4. On Crime

Hey, remember how God made laws telling us not to do stuff like kill other people or steal things? Remember how nobody killed anyone or stole stuff after that?

No? Good, because it never happened.

Except the law part, that is (well, maybe; we at least know that somebody, somewhere, at some point, said "stop killing," etc.). What never happened was the cessation of murder and theft and all the other stuff people like to call "sins." What follows is not a criticism of religion (that's for later, and trust me, you won't like it), but a criticism of the nature of law versus crime.

You've probably figured out that I'm advocating the idea that outlawing something won't stop it from happening/existing. The Decalogue has been around for a few millenia, and probably wasn't the first of its kind; I don't know ancient history that well. But that doesn't matter. We have current laws that not only prohibit all kinds of stuff, but also spell out what the punishment will probably be for breaking the law. However, we find ourselves frustrated that crime still occurs; we seem to think that making the punishments worse--or going after the perpetrators more doggedly--will make the crime problem go away. We're collectively missing something.

And here it is: you won't stop crime as long as people have reasons to commit crimes. You know, on a subconscious level if nothing else, that you're a slave to your own desires. "I don't feel like cooking tonight, so I'll buy fast food." "I don't feel like exercising, so I'll just watch TV." Well, when people are caught in situations like poverty or addictions, they're slaves moreso to these needs. While most people's wants revolve around not doing things, some people's needs push them to do whatever it takes to help themselves, hence the stealing and other crimes. See, most criminals know that their crimes are wrong; it's just that they don't care, because another need supercedes the desire not to be caught and punished. Telling them not to do something (i.e. making a law against it) won't stop them from doing it.

Now here's the tricky part: the people that make the laws know all this stuff, and they either don't care or they use it to their advantage. Case in point: theft. Reducing poverty would reduce theft; with fewer people needing money/food, there'll be fewer people stealing things to pay for stuff. However, these people tend not to vote, so politicians don't care about what they need. (Funny, though: they often steal from people who do vote. Hmmmm...).

Another case in point: abortion. Now I'm not saying that it's a crime by nature, but I will say that I wish it didn't exist. The problem is that it's not going to go away if a law is made against it. The powers that be want you to think that it will, but these are the usually the same people that say, "If you outlaw guns, that won't stop gun violence." And they're right about the latter; what they won't admit is that the same logic applies to the former. If we actually eliminate the reasone why people consider abortion (inability to provide for a baby, unwanted pregnancies due to poor sex education, etc.), and thereby eliminate abortion, it no longer exists as a topic of political debate, and politicians risk losing important votes from people who would otherwise realize that they're little more than power-hungry plutocrats.

This is essentially why we lost the War on Drugs, by the way. People told us, "We're going to go find all the drug dealers and arrest them, and that will eliminate the problem of illegal drugs." We believed that. Well, it didn't work because there were--and are--still reasons for people to want illegal drugs, so there's still a market for illegal drugs, and therefore still illegal drug dealers. The War on Drugs was fought on the wrong front from the start, but those in power do like the fact that drugs still exist as a possible political platform if they ever want to come up with another pretend solution.

The actual solution to all this stuff goes back to a previous post of mine that states that you need to demand more from your so-called leaders, and hold them to their promises more strictly than you have in the past. Until you do that, don't expect them to solve anything for you. And don't expect not to have to worry about crime.

... Now, can you guess what I'd say concerning the problem of terrorism?