Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Why People Commit Crime

Why Poor Starved Poverty-Stricken People Commit Crime
[[they have nothing to lose]]

Why Rich People Commit Crime
[[[they won't lose anything]]

Why Middle Class People Cannot Commit Crime

They have too much to lose.  But at the same time they cannot afford top-of-the-line lawyers -- therefore they will lose it all.  So they are stuck in an opportunity limbo.

I think that a lot of middle class people, and I myself am guilty of this, tend to think they have it harder than either lower class or upper class. We have the typical middle class gripes. We are in a middle income “crunch,” especially when it comes to paying for higher education. Not rich enough to afford all the material possessions I want or *necessities* like education, not poor enough to receive government financial aid. I think, though, that there are ways around this problem -- a person could apply for scholarships.

As for having to work hard to get them -- well, that’s life. You have to work hard to receive help, and once you are in college, you have to work hard then anyway. It is obvious, though, that poor people have it much worse off than rich people, who can afford everything they need as well as everything they want. Health insurance, legal cooperation, fancy cars, you name it. I think tax cuts for the rich is ridiculous. And I think it is rather stuck up to say that the blues is less high class than opera. Both are cultured forms of music. Both take time and hard work and precision to create distinct tunes, melodies, lyrics, the actual sound, the feel of the type of music.

I can sort of see where the “disgruntledness” of middle class people stems from, though. It is not entirely far-fetched. When I was working at Harris Teeter for two years, I saw many, many people who were on food stamps. Many of these people were buying things that would be considered “luxury” foods, such as crab legs and prime cut steaks, as well as things that are not necessities, like potato chips and cake mix. Why in the world would people who are supposedly struggling to get by need crab legs and potato chips?

What was most surprising was that some of the people who were on food stamps seemed to be affluent professionals who had just gotten off work in the evening.  They were well-dressed decent employed folks that still had their ID tags, like the kind you see bank tellers wearing, pinned to their lapels. Why in the world would they need to be on food stamps? And how did they qualify for food stamps? Obviously, they cheated and somehow lied on their tax forms or food stamp applications just to get free money.

I want everyone to realize, though, that in many cases, this weird stereotype (I think that’s what it is) is not true. The majority of people on food stamps whom I saw at HT looked lower class and poor -- their clothes were old rags and their kids looked like they hadn’t been showered in days. Although these people did sometimes take advantage of their food stamp “connection” and bought foods that are not necessities. And when people lie about needing help, they deprive the people who really are poverty-stricken from getting help. Many of these poverty dwellers don’t realize how they can get help -- not just with food, but also with education and mental health.

Social classes in high-income countries of the world are much better off than the social classes in low-income countries of the world. In many third world countries, the rich are able to afford servants, but they do not have indoor heating or air conditioning. Washing machines in third world countries are very scarce. Sure the servants do the clothes washing, but do you realize how much strain this puts on everybody? Many places do not have state or city-regulated garbage disposal systems. So people just throw their garbage right out on to the street in front of their homes. Most of the upper class rich do not do this, but the uneducated poor far outnumber them, and they do toss garbage wherever they get a chance.

The town I live in is quite an affluent town, generally speaking, though it does have its share of lower-class neighborhoods. I’m not sure where my town manages to get its funding from the state. I attended one of the two high schools and took AP classes -- as did about 60 or 70 students in my class. We did not have to pay for our end-of-year exams -- although they had cost $75 per exam per subject per student. We were able to take them absolutely for free. How could School District Three afford this expense? Actually, I’m glad they did -- I took four exams myself, and I did well on all of them.

There are some serious social problems that are there no matter what social class it is. For example, domestic violence is a problem that occurs in all social classes -- rich, middle class, and poor, and also in all races and countries. This is nothing less than depressing, angering, and outrageous. Nobody should have this problem, no matter what their social class or race, because it is violence against women, and as such, is a crime against humanity. We tend to assume that only people of lower-class status have problems. I’m not saying they don’t! They do have more than enough problems – not being able to afford food or pay any of their regular bills; they don’t have health insurance and if they get seriously sick, they’re screwed. But in addition to all that, domestic violence doesn’t help anybody’s situation.

I was surprised to learn of this myself, because you know how people think that being refined and upper class which must mean they are educated, they certainly wouldn’t have a problem like this. But no -- it’s there. And this is a problem that few people are comfortable talking about, not just because it goes against the majority of people’s comfort zone and morals. But also in order to make themselves feel better, feel less guilty about not doing more to stop and prevent it, people tend to blame the victim. As in, why doesn’t she just leave her husband or boyfriend or whomever? I agree that she should, but also the person committing the crime should be punished. I don’t believe any insanity pleas like, oh, the man didn’t know what he was doing, or worse, that the woman was asking for it. These are ridiculous excuses.

There are resources and to help these victimized women and many state laws are getting more strict to help these victimized women. The situation is always worse for lower-class women. Unfortunately, many don’t realize they can get help.

Overall, there are way too many problems facing people today, no matter what the social class, but I think it is a universal and completely understandable, true consensus that poor, uneducated, lower-class people have it the worst. As members of the human race, we all have a responsibility to help any way we can.

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