Guangzhou, China has instituted a ban on motorcycles: (emph mine)
But in a measure of just how problematic prosperity can be here, the city will institute a ban on motorcycles and motorized bicycles on Monday, hoping to quell a crime wave that has been b
uilding to more than 100,000 offenses a year.The vehicles, the primary mode of transport for migrant workers clawing their way up Guangzhou’s economic ladder, are also favored by criminals who have terrorized the city in recent years, including a shocking case in late 2005, when a woman had her hand cut off by a thief on a motorcycle. News accounts concluded that motorcycle thieves were divided into gangs, including one called the Hand Choppers.
“Crime will be a long-term problem in Guangzhou,” said Peng Peng, director of research management for the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences. “As long as there is a vast gap between the rich and poor in the city, Guangzhou will suffer from crime.”
Bingo. It's not prosperity that's the problem. It's disparity and privation. How many times do we need to learn the same lesson?
By the way, if John Edwards wants to impress me, he'll pick up the Poor People's Campaign where King left it. King-like speeches on You Tube are keen but nothing dramatizes injustice like the tramp, tramp, tramp of marching feet.
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