In all the talk about tackling crime, one thing has been left completely off the table in my opinion. Time and time again, people have said that poverty causes crime, and as a result of this belief have been induced to try one slapdash social programme after another.Research, however, is pretty clear on the largest factor contributing to criminal behaviour and that is not merely poverty, but income inequality–the widening gap between rich and poor in our society.
This was reiterated in a Bloomberg article in January this year, which noted that according to research laid out in the book The Spirit Level, countries where people are more equal have "higher life expectancies, fewer homicides, lower infant mortality, higher levels of trust, and less obesity and addiction."This requires nothing less than a complete rethink about the nature and purpose of governance and government in this country. The entire state apparatus and the psyche of this money-mad country has to be re-oriented to have different priorities and place a higher estimation on the value of the individual citizen.
It is precisely because everyone does not have an equal place, because the State does not protect the poor against exploitation and because the wealthy run amok with a law and government of their own that we have this crime situation.If we cannot wrap our heads around that, then we will be having summits, and meetings for a very long time.
Evron Legall