Does poverty cause crime?

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp


Really? Well you remind me of a racist. Deal with it.

I'd still like to know why you think your position is morally superior when you have no evidence to back it up, just as I (in your opinion) have no evidence to back up mine.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I fail to see why I require corroborative evidence to treat people as anything other than individuals- to be praised or damned according to their own individual actions.

[Japher]

Why is crime ussually committed? Desperation? Ignorance? Stupidity?

I'd say desperation and ignorance. When a rich person is faced with a problem they can ussually just throw money at it to make it go away. However, poor people do not have this option. When something is wrong in their life and they need money or a place to hide a body they will most likely get desperate and steal and pick a bad place to hide the body.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
I fail to see why I require corroborative evidence to treat people as anything other than individuals- to be praised or damned according to their own individual actions.

That's not the issue. I also treat people as individuals. We are talking about groups, not individuals. You assert that the difference in crime rates between these groups is almost nothing, and despite having no evidence for this you treat those with a different opinion as moral inferiors. Why?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Balls, again. Desperately looking for pseudo-science to provide a threadbare justification for prejudice is not scientific rationalism. Or treating people as individuals.

A group is, after all, just individuals plurally.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Japher
Why is crime ussually committed? Desperation? Ignorance? Stupidity?

I'd say desperation and ignorance. When a rich person is faced with a problem they can ussually just throw money at it to make it go away. However, poor people do not have this option. When something is wrong in their life and they need money or a place to hide a body they will most likely get desperate and steal and pick a bad place to hide the body.

Yup, the vast majority of crime is out of desperation... NOT.

For one thing, rich people commit PLENTY of crimes.

For another, crime happens for one, fundamental reason: people think the reward is worth the chance of getting caught, and they don't feel a moral compulsion not to commit the crime.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Balls, again. Desperately looking for pseudo-science to provide a threadbare justification for prejudice is not scientific rationalism. Or treating people as individuals.

A group is, after all, just individuals plurally.

You're being an idiot.

1. Many people discriminate based on it. Thus, people of a different race will be subjected to different influences based on their race.

2. Those influences change who they are.

No one is claiming that certain races are inherently inferior, they're claiming that certain races, due to culture, average socioeconomic status, etc. perform various crimes in different proportions.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
Balls, again. Desperately looking for pseudo-science to provide a threadbare justification for prejudice is not scientific rationalism. Or treating people as individuals.

A group is, after all, just individuals plurally.

You're ducking and weaving like a champion Laz. Whatever I may think about groups does not stop me from treating others as individuals. Whatever my reason for thinking these groups are different with regard to crime, at the worst I have no less justification than you for my opinion. Yet you treat me as a moral inferior. Why?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
I fail to see why I require corroborative evidence to treat people as anything other than individuals- to be praised or damned according to their own individual actions.

stupid...

Because there are about 300 million individuals in the US, and about eight or nine orders of magnitude fewer groups?

[Ramo]

I think that the poor (particularly where there are large wealth disparities and population densities, i.e. urban areas) are more likely to committ crime, though the statistics are misrepresentative simply because there are far, far more police in poor areas, and its harder to police and prosecute white collar crime.

[Kuciwalker]

The statistics are skewed, but they are probably right in general - the reason they have more police in poor areas is generally because of a higher crime rate.

[SlowwHand]

In Victorian England, the common belief was that by definition, the poverty-ridden class were criminal, and the misdeeds perpetrated by them were crimes.

The wealthy were only breaking the law.
Two wholly separate issues.

Then there's Australia. England sent their lawless citizen's on a "transportation" to Australia.

That's why I laugh at The Horse.
America's historical background is based on religion.
Australian's all know full well that their heredity is steeped in deceit and dishonor.

[Ramo]

The statistics are skewed, but they are probably right in general - the reason they have more police in poor areas is generally because of a higher crime rate.

Not really. If police were in proportion to crime, there would be far more drug convictions in suburban areas, for instance.

No one is claiming that certain races are inherently inferior, they're claiming that certain races, due to culture, average socioeconomic status, etc. perform various crimes in different proportions.

Cali is (though he'd rationalize it by saying that propensity to committ crime isn't a mark of inferiority, black people are good at sports and music), unless he has changed his mind recently.

[Kuciwalker]

IIRC, he didn't make a statement about each individual, he made a TRUE statistical statement about a group. I see nothing saying that they are inherently inferior in that.

(yes, I am too lazy to reread the previous page )

[Ramo]

It's a bad idea to call people stupid if you don't know what you're talking about.