Sept 25 2022 A society blinded by apathy, indifference and ignorance.
Just recently I had a friend visiting from out of town, and of course the first thin I did was to take her for a drive around our fine city.
Of course, we the people of Victoria know that our city is not what it once was, and the shocking realities can be seen when driving through certain areas of town. As we drove down Pandora Street my friend was looking very uncomfortable. She glanced over at me and said, “I’m feeling very anxious, can we please get out of here.” Her reaction was not unexpected, none the less it upset me to some degree, and I knew then that I would have to make this a topic of conversation when the time was right. Her attitude towards drug addicts, the homeless, and crime in our city is much the same as many others in our community.
We live our lives in denial of what is really going on around us.
We live in glass houses, mow & fertilize our lawns, chat with the neighbor next door about how our flowers have bloomed so early this year, and of course mention the wonderful cruise we just returned home from. Without question, we all have the right to enjoy the finer things in life that we have worked so very hard for. At the same time, we all need to sit back for a moment and think about what part we played in allowing our city to fall into disrepair such as it has. The problem of the homeless and the drug addicts living on our streets is at a point of no return, and our government officials who have the power to fix this, are doing nothing.
First and foremost, higher levels of crime are what put most of these young people on the streets in the first place. Get the blinders off and realize that many of us are part of the problem. We are blinded by the reality of what put these people on the streets to begin with. Don’t misunderstand, I am not feeling sorry for them. They made bad choices in life but so did many of us when trying to find our way. Our justice system has played a major role in allowing crime to get so far out of control. Our revolving court room door system is not working, and the criminals have no respect for the law.
How did these young people end up on the streets in the first place? Let’s work our way up the chain, better yet, let’s take it down from the highest point. Let’s start with the importation of illegal narcotics into this country, a problem the federal government has turned a blind eye to for years. Once the drugs enter our country they need to be sold, then someone is needed to launder the money. Well in Victoria, and every city in North America that’s not hard to find. And we know by reading the reports recently done on money laundering it was not taken seriously. The drug dealers sell their product to anyone who will buy it, and they justify their actions by saying that no one is making these kids/adults buy the drugs. There is no accountability for drug dealers, a good criminal lawyer and they will likely only see 18 months’ probation and a $500 fine.
Now we have the kids who take the drugs, and statistics have proven once they’ve tried it once they are often hooked for life. Then in order to get money for their next fix they commit crimes such as B & E’s, and often commit assaults when they are high. If you look at statistics over the past few years you will find that some of these young people who got hooked on the drugs have committed murder. Yes, right here in our own fine city, people have been murdered by young people who were strung out on drugs, got angry and did the unthinkable. So now once again, let’s take it from the top.
Drug importation, money laundering, drug trafficking, drug abuse, break-ins, assaults, then a life on the streets. And let’s not forget human trafficking which is a huge problem in our society right now and Victoria is no exception. Human trafficking is an elephant in the room for those of us who don’t want to believe it exists. Well, it does, young girls are people pimped out all across this country every day and no one is paying any attention.
Here’s the hypocrisy of it all. These drugs addicted young people are someone’s children, someone’s sister brother, cousin, young people whose families have been left broken and lost. Look around, there is not one of us who doesn’t have a relative/friend or someone we know who got hooked on drugs and lost their way in life. Through recover programs a few made it back, but others ended up in jail, overdosed or committed suicide.
We can all sit back and pretend the problem doesn’t exist but in reality, the problem is so far out of control that there may be no hope for the next generation to live in a normal society where crime isn’t everywhere they look. The problem is real and until we all take this crisis seriously there it is no hope for change. We are in a recession, heading for a depression. The cost of food, rent, gas, and everything else is skyrocketing and this in turn will inevitably force more people out onto the streets.
EMAIL ADDRESS: murderondesousa@gmail.com