When Social Order Ends

I was listening to NPR radio today to a program about Juarez, Mexico (pronounced War-rez for those not often exposed to Spanish). The commentator was saying that social order was now gone in this area because of narco trafficing there. The government now has less money than the narco traffickers so the traffickers regularly kill local, state and federal police as well as police families in increasing brutal ways. People who live in Juarez watch several murders on the streets every day or week and expect no end to this probably ever because the government of Mexico has lost the battle against the narco traffickers possibly permanently. For all intents and purposes social order is gone possibly permanently there in Juarez.

The commentator mentioned that children in Juarez are purposely addicted to drugs by traffickers while their mothers work in factories and once addicted the children have no choice to join gangs and to kill to keep feeding their addictions. It is a never ending cycle of murder, drugs, mayhem and forced prostitution by female children and forced murders by the male addicted children. The problem at this point will only increase.

I think this model unfortunately will increase all over the world in 2nd and 3rd world nations, especially if they are on the border with rich nations like Europe, China, or the United States or even India and others. These kinds of problems will likely increase until society find some way to end these problems for a while, somehow. In the meantime hundreds of people and more are dying each year in places like Juarez, Mexico, and most of these people will be innocent bystanders and only about 25% to 50% will actually be involved in the drug trade or prostitution of young people and children.

Places like East Los Angeles where there are already 85,000 to 100,000 gang members already could get worse as California's funding for police and state officials goes away this February. Places like Oakland, Watts, and multiple poorer neighborhoods like Stockton and other places in the U.S. where foreclosures have been completely out of control are also vulnerable to increase drug and gang violence and kidnappings for prostitution.

So, what I'm saying is that Juarez, Mexico could come here into California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, New York, and to many other places. Society must be vigilant so we don't once again see people like John Dillinger and Bonny and Clyde of the 1930s as we watch bank robberies double in the last 2 years in the United States caused by foreclosures, loss of jobs etc.

The loss of homes and jobs might be the least of societies worries in the overall scheme of life if in places Social order ends. And if and when it ends it is very hard to get it back without extreme amounts of bloodshed. This is something for all of us to think about before it happens in a neighborhood near to you or me.