The Chicago-Afghanistan Paradox

There’s an old axiom in television news that says “If it bleeds, it leads.” Apparently this notion is limited to blood spilled in warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A recent article that appeared in the Huffington Post seems to argue that Americans stand a better chance of being killed in Chicago Illinois than Afghanistan.

At the time the article was published, 228 people in Chicago had been killed compared to 144 in Afghanistan this year.

You stand a better chance of being killed in Chicago than Afghanistan—a warzone.

Yet, many Americans outside of Chicago have heard little about the urban war that is going on in Chicago. I think if people were dying at a rate of 2-3 a day in a major American city, I’d like to know about it.

I think it’s great that we make a point of honoring the sacrifices of men and women who fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan, but what makes the 144+ soldiers who died in Afghanistan this year any more important than the moms, dads, and children that were killed within their own neighborhoods?

Where’s the national outrage over the 5,000 Chicagoans killed since 2001 versus the 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan? Does death somehow mean more, if your soldier?

Chicago: The 51st State?

Per the USA Today, there’s a proposal from two downstate Illinois lawmakers to make Chicago the 51^st state, detaching it from Illinois. It’s no grand secret that Illinois is financially screwed because of various incompetent decisions from Illinois politicians. Much of the blame for the current political climate in the state is laid at the feet of Chicago area politicians.

 But would any proposal making Chicago the 51^st state actually make a dent in the problems of Illinois?

People from downstate are sick of being dictated to by Chicago. Proof of this statement? Our sitting governor won the three Chicago-area counties and was re-elected much to the consternation of many in the state. Separating Chicago would give the Chicago area the chance to have its’ own more liberal government, while Illinois could then elect a government that would be more conservative in character.

There’s also the matter of debt, Chicago provides the greatest sales tax revenue and is the biggest financial load on the state. Illinois can't just be forgiven for Chicago debt and with a lower revenue stream coming in, the state of Illinois may be in even worse shape, if Chicago is taken out of the state.

Long story short, this deal sounds like a no-win because while proponents would be free of domination from the Chicago machine, they'd still have a massive pile of debt that only a metropolis the size of Chicago could deal with.