Cartoons: root causes

It's been a tough week around the world, but toughest for Nepal and Cleveland.

So, what is a root cause? According to Wikipedia:

A root cause is an initiating cause of either a condition or a causal chain that leads to an outcome or effect of interest. Commonly, root cause is used to describe the depth in the causal chain where an intervention could reasonably be implemented to improve performance or prevent an undesirable outcome.

The root cause of the current state of Nepal was the earthquake.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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I'm not quite sure what the full extent of the root causes of the riots in Cleveland are, but pretty sure most of them are related to racism.  BTW, the driver of the police van has been charged with the depraved-heart murder of Freddie Gray, who was unlawfully arrested for carrying a pocket knife (not a switchblade).

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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The root cause for Republicans taking over Congresses in America is in part gerrymandering, although Democrats attempt to do it too. Partisanship and polarization contribute.

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Glenn McCoy, The Week

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In a time when many legislative bodies are grappling with raising the minimum wage, the Minnesota House has lowered it for tip workers. Seems to me the root cause here is depraved-heart greed.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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-- Marge