Something I noticed about crime and how it is affected by politics in a way

[CannonStreak]

Here is something I noticed:

I think the Republican party of the United States of America is indirectly supporting crime. Now, in regards to the NRA, the National Rifle Association, I am sure there is racism there. I have seen or heard people saying things like African Americans, or any race other than whites, should not own guns. Also, Republicans are people who are conservative, or do not want change; when there is need for police reform, since there have been bad things done by policemen, such as, and especially beating up or even killing African Americans. However, that is not all...

The Republicans have allowed things to remain the same, which prevents people, especially victims of crimes, to be found or saved. I remember this one case where a woman, when she was a child, was kidnapped by a couple, ***** a number of times and held prisoner for a long time, years. It was only when she was in her 20s when she was found, and by then, she and her mother sued the state government, or something along those line, because they had laws or allowed things that prevented the woman from being found and saved earlier. It is one thing for Republicans to disapprove of women's rights like taking away abortion, but to allow any woman to get kidnapped and ***** for so long? To me, it goes how sexist the Republicans may be. I know there are likely women out there who are still missing or are being tortured or *****, and by extension, kids of both genders who are just missing, being kidnapped and even possibly being abused; all as we speak. I am sure that if there was reform that changed things, many of those kids would have been found by now and saved. I am sure the Republicans have been preventing this.

One last thing; many of the criminals who commit crimes are people who cannot fully see or accept the reality of the world, or accepting that reality is the way it is, and cannot be changed, plus much more. I can tell you that many of the Republicans are just like that as well. Maybe not all, but many have shown that they can't see or accept reality and that they can't change or dispute it, no matter how hard they try. I also am sure they are hypocritical about crime and in some cases, may brace it more than prevent it from happening. As I said in one topic I made; when it was revealed that Donald J. Trump had help from Russia in winning the 2016 election, the Republicans did next to nothing about it. BUT when Joe Biden fairly won the election in 2020, the Republicans bought the lie that the election was stolen and accused Biden of cheating, when there was no evidence that he did, but there was evidence that Donald Trump cheated earlier. I would not be surprised if that is how they treat many other crimes as well; especially since the Republicans care about themselves, and care nothing for the people of the United States of America.

So, yeah, that is why I think the Republicans have been indirectly supporting crime.

What do you all think of all this?

EDIT: I should probably say that my focus was on the republicans because they are conservative, and thus want things to remain the same, and that could oppose changes needed to fight crime. That said, I am aware the democrats can indirectly support crime too, and they probably have. They are human, after all.

 

[StrangeKitten]

Republicans love to pretend they're tough on crime, but many of them will no doubt ignore the charges Trump has received or will receive in the future. They support gun rights too much in my opinion, as I think there are many middle-ground steps we could take to reduce mass shootings, such as stricter background checks and even making guns more like cars where you must pass tests to get them, that don't get implemented in large part because Republicans oppose them. They put up the facade of being against pedophilia, but then vote to keep child marriage legal in the states where it is, in addition to acting like queer people are groomers (the vast, vast majority are not) while not bringing that same energy to churches or some of their own, who are outed as pedophiles far more often than the very rare actually-bad queer person. They tend to defend unjust killings at the hands of police, with excuses such as the person "having a criminal history". But police are meant to be escorts forced upon criminals and suspected criminals, not judge, jury, and executioner. Not to mention, the person's crimes may not have earned them a death sentence. Either way, they were denied their rights to presumption of innocence and a trial by jury. You'd think the party of "small government" would be the most enraged by the government extra-judiciously killing people, yet they jump to the defense of the police in these cases for some baffling reason.

I'd like to clarify that my critique here is mainly of elected Republican officials and prominent figures in the party, and less so on the constituency. Though some of these do apply to a lot of the constituency as well.

 

[CannonStreak]

Republicans love to pretend they're tough on crime, but many of them will no doubt ignore the charges Trump has received or will receive in the future. They support gun rights too much in my opinion, as I think there are many middle-ground steps we could take to reduce mass shootings, such as stricter background checks and even making guns more like cars where you must pass tests to get them, that don't get implemented in large part because Republicans oppose them. They put up the facade of being against pedophilia, but then vote to keep child marriage legal in the states where it is, in addition to acting like queer people are groomers (the vast, vast majority are not) while not bringing that same energy to churches or some of their own, who are outed as pedophiles far more often than the very rare actually-bad queer person. They tend to defend unjust killings at the hands of police, with excuses such as the person "having a criminal history". But police are meant to be escorts forced upon criminals and suspected criminals, not judge, jury, and executioner. Not to mention, the person's crimes may not have earned them a death sentence. Either way, they were denied their rights to presumption of innocence and a trial by jury. You'd think the party of "small government" would be the most enraged by the government extra-judiciously killing people, yet they jump to the defense of the police in these cases for some baffling reason.

I'd like to clarify that my critique here is mainly of elected Republican officials and prominent figures in the party, and less so on the constituency. Though some of these do apply to a lot of the constituency as well.

I see and agree with what you said. Many republicans, especially and, to an extent, specifically (but certainly not limited to) the prominent ones and the elected ones, really are hypocrites, enough to the point of indirectly supporting crime. Like I said, it is not just the republicans who do this, but the republicans sure are good at making themselves stand out here.

By the way, by constituency, you mean the constitution?

 

[StrangeKitten]

I see and agree with what you said. Many republicans, especially and, to an extent, specifically (but certainly not limited to) the prominent ones and the elected ones, really are hypocrites, enough to the point of indirectly supporting crime. Like I said, it is not just the republicans who do this, but the republicans sure are good at making themselves stand out here.

By the way, by constituency, you mean the constitution?

Constituency
noun
noun: constituency; plural noun: constituencies

1. a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body.
   "the politician who wishes to remain in the good graces of his constituency"

Basically, the voter base. The average Joes who aren't lawmakers or prominent figures in the party, but vote for that party. They are not to blame for the faults of the party as much, because they are likely unaware of some or all of the glaring issues. At least, a lot of them are.

 

[CannonStreak]

Constituency
noun
noun: constituency; plural noun: constituencies

1. a body of voters in a specified area who elect a representative to a legislative body.
   "the politician who wishes to remain in the good graces of his constituency"

Basically, the voter base. The average Joes who aren't lawmakers or prominent figures in the party, but vote for that party. They are not to blame for the faults of the party as much, because they are likely unaware of some or all of the glaring issues. At least, a lot of them are.

Oh, I see. Sorry for the late reply, though. Still, I am not sure how much of a crime the following is, but scams and ripping off people, I think the republicans indirectly support that too. Now, I can't say they are fully to blame, since most politicians, even those who are democrats, do seem to support capitalism and all, and maybe some other things. I am just not sure how much can be attributed to the democrats, even though I am sure any of it can be attributed to them.

Still, it is annoying how little is done about these scammers and people ripping off others, as well as those on the phone who call people at the wrong times, like telemarketers. I am not sure on the whole story behind this, but yeah, there are companies who scam overall, and these kinds of things probably should not be happening. Whatever politicians are letting these kinds of things happen, there are businesses who scam, people who scam, etc., and I think this needs to be dealt with.

Let me know if I am missing anything if you wan to, okay?

 

[StrangeKitten]

Oh, I see. Sorry for the late reply, though. Still, I am not sure how much of a crime the following is, but scams and ripping off people, I think the republicans indirectly support that too. Now, I can't say they are fully to blame, since most politicians, even those who are democrats, do seem to support capitalism and all, and maybe some other things. I am just not sure how much can be attributed to the democrats, even though I am sure any of it can be attributed to them.

Still, it is annoying how little is done about these scammers and people ripping off others, as well as those on the phone who call people at the wrong times, like telemarketers. I am not sure on the whole story behind this, but yeah, there are companies who scam overall, and these kinds of things probably should not be happening. Whatever politicians are letting these kinds of things happen, there are businesses who scam, people who scam, etc., and I think this needs to be dealt with.

Let me know if I am missing anything if you wan to, okay?

Completely agree, and it's something I hear neither Republicans nor Democrats talk about. I've received countless exploitative calls and texts from scammers. Some saying my package couldn't be delivered because I didn't pay a service fee, some saying my Netflix subscription will run out if I don't click this link to renew... But the most insidious, some that claim my Medi-Cal benefits will be cut off! It got to the point that I once got pretty heated with a legit Medi-Cal worker over the phone, because they happened to be contacting me at the same time scammers were, and they worded stuff in a weird, sussy way. The Medi-Cal thing deeply disgusts me, because a lot of people on benefits are elderly. I've heard there are far stricter laws in place to prevent this sort of thing in other countries, which is sad. And now I'm also thinking about the abundance of predatory loans here in the US. It's completely baffling, because sure, Democrats and Republicans are capitalists, but this ain't capitalism. This is ripping off and stealing from American citizens. Our elected officials need to be doing so, so much more to put a stop to it.

 

[CannonStreak]

Completely agree, and it's something I hear neither Republicans nor Democrats talk about. I've received countless exploitative calls and texts from scammers. Some saying my package couldn't be delivered because I didn't pay a service fee, some saying my Netflix subscription will run out if I don't click this link to renew... But the most insidious, some that claim my Medi-Cal benefits will be cut off! It got to the point that I once got pretty heated with a legit Medi-Cal worker over the phone, because they happened to be contacting me at the same time scammers were, and they worded stuff in a weird, sussy way. The Medi-Cal thing deeply disgusts me, because a lot of people on benefits are elderly. I've heard there are far stricter laws in place to prevent this sort of thing in other countries, which is sad. And now I'm also thinking about the abundance of predatory loans here in the US. It's completely baffling, because sure, Democrats and Republicans are capitalists, but this ain't capitalism. This is ripping off and stealing from American citizens. Our elected officials need to be doing so, so much more to put a stop to it.

Agreed. Personally, I am tired of these scams in the form of phone calls and emails I get often. Even if this were capitalism, even capitalism itself would need some serious regulation.

 

[Nah]

US politicians in general have an interest in allowing crime to happen. The US has about a quarter of the world's prison population, despite the population of the US not being anywhere near a quarter of the total global population (even if it is the 3rd most populous country in the world). China and India, which both have roughly 4-4.5 times the population of the US, have a smaller prison population than the US. Prison and the related systems in the US aren't focused on rehabilitation/reintegration, and the recidivism rate is relatively high.

And there are reasons for that. All but two states (Maine and New Hampshire iirc) have laws that restrict the ability to vote of those convicted of crimes, ranging from making it inconvenient to vote while serving a prison sentence all the way up to "if you are a convicted felon, you can literally never vote again in your life". Prison inmates are often used as a source of basically free labor, and this is allowed by the Constitution itself. The 13th amendment, the one that officially outlawed slavery, left an exception, as it reads "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". If you are a prisoner, it is legal for you to be used as slave, and the ruling class in the US loves slave labor, so that alone gives major incentive to keep the prison population high. Having a criminal record also tends to make it more difficult to get a job, as a lot of employers will quickly stop considering an applicant once they see they have just about any sort of criminal record.

The American people are often told the lie that "police prevent crime" and thus more police and ever-increasing police funding is necessary (for a country that is already one of the biggest spenders when it comes to PD budgets, a total of roughly $130 billion per year iirc). But the institution of the police is inherently poor at preventing crime. Think about it this way: when do you usually call 911? It's when you see a crime already in progress. The cops respond to crime, not prevent it. Even in those cases where they do "stop" a crime (like say receiving a report of threat and intercepting it), it is still too late to say that a crime was really prevented. The way you truly prevent crime is by not giving people reason to consider committing a crime in the first place, as well as not criminalizing things that shouldn't be criminalized in the first place (a lot of our prison population is people who committed non-violent drug offenses). The US never tries to pursue the things that would actually fix its problems and instead either does nothing or comes up with inane solutions like "arm all the teachers". But the system--for politicians and their wealthy backers anyway--isn't broken, it's working as intended.....which is exactly why it needs to be destroyed.

The GOP is pretty open and unsubtle about its lust for oppression, but the Democrats have always played their role in things as well. They often publicly make statements in support of rights and progress, but then quietly behind the scenes fail to act, vote with the GOP, do the opposite of what they said in public, etc. One recent example being how Biden says that "LGBTQ rights are human rights", but then compromises with transphobes in regard to trans participation in sports (and any sort of "compromise" with bigots is always a loss). I can come up with several more examples of this sort of thing. Biden himself has said that he does not want to defund the police, and he was a major sponsor or contributor or whatever exactly it was to the 1994 crime bill that, along with the "War on Drugs" started by the Nixon and Regan administrations, drove the mass incarceration of the past 50 years.

The only two political parties we have here are a genocidal fascist party, and a party that has long enabled said genocidal fascists.

 

[CannonStreak]

US politicians in general have an interest in allowing crime to happen. The US has about a quarter of the world's prison population, despite the population of the US not being anywhere near a quarter of the total global population (even if it is the 3rd most populous country in the world). China and India, which both have roughly 4-4.5 times the population of the US, have a smaller prison population than the US. Prison and the related systems in the US aren't focused on rehabilitation/reintegration, and the recidivism rate is relatively high.

And there are reasons for that. All but two states (Maine and New Hampshire iirc) have laws that restrict the ability to vote of those convicted of crimes, ranging from making it inconvenient to vote while serving a prison sentence all the way up to "if you are a convicted felon, you can literally never vote again in your life". Prison inmates are often used as a source of basically free labor, and this is allowed by the Constitution itself. The 13th amendment, the one that officially outlawed slavery, left an exception, as it reads "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". If you are a prisoner, it is legal for you to be used as slave, and the ruling class in the US loves slave labor, so that alone gives major incentive to keep the prison population high. Having a criminal record also tends to make it more difficult to get a job, as a lot of employers will quickly stop considering an applicant once they see they have just about any sort of criminal record.

The American people are often told the lie that "police prevent crime" and thus more police and ever-increasing police funding is necessary (for a country that is already one of the biggest spenders when it comes to PD budgets, a total of roughly $130 billion per year iirc). But the institution of the police is inherently poor at preventing crime. Think about it this way: when do you usually call 911? It's when you see a crime already in progress. The cops respond to crime, not prevent it. Even in those cases where they do "stop" a crime (like say receiving a report of threat and intercepting it), it is still too late to say that a crime was really prevented. The way you truly prevent crime is by not giving people reason to consider committing a crime in the first place, as well as not criminalizing things that shouldn't be criminalized in the first place (a lot of our prison population is people who committed non-violent drug offenses). The US never tries to pursue the things that would actually fix its problems and instead either does nothing or comes up with inane solutions like "arm all the teachers". But the system--for politicians and their wealthy backers anyway--isn't broken, it's working as intended.....which is exactly why it needs to be destroyed.

The GOP is pretty open and unsubtle about its lust for oppression, but the Democrats have always played their role in things as well. They often publicly make statements in support of rights and progress, but then quietly behind the scenes fail to act, vote with the GOP, do the opposite of what they said in public, etc. One recent example being how Biden says that "LGBTQ rights are human rights", but then compromises with transphobes in regard to trans participation in sports (and any sort of "compromise" with bigots is always a loss). I can come up with several more examples of this sort of thing. Biden himself has said that he does not want to defund the police, and he was a major sponsor or contributor or whatever exactly it was to the 1994 crime bill that, along with the "War on Drugs" started by the Nixon and Regan administrations, drove the mass incarceration of the past 50 years.

The only two political parties we have here are a genocidal fascist party, and a party that has long enabled said genocidal fascists.

I did mention the democrats can be involved in indirectly supporting crime as well.

Still, my focus was on conservatism, but I did not rule out any roles from the democrats. Regardless, it was nice to see the how’s as to how democrats may be involved as you mentioned.

Thank you for explaining it to me.

 

[StrangeKitten]

The only two political parties we have here are a genocidal fascist party, and a party that has long enabled said genocidal fascists.

And I completely agree! I'm much harsher on Republicans because they are the greater evil, but Democrats have their own litany of issues as well. I think a big problem in this regard is that, through voting, but also through gerrymandering and the Electoral College, Republicans end up having tons of power. That means that, when Democrats are in charge, they're cleaning up a lot of the mess left by Republicans, and there are still enough Republicans left in power to block the more progressive things Democrats want to do. So, progress on fixing the faults in the Democratic party moves at a snail's pace. There's also been the issue of Democratic politicians not retiring when the time is opportune to do so, and then they die at a bad time and get replaced by a Republican pick. The fact that it's such a crappy system in which the popular vote can be ignored to such a huge extent (Trump lost the popular vote but still got the presidency and three Supreme Court picks) is likely the biggest reason why we have such severe problems.