Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 17:51:27 +0200 From: Eivind Eklund <eivind@yes.no> To: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>, drifter@stratos.net, fpawlak@execpc.com Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Does it's true? Message-ID: <19980628175127.64780@follo.net> In-Reply-To: <199806272116.PAA20589@softweyr.com>; from Wes Peters on Sat, Jun 27, 1998 at 03:16:28PM -0600 References: <980627174601.ZM27818@darkstar.connect.com> <199806272116.PAA20589@softweyr.com>
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On Sat, Jun 27, 1998 at 03:16:28PM -0600, Wes Peters wrote: > If you mean gun ownership in the cities is going up, that's only > because living it cities is going up; the USA is significantly less > rural that it used to be. And gun ownership here where I live has > gone down in the last 20 years, from about 95% of households in the > 70s to about 75% of households in the 90s. Much of the blame for > this sad state of affairs is the increasing urabanization of > northern Utah, and the attendant crime and drop in moral standards. > > Guns are not the cause of crime, indecency is. I'm not certain what you mean by this. However, saying that "indecency is the cause of crime" seems an oversimplification. Attitudes are the cause of crime. There are many factors influencing these attitudes; analysing and changing these attitudes is what's interesting. I believe one of the prime factors are communications. With increased communications each person have contact with a group of people that is much less restricted by area, and can drop inimate contact with the people in the immediate area. This make it easier to objectify people encountered, which again makes it emotionally easier to do crime against them. Another factor is crime itself. Crime feeds crime by creating an environment where a criminal will be tolerated. A society where violence is routinely used is another factor. This tend to lower the tolerance for using violence, which again make it easier to do violent crime. Part of this is reflected in the use of capital punishment, which work as a bad circle. Part of it comes from increased non-physical communications, which makes it easier to become numb to violence, because you're exposed to it all the time. Part comes from availability of weapons, which makes it more likely they're used, and thus numb people, at least in certain circles. Victimless crimes is another factor - it lessen the respect for the law, as people break those laws and thus loose respect for the law in general. The issues are difficult to solve, but blaming them all on "indecency" will get nowhere. Eivind. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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