• ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Only 7 murders? The population of London was apparently about 400,000 back then so that’s less than half the murder rate of present-day New York City (which is considered a relatively safe city). I don’t think that can be right…

    1632 London: 7 / 400,000 = 17.5 murders per million people

    2023 New York: 312 / 8,258,000 = 37.8 murders per million people

    • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      I’m especially dumbfounded as I thought that before there was an important police force and a mature legal system, murders were far more frequent than after.

      At the same time, it’s possible I’m imagining 1632 London to be more primitive than it really was.

    • Klear@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      present-day New York City (which is considered a relatively safe city).

      Relative to USA. It would easily be one of the most violent cities in Europe.

    • Plagiatus@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      a relatively safe city […] 37.8 murders per million

      Ignoring that in 1632 it might’ve been easier for murder to go undetected, here are the numbers of present day London. It’s about 13.1 mpm, even lower than in 1632, about a third of present day New York.

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/862984/murders-in-london/

      America is not really a shining example when it comes to those things…

      • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        New York’s murder rate (and the overall murder rate in the USA) is shaped by a history of race relations which is quite different from London’s. A white person in New York is much less likely (and conversely a black or Hispanic person is much more likely) to be murdered than the overall murder rate for the city might lead someone to think.

          • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            Source

            Source

            Black and Hispanic people make up 52% of the city’s population but 88% of the murder victims. The murder rate of the white and Asian population works out to approximately 8.4 per million, so the average European tourist is not in much danger here.

            • Klear@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Yeah, exactly. You seem to arbitrarily place higher value on white people’s lives…

              • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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                2 days ago

                I’m not making a value judgement. I’m explaining why New York City’s murder rate is so much higher than London’s. It’s because NYC has a population of white and Asian people who are as safe as Europeans and another, de facto segregated population of black and Hispanic people who are much less safe.

                I presume that a big part of the reason why things are the way they are is that society places a higher value on white people’s lives, but I’m not doing that here. Explaining isn’t the same as justifying.

                • Klear@lemmy.world
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                  2 days ago

                  Why bring it up at all then? The topic was New York being unsafe, you come rushing it explaining it’s because of the brown people.

                  Welp. Even though at this point I’m leaning towards “very clumsy with words” rather than “disgusting racist”, I don’t really have much interest in talking to you further.