Interesting discussion,not techie but relevant all the same

My Take

Poverty is not the root cause of Crime : Culture is
India has much more poverty than Kenya, So does Uganda but both countries are far much safer. China has more poverty that all of us put together,but you will rarely hear of crime the way you do here and in America.

While police are not armed in the UK.The UK still has a large average of weapons in the arms of individuals although not the police. If you have watched Michael Moores Columbine documentary you realise canada has more arms than the US. But far much less crime.

So its not the arms,or poverty. Its the collective values of the people and the leadership.

Crime thrives where it is encouraged or not discouraged.

The countries mentioned above discourage crime using several methods either religious,extreme punishment(which is enforced) or entrenched values

How can we enforce punishment when the enforcers are involved in crime? Our culture sad to say encourages crime but pretends to discourage it. We blame the police for being corrupt but will tip city council askaris not to pay parking in town. If we cannot enforce the simplest of things how will we fight against thugs?

It starts from us individually,but will only take root if enforced from the top

What I always tell people is that despite things being thick,we can each take personal responsibility to solve the problem at our level. ive been carjacked and was with my wife. My friend was carjacked and raped despite collaborating. Those incidences make me wish I had a gun and dealt with those guys once and for all. But I cant give up pack and leave Kenya. I chose to hope, do whatever I can, keep myself and family as safe as I can. And work towards increasing my influence(through business and community work) and one day my influence will have a large impact.

Crystal ,dont give up. Be safe,but dont give up. It will take time but I believe you can recover and come out much stronger. This situation will give you access to avenues you didnt have before(can anyone here directly call the PS?Im not that influential) and you can turn lemon into lemonade only if you focus on finding a solution.

However its easy to advise when not in the shoes. So if leaving also makes sense,dont feel guilty.You have done your good deed for kenya and the world.



On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 6:43 AM, Tech List Kenya <techlistkenya@gmail.com> wrote:
Alex,
I do concur bt with reservations.
How many of these criminals are willing to take up honest day's job
which pays @end month while they can wait for you and other
hardworking Kenyans to go sweat it out for them?
Crime has become so easy and riskless AND well-paying that I fear soon
it will be incorporated into academic syllabi.
My point? Society has to show that crime does not pay.  Criminals MUST
not be given the privilege to enjoy their loot.

On 6/19/09, Crystal Watley <crystal@voicesofafrica.org> wrote:
> According to locals here the guns in the Coast are coming from Somalia. They
> are not legally acquired weapons. Internationally, most weapons used in
> crime are not legally acquired so having firearms laws doesn't help. Alex is
> right. The real cause is the poverty and the xtreme split between the rich
> and the poor. Crime has been on the rise in Kenya for the past few months
> and little is being done to stop it. Just look at the surge in kidnappings.
>
> Let me be honest, I didn't come to Kenya because it was a safe, fair, and
> equitable country. I came here because I saw a youth population in desperate
> need of solutions and I came to serve. My question now is this: if the
> insecurity gets so bad that those who dedicate themselves to helping are in
> danger who will come to help?
>
> Crystal
>
> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 11:46 PM, Gakuru Alex
> <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 10:43 PM, Rad!<conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > what is the root problem of crime? crime is crime!
>> >
>>
>> "Poverty is the worst form of violence"-- Gandhi
>>
>> real "mungiki" read poverty
>> real "PEV" (and supermarkets raid guys carrying fridges 2x their own
>> weight:) read poverty
>> real  e-lists "negative energies" read poverty
>> ....
>> etc.
>>
>> I diagnose what we are witnessing as "misdirected youthful energies"
>>
>> Not good enough being a "problem announcer" be a "solution provider."
>>
>> My Solution?
>>
>> After the fibre cables, then flood the whole country with computers
>> and FOSS. Youths will be so occupied installing software all over the
>> place, cracking code, hacking (real meaning of it), earning income,
>> solving needs, innovating, then exporting software. They'll have so
>> much work to do, occupied interest or enough money they'd rather code
>> than join the "chronic" criminal ones...
>>
>> Hope I make some sense to at least one someone?
>>
>> rgds,
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Kigoni
> Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development
> crystal@voicesofafrica.org
> http://www.voicesofafrica.org/
>
> "You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
>
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