"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" -
Last Saturday, El Nuevo Dia ran an editorial ("Una Muerte En El Piel Del Pais") that essentially blamed the people that may have been complicit in the senseless murder of Karla Negrón. The latest victim of a "bala perdida" (stray bullet) on New Year's Eve, Karla's passing has become a symbol for Puerto Rico's raging crime.
As the editorial claims "En cada lugar y en cada comunidad desde la cuales, [...], individuos desalmados hicieron disparos al aire, es seguro que hubo otras personas que fueron testigos directos o indirectos de esa reprochable y disocidora actividad." Bluntly put, the editorial insists that everywhere someone discahrged a weapon into the air, there had to be witnesses.
The editorial continues to suggest that there are ways to report such activity. Yeah right, would you stick out your neck and report someone you know to be in possession of and willing to use firearms? The editorial continues by suggesting that by reporting these crimes, the informants would help reduce crime and restore peace to our communities.
Analysis
This editorial reminded of a New Testament story that I think applies perfectly. As Mary Magdelene is being threatened with stoning for accusations of prostitution, Jesus steps in and tells the crowd: "Let he among you, that is without sin, cast the first stone." Reluctantly, the crowd examines their conscience and quietly disperses.
This is a powerful story and very instructive in this situation. First, while regrettable, Karla's death is, in my opinion, just another example of broken windows theory. Simply put, broken windows theory suggests that when citizens see laws being broken, then they feel empowered to also break the law.
From top to bottom, and east to west, Puerto Rico is drowning in lawlessness. From illegal businesses, to contraband trafficking, to corruption (kickbacks, bribes, etc.), to organized crime (gangs), and, unfortunately, to murder. We talk of "balas perdidas," but rarely does anyone complain about illegal fireworks. While some fireworks are legal in Puerto Rico, all fireworks that explode or shoot a projectile into the air are illegal for use in Puerto Rico. They are illegally brought into Puerto Rico through our ports and plainly sold in our streets. In this instance, there really isn't any difference between illegal drugs and illegal fireworks; both are contraband.
So I ask, how many of you out there reported your friends and family members for the use of illegal fireworks? If you ever want to visibly witness just how prevalent crime is accepted in Puerto Rico, all you have to do is wait for New Year's Eve. Every firework you see explode in the midnight sky, is all the evidence you need.
It is pure hypocrisy for anyone to accuse Karla's murderer of breaking by the law by anyone who knowingly and willingly bought and discharged illegal fireworks. In the eyes of the law they are BOTH crimes. It is at this point in our analysis that we enter the very slippery slope.
Most people will respond, but one crime is for our enjoyment, and doesn't really hurt anyone. Most will continue on to say, but murder is another thing altogether. I am not justifying either, both are part of the same environment. While "decent" citizens turn a blind eye and maybe even rejoice at the beautiful display of illegal fireworks, the witnesses of a murder do the moral equivalent. They turn a blind eye.
The second lesson we should take from Karla's repugnant murder is that there can not be two standards. There is no grounds to justify discharging illegal fireworks or discharging guns into the air. Everyone wants to draw a line between the criminals responsible for Karla's death and "decent" citizens. We want to justify our crimes by saying, "I'm a good person," and THEY are criminals. You also hear the same argument when politicians get caught for corruption. We want to be able to say THEY are corrupt, but we are not.
Let's take another example: illegal businesses and corporate corruption. Most "decent" citizens who partake of these crimes justify their actions by rationalizing that they were only providing for their families. It is not a coincidence that many gang members make the same claim.
Again, where things get slippery is by one set of the population justifying one set of crimes, while simultaneously condemning the other. The difference to many is in how they perceive themselves. If they fall into the "normal" group who are criminals out of convenience, then they say to themselves that breaking the law is understandable. They may confess their crimes, but they are fundamentally "good" people.
These "good" people look down at the "bad" people who are conducting murder. They want to be able to lump the "bad" criminals together, and not include themselves. They even go so far as to say, that "bad" people that get murdered deserve it because they should have known better then to get involved in gangs or trafficking in contraband.
I think very few people want to be criminals. In many situations the environment that they live in, creates situations that are morally grey. Drive by any informal flea market and take a poll, do the merchants there believe they are criminals? Ask most gang member the same question, and I think you might be surprised by their answers.
Conclusion
We can not have one set of society that commits crimes, but are accepted; and another that commits crimes, but are condemned. As a citizen of Puerto Rico, I say, this is our problem. Drugs and gangs are not the problem, our indifference to crime is. The same environment that permits doctors to commit Medicaid fraud or merchants to sell their products in flea markets, is the same environment that permits rampant gang participation. We can not draw a line between the two environments, because they are the same; we are one society.
Excessive Gun Fire Rings In New Year
Analysis
As difficult as this video is to watch, it merely punctuates an extremely violent end to a historically bloody 2011. With four injuries from stray bullets, one confirmed death, and another victim in critical condition, thousands of hours promoting no "balas perdidas" on New Year's Eve. All for nothing!
It's been decades since I felt comfortably on New Year's Eve. While the illegal fireworks make it sound like a war zone, we now have a personal account of the horror of living with gangs controlling our streets. While she hides it well, you can see the terror in her eyes. Worse, her brother knows the sounds of different gun reports; he can identify the type of weapons being fired.
Hope
Where does hope exist in this situation. If this happened to just one brave family, how many others passed the last night of 2011 hiding on the floor of their houses? No amount of money can fix this problem. It's been building slowing for decades, and is quickly reaching a boiling point. How much longer will the citizens of Puerto Rico stand by and accept bribes, participate in corruption, and remain oblivious of the collapse of our society?
Warning
While it hasn't reached your house, or mine, it will. I did hear and found a spent blank shell in the street, so I know someone was walking around shooting blanks from a pistol. How much longer until he buys real bullets? Take your precautions! Take them now. Don't wait to become the next victim.
It happens almost every day now. Someone is assassinated in PUBLIC, in plain view, everywhere you turn. It has been difficult watching this trend grow. The signs have been clear, and I have been warning everyone. Now, like many of our problems, most people want to just duck their heads back into their lives (asses) and pretend that this problem does not affect them. You know, they don't come from the 50% of our victims who "deserved it."
What about the three people who were injured in the Caguas unemployment office? They're lucky! As this wave of public hunting continues, we may yet see scenes where everyone is murdered; you know, just to get rid of all the witnesses. This murder hits close to home. I drive by 
the Caguas Unemployment Office at least 5 times a week, sometimes more. I was even a client there when corporate America dumped me here in Puerto Rico.
Two solutions
- Let's acknowledge that people are hunting each other in the streets, shopping malls, offices, highways, etc. We've all got to become better prepared against this threat. We have to significantly increase the security of our public spaces, including government and private offices as well. How long before someone gets gunned down, waiting like a trapped duck in a doctor's waiting room?
- We've got to take control of our borders. We live in a hugely entitled welfare state. We assume things, like our protection. We like to blame those pesky Imperial Americans; it is their jurisdiction, via the Jones Act. They SHOULD be taking care of this problem.
The only thing that matters is inspecting ALL shipment containers that come in to Puerto Rico through our ports. That's where all of the illegal guns, like the AK-47, are coming into Puerto Rico. As soon as shipments leave the Federal inspections, we need to establish our own 100% inspection station.
I can't stress more importantly, why Puertor Ricans MUST OWN this problem. It affects us all. We're trading our future for the greedy pursuit of money and the false trappings of a superficial world. It has to stop! We must unite to solve criminality.
As no one else is capable of doing, Gil provides a self recriminating examination of the recent Department of Justice report on the Puerto Rico Police Department. As usual, Gil is not afraid to call the kettle black, and I applaud him for his honesty and sincerity. I think there is only one thing I could possibly add.
We have seen the enemy and he is us
Damas y cabelleros, there is no such thing as the other. We must now and forever acknowledge that there is nothing special about our police, our celebrities, our politicians, or UPR. Before they were any of those things, they were just Puerto Ricans. Before they were PPR, PPD, PNP, PRPD, or UPR they were our sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. By becaming PRPD the didn't just happen to become the rights-violating, head cracking, pepper-spraying Puerto Rico Police, they were JUST LIKE everyone else. Because we are just like them, just on a smaller scale.
It's common sport to stand around talking over our morning coffee and we typically complain about how terrible the Police are (or UPR, or politicians, ...). We point to them and say: "This is outrageous." We say: "Their behavior is unacceptable." We say "Who do they think they are? They can't do that! That's an abuse of their powers."
Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Quantum Physics
One of the nearly universal truths in prehistoric and modern society is the recognition that we are all connected. We are all part of a collective intelligence that is mankind. Yes, we may pray in different ways, and worship a different deity, but upon close inspection, each religion considers it's flock to be one. Further, even science suggests that we are connected. Whether through quantum physics or string theory, our understanding of the infinite falls short and we must rely upon our faith. In almost every instance, one of the beliefs we usually accept is that we are one.
Yet, in contradiction that belief, we still almost universally believe that someone else is responsible for our problems. We see politicians regularly arrested and convicted of extortion, and a variety of other crimes (taking pictures of your naked ass in the mirror?). We say: "Those frigging politicians, they're all corrupt." We'd be right, under our current system of purchased representation, they are corrupt. But so are we, the number of human rights violations the common Puerto Rican commits daily approaches anarchy. (Yes, I do believe that leaving YOUR shopping cart behind someone ELSE's car is a human rights violation!)
I'd like nothing more than for Walter Andrés Quiles Rodríguez y Wilfredo Sevilla Alsina to become the martyrs that we need. Is two promising young Puerto Ricans enough for us to admit that we should have protected them? Can we finally admit that we are wrong? There is no other, it's just us. Can we please admit that everyone living here in Puerto Rico is connected? If we can't recognize that we're killing our future, then there truly is no saving Puerto Rico. Let us all pray that we can unite ourselves, before it is too late. Let us unite ourselves in the preservation of ourselves from our worst enemy, ourselves!
I've ranted on this before, but it's always worth the time to provide concrete examples to justify my opinions. Briefly, a criminal is anyone guilty of a crime. It's a pretty simple definiti9on which probably lumps nearly everyone together. We're all criminals, some get caught, some don't, some get punished, some don't.
But for most of us, if we commit a crime or whether we get punished it's really not really news. I contend, that it does make a difference, if we do or don't, but I'm getting ahead of my story.
Now let's imagine that you are a highly recognizable public figure. If you commit a crime and get punished, well, it's just what we would expect. That's news. So knowing that you are a public figure, it should be pretty clear. If you step out of line, you'll see your indiscretions plastered all over the news. Should that impact your behavior? Apparently not.
Recently the President of the Popular Democratic Party, Héctor Ferrer, was caught illegally using the emergency lane, for which he was fined $250. When asked about the infraction, Ferrer commented, "Me dieron un boleto y se acabó." Loosely translated, he said, "Hey I broke the law. I'm a criminal, and so what?"
Well I'll tell you so what. Right or wrong, like it or not, when you are one of the leading political figures on the island and you express absolutely no remorse for committing a crime, it speaks volumes about you and the society that you live in. What is says, is that breaking the law is something to be taken lightly.
What that says about our culture is that we live within a criminal state. Crime is diminished and accepted, until someone innocent gets hurt. Then we ask, "How could two cars of fugitives have a shoot-out on one of the busiest streets in all of Puerto Rico?" Answer: It's easy! When the lines between what is accepted behavior and what is unacceptable are blurred by commoners up through leading publicly elected officials, it becomes increasingly difficult for some to tell the difference.
Just to clarify, this isn't about morality and right or wrong. This is about consciously and unconsciously making decisions that shape our society, our future, and, from my perspective, our demise.
Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: JustUptown
Last weekend, my oldest daughter asked if we could stop at Walmart to buy her friends a few birthday gifts. I suggested stopping at a "pulguero" (flea market)*. I was curious about them, since I'd never been to one here in Puerto Rico. Plus, I thought that she might be able to pick up a few deals. I'm also a firm believer in voting with money. What's that you say? No I don't mean what our ex-governor is accused of participating in, no I mean choosing where to spend my money.
Believe it or not, every time we buy at Walmart, we are saying I want more cheap products made in China, available in a store like this. At the same time, we are saying I want less of any other type of store. Yes it is nationalistic, but we do have a choice! Whenever I can, I choose to give my business to the local pharmacy, the local tire shop, the small road side fruits and vegetables stand. I think you should too.
A visit to the pulguero
Anyway, I digress. So we're walking through the pulguero, taking it all in. I found the whole experience, very interesting, and quite impressive. While some of the vendors were just displaying their goods on tables, some had power. The vendors with power were located in old trailers (like goods transportation trailers), which had been modified. The modifications included the addition of power, telephone, and the means to store and lock merchandise into individual compartments.
What kind of merchandise was on sale? Well it ranged from jewelry, clothing, accessories, electronics, toys, shoes, and even kiosks for snacks. The most popular shops were those with jewelry and clothing. Hmm, does that mean that women are more frequent visitors to flea markets?
Ok, so here it comes. While some of the merchandise was either second hand or self-produced (homemade), a lot of the merchandise was name brand products. Where do these merchants get their products? While some were clearly knock-offs (cheaply produced products which are made to look like the real thing) some of the merchandise included Apple iPod Nanos. So, it is difficult to know whether the merchandise was a forgery or stolen.
Bottomline, the production of copy-cat products, which contain the unauthorized use of the trademark of a company, is a crime. To my knowledge, it is not a crime to buy them. However, it is a crime to purchase or accept property that you know or believe was obtained through theft. So the possibility that laws were broken, or are being broken at flea markets is high; especially the guys selling recordable CD's with popular artist's music and recordable DVDs with popular movie titles printed upon them. Those guys were clearly selling music and movies without the permission of the copyright holders, which everyone knows is a federal offense. We must also ALL acknowledge that ALL of these "businesses" are cash-based and therefore pay no income tax on the production and sales of goods, which is also a crime.
Conclusion and Dillema
As I have said, one of the challenges to our society and economy is the high level of crime. From littering to speeding, from running red lights to embezzling, from corruption to robbery and murder; we are surrounded by criminals. Just like voting with our money, I believe we also vote with our behavior. When someone we know breaks a crime and, in some way, we accept that action, then we are saying that breaking the rules (laws) is acceptable.
We can accept the crime by not saying anything to anyone about the crime, continuing a relationship with a criminal (yep, that's what you call someone who breaks the law, a criminal), or in general doing nothing. But we can also accept crime by benefiting from it. In this case buying forged or stolen goods. We also accept crime when we support a "business" that does not file a planilla.
In these desperate economic times, what do we do when asked to decide between accepting criminality and saving money? And if we choose to accept a crime, how clear will it be for our children and friends to make, let's say, the choice between stealing and buying something they want?
I know for most people, this debate never happens. Most of us see a bargain and ignore everything else. In these tough times, it's hard to blame them. However, what outrages me is when these very same people are surprised, shocked, and indignant when our headlines are dominated by domestic violence, murder, and political corruption.
In this gray soup of morality, we all struggle through. Hoping to "do good," praying that we are going up to heaven, while looking for a little rest, recreation, and relaxation. Most of us try to "do our best", profess our faith in Jesus Christ and his teachings or __________________(substitute your deity of choice here), while struggling with our humanity. A humanity which causes us to fail, contradict ourselves, lie, act vane, envy, and become selfish. And don't even get me started on the debate over acting moraly or ethically. I guess, for most people, they are ignorant to all these machinations.
It is true, ignorance IS bliss. If so, then I have to conclude that truth is grief, misery, sorrow, and unhappiness. Ask yourself! Which you would choose? Now tell me! Are you sure we don't live within an illusion? Tell me we do not prefer the illusion. Tell me we are not Cypher in the Matrix:
"You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?"* I originally included the location of the flea market, but I dropped it to protect the guilty. Which is what this whole post was all about. It's very uncomfortable to encounter a crime in progress. It is even more uncomfortable to decide what to do about it.
[Takes a bite of steak]
Cypher: "Ignorance is bliss."
Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: wsilver