Higher crime - a price worth paying

[Shane Costello]

Originally posted by iain:
It also said that fans were such a great innovation because it meant that women could keep the worst of their bad breath away from other people - and in the 18th and 19th centuries wealthier people would tend to eat richer diets and so have worse teeth and breath.

I've read that poor dental health was a status symbol in the 16th and 17th century, since sugar was expensive and rotten teeth indicated you could afford to splash out on the white stuff. Terry Jones' recent documentary series on the middle ages looked at peasant's skulls. Their dentitition was suprisingly good.

Back on topic. IIRC murder rates in Victorain times were higher than they are now, substantially so in Ireland's case. I'll try and dig up some data.

 

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

I think the American version of that is "Premises protected by extreme poverty".

The night of June 1, I watched a documentary on Ike on A&E. It mentioned that in circa 1890s America (around the time when Ike was born) something like 85% or more of people were living a meager life style, what we may term by today's standards as living a life of perpetual poverty. I'm not sure what their source was for that; but if its true, then a society where the majority of a nations pop's standard of living is high, is a rather recent phenomena.

Perhaps it is only correlation though to say that, as a society on average becomes more affluent, property crime and theft increases. It would be difficult to prove a connection if crimes in the late 19th c and early 20th c were under-reported. It could make for an interesting thesis.

 

[UserGoogol]

Turing rocked. Although he was more of a mathematician than a scientist.

Turing Machines, Turing Tests, and cracking Nazi codes. Good stuff.

 

[Chanileslie]

My questions are: Is there really a correlation to more personal freedoms and higher crime? Or could a higher crime rate be the cause of an increase in populations size, which causes people to live more closely together, which in turn can cause increased friction? Or to increased inflation and decreased earning power where it is very difficult to support oneself and one's family on only one income? Or to more laws making more things illegal? Where has crime increased? In what areas?

Yes, if crime is linked to more personal freedoms then, yes, it is an exchange I am willing to make, but I am not sure that is a true correlation. Of course, I also don't know if it is false as well.

 

[iain]

My questions are: Is there really a correlation to more personal freedoms and higher crime? Or could a higher crime rate be the cause of an increase in populations size, which causes people to live more closely together, which in turn can cause increased friction? Or to increased inflation and decreased earning power where it is very difficult to support oneself and one's family on only one income? Or to more laws making more things illegal? Where has crime increased? In what areas?

That's the sort of question I like, as it should be reasonably easy to answer - a correlation between population density and crime levels would support the hypothesis, no correlation would not. I'll do some digging if I have the time.

 

[Jon_in_london]

It seems to me that the increase in crime is, as the right wing have always claimed, probably linked to this change in society to some extent. However, I differ from them in that I think it is a price worth paying. If I had the choice of living in modern society or living in 1950s Britain I would choose the higher (but not too high) crime of the modern world every time.

Are you suggesting that a rise the numbers and/or freedoms of fuzzy-wuzzys, bog-trotters and split-arses has lead to a rise in crime?

 

[iain]

Re: Re: Higher crime - a price worth paying

Are you suggesting that a rise the numbers and/or freedoms of fuzzy-wuzzys, bog-trotters and split-arses has lead to a rise in crime?

It's as if you read my mind