violence (including the murder of innocent bystanders), promotes disdain for the law and leads to human addiction and degradation. I dream of a day when people will reach out to the “loners” among us, providing them with understanding and (if needed) readily accessible mental health services before they turn violent. I dream of a day when the National Rifle Association will give up its extremist rhetoric and work with other interests to create reasonable, balanced gun legislation that stops easy access to handguns while permitting appropriate use of firearms for legitimate recreational purposes. I dream of a day when Americans will grow sick of the gratuitous violence so widely promoted by the nation’s entertainment industry and so often absorbed by unthinking young people, so that the people who now produce such trash will be shamed into turning away from it. Finally, I dream of a day when no one will talk about seeking the death penalty for angry, impulsive 18-year-old who throws gasoline at a house and sets it on fire without pondering the possible horrible consequences for a family sleeping inside. Punishment yes, revenge no.

ROBERT D. GILLETTE

Poland