The baby boomers got old, which is why we peaked in the late 1980s. Now, whatever lull we've had in the crime rate for the last two decades, things are revving back. Theories on why vary, some think it is just entitlement and lack of punishment.
People have been blaming entitlement and lack of punishment as a source of crime for 5,000 years though and yet nobody has ever shown that to be an actual cause. To me it just sounds like an excuse to ignore all the systemic economic and political problems of a society.
Sure, that’s right. I guess it’s just people used to fear getting arrested but it didn’t turn out to be a very useful deterrent. Now we have smash and grabs in busy grocery store parking lots at 12:30 in the afternoon because kids really know the police don’t care.
If only we gave those kids food or better economic opportunities, they wouldn’t be doing those smash and grabs in stolen Kias for kicks.
>I guess it’s just people used to fear getting arrested but it didn’t turn out to be a very useful deterrent.
The biggest issue I have with deterrence in the form of criminal justice is that people just don't think they'll get caught. If you don't think you'll get caught, you don't fear repercussions. Deterrence is largely a flawed theory because of this. Politicians keep pushing it because that's really the only answer they have.
> People have been blaming entitlement and lack of punishment as a source of crime for 5,000 years though and yet nobody has ever shown that to be an actual cause.
Or maybe, if for 5000 years people from many different civilizations all independently reached the same conclusion, it's because the conclusion is true? Look at El Salvador—punishment introduced, crime eliminated. Seems like pretty solid empirical evidence to me!
