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I spent my first 12 years of life in a subdivision south of Milwaukee, WI called Wind Lake.
It was predominantly white, yes - but even the families of other ethnic origins were treated decently. All the families within several blocks knew each other, and while we didn't run around having neighborhood cookouts with everyone, we got along. The kids were all friends, and if they weren't, they at least tolerated each other, for the most part. Yes, there was a small cluster of male bullies but the worst I remember them doing was tearing down the forts we built in the undeveloped lots.
Everyone knew everyone else. Kids roamed the neighborhood after school and during the summer, and their parents didn't worry about them, because the parents of the other kids always kept a watchful eye, and we all knew that if we felt scared or something we could knock on anyone's door and get help. We were all taught not to accept things from strangers, not to get into strange cars. Nobody worried about their kids getting kidnapped by some weirdo. I can still remember the singsong way my mom used to call for me across the neighborhood, and if I didn't hear her, someone would let me know she was calling me home. Each mother had their "call" for their kids, and everyone knew what they sounded like.
There were no gangs, there weren't big drug problems. Some families were more well-off than others, but that didn't cause class warfare. There was a sense of interdependency that, sadly, doesn't exist in neighborhoods of this day and age.
I remember when the term "latchkey kid" was new, and something to be sad about.
My mom and her friend from up the street ran a Girl Scout troop. I know someone else was running a Boy Scout troop. There were lots of "inclusive" things going on, and while I wasn't the most popular kid, I did have friends.
My childhood wasn't idyllic, but there were things about it that are sadly lacking in neighborhoods of the present age - things that, I believe, made things run smoother for everyone, reduced fear, and, at least, lent a sense of belonging to everyone.
Things the corporations have robbed us all of in their mad drive to "divide and conquer". As a friend of mine said in a previous post, "things the corporations and their politicians have told us that we don't deserve and we should resent our fellow neighbors if they have them"*.
You see, there is a method to their madness. Divide, and conquer. Tell you that you don't have to know your neighbors, so you can one-up them, or ignore them altogether. Fear that anyone might abduct your kid, so they can't enjoy the outdoors like I did. Force the parents to work like dogs so they aren't there for their kids, and their kids end up joining gangs and things because they lack the upbringing that would've prevented such things. Force couples apart with the strain so you end up with tons of poorer, single-parent families. Teach people that if someone is fortunate enough to be better off than they are, they somehow "stole" that, even if they did no such thing.
A Culture of Fear makes people docile and easy to control.
*Thank you![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
silveradept.
It was predominantly white, yes - but even the families of other ethnic origins were treated decently. All the families within several blocks knew each other, and while we didn't run around having neighborhood cookouts with everyone, we got along. The kids were all friends, and if they weren't, they at least tolerated each other, for the most part. Yes, there was a small cluster of male bullies but the worst I remember them doing was tearing down the forts we built in the undeveloped lots.
Everyone knew everyone else. Kids roamed the neighborhood after school and during the summer, and their parents didn't worry about them, because the parents of the other kids always kept a watchful eye, and we all knew that if we felt scared or something we could knock on anyone's door and get help. We were all taught not to accept things from strangers, not to get into strange cars. Nobody worried about their kids getting kidnapped by some weirdo. I can still remember the singsong way my mom used to call for me across the neighborhood, and if I didn't hear her, someone would let me know she was calling me home. Each mother had their "call" for their kids, and everyone knew what they sounded like.
There were no gangs, there weren't big drug problems. Some families were more well-off than others, but that didn't cause class warfare. There was a sense of interdependency that, sadly, doesn't exist in neighborhoods of this day and age.
I remember when the term "latchkey kid" was new, and something to be sad about.
My mom and her friend from up the street ran a Girl Scout troop. I know someone else was running a Boy Scout troop. There were lots of "inclusive" things going on, and while I wasn't the most popular kid, I did have friends.
My childhood wasn't idyllic, but there were things about it that are sadly lacking in neighborhoods of the present age - things that, I believe, made things run smoother for everyone, reduced fear, and, at least, lent a sense of belonging to everyone.
Things the corporations have robbed us all of in their mad drive to "divide and conquer". As a friend of mine said in a previous post, "things the corporations and their politicians have told us that we don't deserve and we should resent our fellow neighbors if they have them"*.
You see, there is a method to their madness. Divide, and conquer. Tell you that you don't have to know your neighbors, so you can one-up them, or ignore them altogether. Fear that anyone might abduct your kid, so they can't enjoy the outdoors like I did. Force the parents to work like dogs so they aren't there for their kids, and their kids end up joining gangs and things because they lack the upbringing that would've prevented such things. Force couples apart with the strain so you end up with tons of poorer, single-parent families. Teach people that if someone is fortunate enough to be better off than they are, they somehow "stole" that, even if they did no such thing.
A Culture of Fear makes people docile and easy to control.
*Thank you
silveradept.
