Through years of study and trying thi
ngs, there are people who know what most causes crime. But politicians have to give the public quick "fixes" that do nothing but distract attention from their impotence, or even make things worse. The real answers are not in passing laws to control those bad people (the criminals, not the politicians). The things that will work will require commitment, sacrifice and investment from all of us. What are some of those things that will work?
Try to find information produced by criminologists relative to the causes of crime. You can get a small hint of what applies in most places by studying
this report on the demographic factors that correlate with rates of violent crime in British Columbia, Canada,U.S.
1. One of the primary things is that we need essentially everyone to have the wellbeing that comes from national economic wellbeing. A primary facet of this is that a greater portion of the public needs to be able to earn a "reasonable" living.
a. What we think of as this "reasonable living" must come down. People in general need to be willing to accept a lifestyle less materialistic and self indulgent than what many of us have become accustomed to during the country's boom times so that others can share what we have. A person barely "getting by" will naturally be very dissatisfied if he looks around and sees people doing much better with little effort, especially if those people are doing things that hold the poor down. Those with plenty need to be willing to help some those who don't have but are willing to work for it. And there are going to be a lot of people barely getting by in the future. Except for jobs involving direct dealings with the public, our population is now having to compete with foreigners who work for "peanuts" and this situation will only get worse because of the fast, inexpensive worldwide transportation and communication. The fact that our economy has gone through big cycles in the past, but generally recovered from the dips, doesn't mean it must happen that way forever. Something has happened in our world that had never happened before. We have become a global economy. I'm sure you don't want to believe that life for most people is not going to be as rosy in the future as it has been since the forties. It is easier to close your eyes. As We said, the solutions will require sacrifice.
b. We must encourage people to obtain good education and training, and not just with words. People have to know that if they try they will be able to do better. This means we must have real jobs for people. Try to avoid helping to force manufacturers to move their factories out of the state, country or your city. Make sure there is a place they can afford and where they are welcome. Pristine neighborhoods, pristine environment, and governmental services cost us all taxes and often cost us our industries. Achieving a trained and knowledgable public cannot be achieved an easy way such as by legislating it. We must be able to think about the issues without our selfishness clouding our judgement. There must be incentive for the young and poor to obtain skills and knowledge.
c. We must reduce our population. We especially need to have fewer births to poor and to those who don't want children or don't know what it means to raise children. Besides the fact that this will reduce
overpopulation problems, it will improve the employment situation. Religions that try to take over the world by populating it will unwittingly turn the world into hell for all of us. We don't want to legislate birth control like China has, although some laws that discourage having children one can't afford might help. And laws that encourage having those children must be changed. The welfare mentality is closely allied to the criminal mentality. In both cases there is a desire to have without exerting effort. "I deserve to have and, if you don't give it to me, I have a right to take it from someone."
2. Promote widespread adoption of the original "golden rule" (not the one that goes "he who has the gold, rules") including the teaching of it to our youth both formally and by example. People need to believe that hurting or taking from others is something they should avoid doing, not just because they may be punished but because it'll make the world better for us all. Making people good is also something that can't be achieved an easy way such as by legislating it. Functional families are essential for teaching morals. A leading criminologist says that living in broken homes correlates more with becoming criminal than anything else does. You will find this in some of the materials linked from this site. this article about the impact
of having no father in the home.
3. We must reduce the number of people who are addicted to drugs or are at times incapable of making rational judgements or controlling their actions because they are on drugs. The other things already mentioned will help move us in this direction. We don't know what all it will take, or if what our government is doing is heading us in the right direction. We would only suggest looking seriously at the big controversy on this, and don't assume that something as easy as passing a law will work. Banning drugs hasn't worked for quite a few years now. You and We may actually have to stop entertaining ourselves once in a while to do the things that need to be done.
4. Do whatever it takes for you personally not to be a victim of violent crime and to get others to do the same. A victim is involved in 100% of violent crime. So we should pass laws to outlaw being a victim, right? No, outlawing people for being victims would be as stupid as some of the other things our legislators are doing. But you and all of us can protect ourselves to some extent, and everything we do to protect ourselves will make the work harder and possibly more hazardous for the criminal, and will thereby encourage him or her to take up a new line of work or move to New York City or Washington, DC.
Labels: Do You have open mind to think
