The FBI recently issued a report on violent crime in America. According to the report the murder rate in this country has dropped to a low not seen since 1965. Before we uncork the Champaign, one must realize, that there were well over 16000 murders in this country last year. That’s 16 THOUSAND, in terms of wars that would rank 2004 after the Civil War, WWI& II, Vietnam and Korea but ahead of both Gulf Wars, the Spanish-American war, the Mexican War, the War of 1812 and the American Revolution. To be fair the US doesn’t have the highest murder rate in the world. That distinction belongs to Columbia, but our murder rate is far higher than every other industrialized country on earth. That rate is also higher than quite a few developing countries, including: Armenia, Yemen, India, Dominica, Azerbaijan, Slovakia, Romania and Malaysia, just to name a few. So one must ask, where’s the outrage? The left has worked themselves into a frenzy, protesting and complaining about the Iraq war, but is virtually silent about the war going on right here at home. Those leftist that do speak, use their same tired arguments that the reason for the high crime rate in this country is poverty. They argue the US government should do more (naturally). Generally, “do more” means spend more money to fight poverty, but is poverty the cause of crime? If so then why are there so many countries with much higher poverty rates, yet much lower crime rates (including those mentioned earlier)? If poverty is the cause of crime, then why have crime rates soared in the 20th century, as the poverty rate plummeted? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that crime rates would have been significantly higher in 1900, 1920, 1940 and 1960 than they are today? The reality is poverty has little to do with crime. Conservatives argue it’s a breakdown in the family, but is it? Several industrialized countries have high teenage birthrates, including Britain, New Zealand and Canada. And many industrialized countries have a high prevalence of single parent homes, including: Canada (1), New Zealand, Finland, Norway, Ireland and South Korea. None of these countries, however, are plagued with the type of depravity that occurs everyday on many of America’s streets. We can be happy that murder rates are down in this country, but anyone who can cheer at 16000 murders should have their head examined. In truth there is no simple solution to account for what has happened to America in the last century, but truth be told it is a national shame.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/18/politics/18crime.html