The Missing Piece to the Gang Violence Debate

870 Words4 Pages
What are the reasons for gang related violence? There are a plethora of ideas that plenty of people have made a strong case for; including fatherless families, weak immigration rules, a soft touch criminal justice system, racism, poverty, and too many guns. Dan Gardner suggests it may not be any of the previous mentioned possible causes. A cause, he claims often going unanalyzed, is the effects of the drug trade and the black market. In this essay, Gardner suggests that drugs and the black market are primary causes of gang related violence, and that these causes are often ignored. He observes Mexico’s strategy of increasing law enforcement to treat gang violence, suggesting it does not solve the problem due to the economic law of markets self-correcting. Finally, he concludes by suggesting that Canada will suffer the same fate as Mexico if we adopt the same policies towards gang violence they have. In the beginning, Gardner plays on our inherent inquisitiveness by painting a picture of action and excitement. He starts by questioning the bloody, gang related violent events that took place in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in March of 2003. He suggests that ratcheting up law enforcement as a response to the act was a counterproductive endeavor and rather than leaving a positive impact on the violent situation, the act merely displaced it and perpetuated the violence. Gardner defines economic laws of mature markets as having an inverse relationship with the level of drug trade violence, going on to remind us that, “a mature market, with established networks and powerful figures in place, tends to minimize bloodshed” (234). He completes his claim in this section by imploring us to be aware that when the status quo of a mature market is disrupted, the consequences are quite negative. Mexican president Vicente Fox is eventually introduced into his analysis. Gardner uses this
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