Crime: RevisitedFollow up of Survival of a System. |
An extenuating amount of confusion still clouds the vicinity of cause; many belief systems are resilient to the concept of a secretly corrupt system of government. People don’t want to believe that “big brother” (who is sworn to contesting Crime) actually perpetuates it in an effort to maintain his food source. And so, this supplement hopes to answer the question of culpability as well as poking an inquisitive stick at the roots of illegality itself.
Lastly, but certainly of no lesser significance, I want to respond to the question of resolution. [i.e. ‘So what, smart ass, you’re full of complaints… but I don’t hear you bringing up any solutions!’]
Setting the Parameters: (Defining Crime)
If you’re a robot (or, if you think you’re one) aside from needing a soft couch to lie on while talking about your childhood, you can accept the dry, objective definitions concerning the realm of illegality. They are as follows:
Crime (krim) noun [[from the Latin crimen, meaning offense]] 1 an act in violation of law; specifically, a
serious violation, as a felony 2 a sin
Criminal (krim’e nel) adjective 1 to have the nature of crime 2 relating to or guilty of crime –noun a
person guilty of crime –crim’i-nal’ity (noun) –crim’i-nal-ly (adv)
Besides these, rather bland and unhelpful, definitions there exists a torrent of other words referring to the same idea. (i.e. illegal, illicit, unlawful, even variants of “illegitimate” and “fallacious” have criminal inference)
However, if you are of flesh and bone and you receive your thoughts from that gray mass of nerve tissue several inches above your larynx, you probably adhere to a more subjective critique of the word “crime”. You are likely to accept Webster’s definition but, have opened a world of mitigating (as well as amplifying) circumstances that will affect your conception of what is/is not considered “criminal”. Nine times out of ten, a person’s perspective is the chief underlying factor in whether an act is “criminal” or otherwise. Hundreds of variables affect the term “crime”; its definition is subject to one’s upbringing, personal experiences, attitude, habits, and practices.
Not too long ago the city of Cleveland, Ohio, decreed that panhandling would no longer be tolerated amidst its streets. The homeless, as well as other “street people”, would become subject to incarceration and/or penalties if they were caught asking for change, help, et cetera. The man, living without a home, asking you for a dollar, had just become a criminal. |
As I sat in court, this very morning, awaiting the finality of a traffic related infraction, I watched as a woman was made to explain herself, plea her case, and subsequently pay a fine and court costs, for merely digging in her own yard. (Goddamn criminal!)
How many times have you sat down with friends/family to view the latest DVD release, knowing that its media is the product of a home computer harboring equally new decrypting software? The FCC has been telling us for years that such actions are valued at five years of our life and/or two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in restitution.
“Criminals”… We’re surrounded by them.
I could go on with a list of legal infractions that would put the list Santa carries to shame.
But, I think my point is nearly visible.
What I’m driving at is the fact that although our system has defined a plethora of actions as criminal behaviors, whether or not we view them as “crime” is subject to our perspective. We are expertly trained to mold our definition of “crime” howsoever necessary to meet our needs. Many of us will say, “Yeah, I know it’s against the law… But, who’s it really hurting?”. For most people, ideologies of “no harm done”, “what they don’t know won’t hurt them”, and “everybody does it” are status quo.
Often we can see vengeful motives at play when it comes to turning a blind-eye to questionable actions. An example of this would be… “Well, goddamn it, they let O.J. get away with murder; who cares if I cheat on my taxes!” Or… “I know that guy down the street is selling dope but, they never bother him… So, I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for taxi just because I had a couple of drinks!”
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And why would I waste my time illustrating the malevolence in sexual assault?
I don’t feel a need to explain that stealing the neighbor’s car, which she’s worked so diligently to afford, is wrong. I think I’m dealing with an audience bearing intelligence levels greater than those in kindergarten.
The crimes that most sane (or, at least semi-sane) people will agree upon are those that clearly are an infringement on another’s basic freedoms. Murder, rape, robbery (of an individual), and abuse (of the defenseless or, less powerful), these are crimes we are not likely to overlook as subjective.
But in this section I’m not looking to further explain what we “consider crime”; I want to talk about why committing it is so popular.
I’m going to point the finger somewhere…
I’m pointing in a direction that’s guilty as hell but is going to be a son-of-a-bitch to convict.
Although it admittedly spends $66.84 per inmate, per day, (that’s about 24,397 dollars a year) the Ohio Department of Corrections gets approximately thirty-seven thousand dollars allotted to it per year, per every new inmate number it ascribes. It doesn’t matter if that inmate is in the custody of the penal system for twelve months, or twelve days, the state (when presenting its statistics to various boards reviewing the need to perpetuate/increase funding) can support its need for the yearly capital it absorbs from our taxes.
It’s no secret that many police precincts and patrol posts have arrest/violation quotas to meet. They know, all too well, that the number of violations actually being committed is plentiful; it’s just a matter of going out there and casting their nets.
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[So what.]... [You’re not delivering as promised.]...
[You’re blathering statistics and ruminating over common knowledge and opinion.]... [What about the “Why’s” and “What for”?]
Here it comes.
Pull your children from the streets.
The almighty “They”…
They are the reason Tyrone thinks selling dope is better than working at McDonald’s. They are to blame when the effort to rehabilitate Kyle, the car thief, fails over and over. Miranda can’t stop herself from shoplifting. Karen can’t resist the money she makes as a prostitute. Amber, your favorite bartender, steals a bottle of vodka a week even though (considering the tips you give her) she could easily afford to buy one. And despite Larry’s efforts to rid himself of thoughts pertaining to rape, he can’t help but think about it.
All because we are caught up it a system designed to fill every slot available. The “system” I speak of is bigger than the Media; it stems further than rehabilitation and corrections…. But these things are fingers upon its hand.
Before television there had been radio. Before radio there had been our Newspapers and other venues of written information. And all the while, and even before these things, there had been the spoken word.
The beast has been evolving for millennia.
“Demented Dan”, never considered it possible to skin someone and wear them like scuba gear… until he had the process explained at the cinema. It never would have crossed his mind.
Sheri got away with her husband’s murder… Not like so many other women subject to making there attempts prior to “CSI: Special Victim’s Unit” (my factitious hybrid representing programming proven to be educational for the wannabe killer).
It used to be “Cowboys and Indians”, then “Cops and Robbers”, now it seems that “Ingenious psychopath Vs. Resourceful investigator” is all the rage. No matter how you dice it up the soup is the same. We are taught conflict. We are given the choice of rooting for the bad guy or, at least admiring him for his skill, every hour on the hour, twenty-four hours a day, seventy-some channels a set. (and that’s if you only have basic!)
[Yeah, but nobody’s says you have to go out and behave like the characters portrayed by the Media.]
[You can’t blame the Media for social decline!]
[People have a choice. I’ve seen The Ninth Gate, several times, and I don’t want to worship the Devil.]
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So now what?
[Well, we’ve read through your bullshit.]... [Seems like you’re just bitching… “Oh, the System this”… or … “the System that”]
[A lot of complaining but, I don’t see you offering an alternative.]... [What do want to do… Snuff out Free Speech?]... [What the Hell do you want?]
At our current locus, there is nothing that can be done. I’ve spent years thinking about it… It’s too late. Smite the freedom of Speech? Oh Lord, No! That would mean the end of magazines like Playboy, Hustler, and Fox. It’d be like cutting my own throat (Not to mention serving a grave disappointment to perhaps my favorite appendage).
I don’t have an alternative, nor have I ever promised to offer one. I’m not delusional enough (not yet anyway) to pretend that I have a solution at all.
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What do I want? |
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SOURCES, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, AND THANKS:
Article: Cleveland Plain Dealer (?) July 2005
Edelman, Gerald M.: Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind. New York: BasicBooks 1992
Ornstein, Robert: The Roots of the Self: Unraveling the Mystery of Who We Are. New York:
HarperCollins 1993
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Annual Report 2004 (January 2005):
Reginald A. Wilkinson, Ed. D. (Director)
Special Thanks to: Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, Second Edition. New York. Hungry Minds, INC. 2002.
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