Equitist wrote on Feb 13
th, 2011 at 5:06pm:
iconoclast wrote on Feb 13
th, 2011 at 5:02pm:
Equitist wrote on Feb 13
th, 2011 at 4:19pm:
Correlation is not causation as you are obviously asserting.
But given a major motivation for crime in the past was a justifiable
need to survive then as the survival issue has receded, why haven't we seen drops in crime rates across several decades?
Well, actually we have seen drops in a range of crime rates - apparently you're relying upon the wrong stats...along with your false assumptions...
Perhaps you've just been watching too much TV!?
PS I've gotta log off for now - but I shall pop back later.
So crime has dropped? Not if we look at gross indicators e.g.
Between 1995 and 2007 sexual assault went from 1000/month to about 1600/month. See here
http://www.aic.gov.au/en/statistics/violent%20crime/sexual%20assault.aspx
Crimes involvlng violence went from 600/100,000 to over 800/100,000 in the same time span. http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/violent%20crime.aspx
Homicide stats have fallen very slightly however this may reflect gains in medical trauma management. See here
http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide.aspx
Drug offences look flat. http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/drug/offences.aspx
While it is always possible to show whatever you want in stats by looking at subpopulations and regions, gross indicators are hard to explain away.
Also what I find disappointing about responses so far is that they drift from the debate and the issues and instead debate ME as a person or what my motives are.
If you are unable to disengage from playing the person instead of debating the issues then there is no hope for rational discussion which I suspect is the very reason that politics is such an ineffective, flawed and hopeless way of running anything.
What would it matter if I was a schoolkid, uni student, retiree, nazi or homicidal maniac. Issues are issues.
If you follow your line of reasoning then democracy comes crashing down because the person raising an issue is somehow not as "valid" or legitimate as someone else.