Crime Pays

From a fellow who is studying for his PhD on the subject of crime throughout the last few centuries.

“…society gets the criminals it deserves.”

And we get the politicians we deserve.

And on and on it goes.

We are what we eat apparently.

What the researcher meant was that we create the environment for criminals to exist through social conditions so we can’t be surprised when they exist.

The liberals would have it that we can solve the problems of crime by addressing the appropriate societal issues.

Some conservatives would counter that the effort would be outweighed by the cost. They don’t, but they should quote the Pareto Rule.

Most people usually believe in punishment, not as a deterrent but as justice.

Justice which just happens to validate their values and hence their whole existence.

There are days when I suspect that societal values only exist because of the negative examples that act to enforce their benefits.

Without these counter examples we probably would forget the benefits within a week or so and devolve back to whence we came.