I know of two ways to create a crime wave:
- Outlaw many ordinary actions and undertakings;
- Refrain from prosecuting and punishing crimes already on the books.
Can anyone suggest a third?
Today, John Hinderaker comments on the crime explosion in Minnesota, with emphasis on a specific recent event:
Derrick Thompson was clocked at 95 to 100 mph on Highway 35W, probably the Twin Cities’ busiest highway. Before the Highway Patrol could pursue him, he exited the highway off a down ramp to Lake Street and immediately ran a red light, essentially vaporizing a car containing the five innocent young women. You almost have to see the video to believe it:
WARNING: Disturbing video shows moment of impact from reckless driver speeding & running a red light before killing five people and fleeing the scene. Sources have identified the driver as Derrick John Thompson, the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson. pic.twitter.com/JVvNDwuaOV
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) June 18, 2023
Twin Cities media outlets are focusing on the less than vital question of how that video leaked to the press. That seems to be of more moment, in their eyes, than the five lives that were lost, and the left-wing criminal justice system that made the whole thing possible.
The miscreant has been involved in 13 other criminal acts, mostly vehicle-related.
Doesn’t Derrick Thompson belong in prison? At age 27, he’s old enough to know better, as the saying goes. A few years behind bars might wise him up. But wait: he’s the son of a politically powerful former state legislator. Are we allowed to incarcerate the children of the powerful?
If you’re muttering “Hunter Biden” under your breath, you’re not alone. But as outrageous as it is that Hunter Biden and Derrick Thompson are still running around loose, children of power and privilege who run amok are relatively few. They can’t account for the surge of crime all by themselves.
By and large, we have a great deal of crime these days because those with weak morals and ethics have become aware that they can do a whole lot of harm to others and never be brought to book for it. There are enough “natural” criminals to overload the justice system we had before the insane took over the country – i.e., before the recent “Defund the police! / The courts are racist!” chants got started. Add the huge number who were previously deterred solely by the possibility of detection and punishment, and we arrive at our current condition.
There are particularly egregious instances of our loss of will. The “shoplift if you like” attitudes of San Francisco and New York City come to mind at once. Law enforcers’ greatly intensified aversion to risk factors powerfully into the problem. The swiftness and ferocity with which “victimist” activists rain down condemnations upon the police, even after a fully justified arrest, must be figured in, too.
Still…has our nation ever had quite this many residents who had no internal constraints against lawbreaking? Internal constraints are those that make it possible for police forces to do the job at all. Historically, those constraints were supplied by one’s religion. Hearken to Clay Christensen on the subject:
Rose Wilder Lane was of the same opinion:
The real protection of life and property, always and everywhere, is the general recognition of the brotherhood of man. How much of the time is any American within sight of a policeman? Our lives and property are protected by the way nearly everyone feels about another person’s life and property.
With religion in decline – the aging of congregations everywhere would convince a man from Mars that it’s strictly for the nursing-home set – internal constraints are declining as well. The predominant ethical question is no longer “Is it wrong?” but “Can I get away with it?”
Atop that, the dearly departed and deeply missed Ol’ Remus has told us, more than once and in big letters, to stay away from cities and other sources of crowds. People’s inhibitions against violence and predation tend to weaken when immersed in a crowd. And these days, because of other social and economic trends that deserve an essay or two of their own, crowds are more difficult to avoid than ever before.
Last for today, we’ve permitted ingress to these shores by millions of savages. Yes, I mean that as it appears: hordes of persons with no conception of right and wrong. Many of them don’t even ask “Can I get away with it?” They see; they want; they take – and woe betide the decent citizen who uses force against them. The “authorities” are nearly always on the savages’ side.
Given all that, is it really surprising that America is awash in crime of every variety? Indeed, wouldn’t it be far more surprising if the nation were as peaceful and law-abiding today as it was in, say, 1950? You know, back when we had actual men.
I think the point has been established. There is no safety for person or property at this time. Current trends continuing, matters will get worse, not better. Therefore, whenever you leave your home for any reason, even for a quick trip to the corner store, go armed. Your personal weapon might be the only thing that saves a life – and not necessarily your own.
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Robert Gore on The Burning Platform today had this to say on the subject:
“The urban criminal class is armed to the teeth. It has top notch communication and organizational capabilities—think smart phones and flash mobs—and resources—the drug trade—and is highly mobile. It enjoys widespread support among the population. The George Floyd riots kicked off urban guerrilla war. From what’s happened to our cities since, the guerrillas are either winning or have already won.”
I couldn’t agree more.
In my new home I’ve been able to attend a Latin Mass. One of the absolute joys of this church, aside from the five masses they hold on Sunday, is the fact that every Mass I have attended is packed, and it is packed with FAMILIES. People younger than me, with multiple children. The Novus Ordo church is attended by people my parent’s age, but the Latin Mass is filled with people younger than I am, and they have tons of kids.
I’m not saying that it will turn the tide but it will provide a bulwark against the coming chaos.
Re: “The Explosion of Criminality”
Remember that the communists believe in and frequently use dialectic methods to attain their goals.
And if the present occupant of the White House isn’t a communist, then I’m Mother Teresa.
What are dialectics, you ask? The simple yet time-tested method which uses an engineered crisis (or a conveniently-timed natural one) to create a specific form of chaos and disorder in society. Once this reaches a fever pitch, it provokes a backlash or reaction. Once the reaction has been generated, the folks behind the whole thing then step to the fore to offer their “solution” to the crisis, which is what they have wanted all along.
Question: What do all communist regimes want? Answer: More power and control over the population.
Even authoritarian regimes are concerned about being viewed unfavorably; they know that unpopularity leads to dissent and dissent is something they very much want to avoid or eliminate. The trick, then, in getting what they want – is to create or engineer conditions under which the outcome, whatever it is, appears both necessary and inevitable.
In order for the regime to be able to justify the next round of clampdowns on American liberties, or perhaps the creation of a new national secret police force/security service under federal control, to name one example – that solution must flow from a crisis or problem. Hence the need for the breakdown in law and order and the rise of criminality in our country.
In Hegelian dialectics terms, they are creating the crisis. Once that crisis reaches a climax, it will generate some sort of reaction. Like a steam kettle left too long on a hot stove, something’s got to give. Once the desired reaction happens, they can then step in and apply whatever “solution” they want, secure in the knowledge that they are moving closer to their final objectives.
Why do dialectics get used again and again by the radicals on the left? The reason is simple: Because they work.
People will refuse to see the elevation of JFKJr due to his strong stance against the scamdemic, Big Pharma and corruption as precisely what you are pointing out. Democrats will tout him as a way to abandon Brandon and love his environmentalism. Conservative independents and republicans will forget — if we who know better stay silent — that he’s been willing to be as tyrannical as the usurpers are now towards those who oppose his carbon stance.
He’s a half measure that provides the synthesis that will be used to further destroy liberty.
In my suburb of Fort Worth – TEXAS!!! –
the Home Depot now has security screening in place over the small gas appliance section. Too many of these devices walking out of the store on their own…