No, I said they were acting pathetic in response to their fear.

No we should not be afraid because it causes us to shut each other out our lives even more.

A fact which I argue is a strong cause of our community deteriorating in the first place.

You people are acting pathetic because you are so afraid for your lives.

A lot of people on here advocating the extermination of the "gangbanger types" through zero tolerance, long prison sentences, execution, extreme police force.

You think the "thugs" are some alien disease/plague destroying your wonderful community.

They are not a foreign element, they are our children. Our community lost the things that make it healthy long ago. We failed each other and our children, and that is why they are "thugs" now, and that is why we are all afraid of each other.

There is so much fear within us, and it makes us weak.

Our politicians and police are not able to "enforce" a healthy community upon us and it would be irresponsible for us to ask them to.

It is us, the citizenry that must foster a healthy community, and we are the only ones who can! No one else.

Laws can't do it for us, even if we are told otherwise.

It's time to stop being afraid of thy neighbor and start loving instead.

Think about the dinner table for example. It is the perfect place to build positive relationships with each other. Invite your neighbors over for dinner, and then ask for your family to be invited back to theirs.

We already know that there are positive psychological/relationship benifits for families that regularly eat meals together.

Would it then not follow that there could be benefits for us to eat with people in our community?

And not the same people every time, diversify, make new friends.

Food has always brought people together, I think its one thing that could help us again.