Rahm Emanuel, in the same interview, both appeals to the values of gangbangers and claims that they have the wrong set of values. So is he appealing to the values that they have or the values that they should have? Only he knows.
If there are two gangbangers, one is standing next to a kid. Get away from the kid. Take your stuff away to the alley. Don’t touch the kids.
And later in the same interview, he says this about a recent case of collateral damage that killed a seven-year-old girl:
I don’t buy this case where people say that they don’t have values. They do have values. They have the wrong values.
There is SO MUCH at play here.
First, I think that most people would agree that decisions that result in the death (however accidental) of a child reflect a moral hiccup somewhere. But unless Emanuel is prepared to present a solid basis for the values he claims are the “right values,” he has no authority to assert that anyone else’s values are the “wrong values.”
Second, if he has made the assumption that gangbangers operate with the “wrong values,” appealing to their values can only result in more of the same.
What Emanuel is effectively doing is asking gangbangers to act on values that they don’t actually have.
What he is asking the general population to do is equally ludicrous: Leave it to the government.
Us adults – we’ll take care of those problems. That’s our problem. You think about your studies.
And “the adults” are planning to “take care of those problems” by demolishing a few derelict buildings (to remove potential gang hideouts) and telling gangbangers to think about the innocent children. If the parents are thinking about the innocent children, they should probably consider a new mayor.
