There was a brief blurb in the news about a Korean Incident. Apparently a NORK patrol boat was chasing a Chinese boat and ventured south of the Northern Limit Line. It collided with a ROK patrol boat. Two sailors died. Some of used to work those incidents, which always had the potential for incidental escalation. Been there…

The expression in the title were the way we used to disparage a prospective trip. It usually referred to a place that someone in the group has already visited and wasn’t impressed with. Normally it was done with some sweeping hand movement signifying disinterest.

We are fortunate to have lived most of our lives in this marvelous nation. Periodically, things go a little off track and a consensus opinion to finally do the right thing occurs. The consequences are a little harder to follow, since they take a long time, often generational. One of our current generational issues is crime. Boomers have seen it before and participated in some of the efforts to do something, for and against the observed trend of undesirable conduct. Now, we are fixing it again because the previous fixes didn’t work.

As the tumult of the 2024 electoral process rises it may be worth a look at how we got to this moment on history’s great Mobius strip of change. With Earth Day coming up, we will be talking about the Existential Human caused Climate Disaster. You know the vagaries of the last 40 years on that issue. At first it looked like common sense approaches to fix visible problems. We were assured those were about to make the Ice Ages return. That worked for a while, but things seemed to be getting a bit warmer. That caused the change to “Change.” C-to-C?

The same process that can invert strong scientific belief goes on across all the issues. Some of us recall New York City’s social issues in the 1970s. Whatever your politics- that is key- citizens were finally fed up enough to vote to do something different. There followed a cascade of reforms in the handling of criminal matters, including how they were policed. We remember when “Stop and Frisk” and “Criminal Response Units” were proposals and viewed, generally, as effective in reducing violence.

In one of those big slow generational changes, both approaches were transformed into symbols. Not of safety but systemic, sustained and deliberate oppression. Or something.

There were other procedural programs that changed meaning but have been around since the 1950s. One of them was called “Three Strikes.”

It was an old-school title for a Federal law. Legislation used to be nick-named to reflect the intent contained within the law. The “Habitual Offender” designation have been on the books for years. This morning’s crime-statistics has one of the old familiar stories featured in a legal battle between Congress and New York authorities. The morning report claims about a third of all “shoplifting” is committed by 367 individuals in a population of millions. We think that reflects a group of people who are self-employed in the theft business, or what is called “career criminals.” They used to be habitual in the nature of their offenses. That trait has so many disparaging connotations it cannot be used.

The “Three Strikes” nick-name dates back to 1952. It was a part of the Justice Department’s anti-Violence Strategy to combat a social problem. It was intended to take career offenders off the street. In Strikes, the law stipulated that a person convicted of a third offense after having previous serious convictions would serve a mandatory life sentence in prison. Parole could be denied for those who struck out, or life imprisonment for committing three intentional violent crimes.

The consequences were significant in terms of who were incarcerated. It has become part of the movement against all prisons and all cops. It was a popular meme for a couple electoral cycles, but the rise in criminal behavior that has accompanied the lessening of enforcement is having predictable results. Enhanced by the fact that everyone now carries a video feed of crime. We will probably lurch in some other direction in the interests of public safety. Or will just have to get used to not having it.

Naturally, this is current domestic issue with direct links to major and emotional campaign issues. The established narratives about the nature of justice and liberty will play out in our dizzying multispectral political arena. Location and history have a role in how it will be packaged for consumption. Chicago has been chosen as the site of the National Convention for the Party that was there most famously in 1968. Some of us recall that one not as a footnote but as a real and powerful event just west on I-96. Mayor Daley’s handling of what was known then as a “Police Riot” became a signal for how things were going to be.

We are holding off on analysis of events that have not yet occurred. It is only prudent. to next summer. There is plenty of time to get ready, so we are relaxed. In the meantime, there is controversy about what is next. There is talk the Chinese may want to go to war over Taiwan while weapons stocks are low due to frantic Ukraine use. There are many opportunities for mischief, you know?

Copyright 2023 Vic Soco
www.vicsocotra.com