We have a major problem throughout our society.
By Daniel at 17 November, 2009, 1:54 pm
The corruption and unethical and illegal behavior isn’t limited to our government, banks and other business.
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The global recession isn’t just making jobs scarce and tightening spending — it’s also turning more people into thieves. According to an annual survey released on Tuesday, incidents of shoplifting rose nearly 6% over the past year, representing nearly $115 billion in losses for businesses. One of the more surprising findings: a growing number of new shoplifters are outwardly reputable, middle-class people who are walking off with French cheeses, quality meats, cosmetics, mobile phones, clothing and other goodies that they feel they need to maintain a quality of life they can no longer afford.
…….”Though most thieves rationalize their acts, the current situation has many people feeling the entire system is broken, that politicians are too corrupt or inept to fix it, and that there’s nothing wrong with stealing from these big companies and fancy stores that — the thinking goes — are themselves making out like thieves,”
http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2009/11/hard-times-and-bad-behavior.html
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As a nation, when it has this type of thinking at all levels where the ends justify the means, there is little hope of a long term recovery.
I was in a police dept. in a small Missouri community. The crime rate was atrocious and mostly committed by young people (75% juvenile). The police department started focusing on the first time offenders and getting them help and straightened out. The result was about a 75% drop in crime over the next 4 years. They didn’t deal with adult crime much better than any department but, eliminated the next generation of adult criminals.
As the adult criminals were removed and sent to prison, they weren’t replaced nearly as often with a new adult criminal. The young people, who learn easily, had changed their thinking due to being caught and dealt with properly (no abuse and real help). Initially, this meant being arrested for even shoplifting a 79 cent ink pen or littering or underage drinking or rolling stop sign violations, etc.
The word spread that if you broke “any law” you would be caught and dealt with. Once the crime rate was back down to a manageable level, then warnings became more frequent instead of arrests because then, a warning was sufficient to remind the person to respect all laws.
Our nation, individuals, government, business, banking, etc. has gotten away with so much for so long that we face a much larger problem than just a weak economy. We have destroyed the ethical operation of our nation and with that destruction comes a lot of misery.
JanPaul
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