Why Crime May Rise

When people lose everything, and the survival of themselves and family are at risk, they may be tempted to do some bad things. Millions of people have lost their jobs. Many have either lost, or are losing their homes. Food is now, or has been, becoming an issue. With less and less people to turn to for help, there is a perfect storm brewing from which one can conclude that crime may rise.

Hope

Is it possible to have a strong and lasting economic recovery without jobs? No. Anytime you hear about a jobless recovery, consider that you are being sold a bag of goods to provide hope with no real action being taken. When people have an income, they buy the goods and services they need or want. They buy them from small and large businesses who are in the market to solve problems and earn finances. With household income from jobs and businesses, saving and investing are possible.

When a large number of people don’t have jobs, you have a reduction in the number of people purchasing goods and services. With less spending, small and large businesses begin to close for good. Rather than savings and investing, survival is all that matters.

The current economic recovery is being artificially “propped up” by people with money buying investments, property and businesses at a steep discount. Governments providing bailouts to businesses are artificially inflating their balance sheets, which makes them seem stronger than they are. All of this provides a false sense of things turning around. It fuels hope.

Why is hope so important? When people have hope, they are willing to hold on to their morals and values a little longer. They are willing to forego the criminal choice and continue to seek assistance in more acceptable ways. Hope holds things together when you have nothing left. So what happens when people stop believing the media and let go of hope?

Justification

When all hope is lost, some people get creative and find new ways of earning money. They have nothing left to lose so they go for it. However, others choose crime when they have nothing less to lose. Their crimes become justified in their minds, because their cause is survival of themselves and their families. They become willing to steal from you, because you have more food, more clothes, more money and means to survive. They don’t.

They belay their guilt for committing a crime by thinking of the noble deed they are doing by putting food in front of their children by any means necessary. People always find a way to justify what they have to or want to do. Once the behavior is justified, it becomes easier and easier to do it.

Escalation

As things continue to get worse, the crimes will continue to get worse. If it’s easy to steal $10, some will think that it’s just as easy to steal $100, $1,000, jewelry, a car or anything of value that can be sold or bartered. The crimes escalate in value, frequency and even in violence the more they are committed.

The crimes reach a point where they are no longer being committed to put food on the table. They are now being committed because it provides a sense of control over one’s circumstances. Committing crimes provides the false sense of stability that having a job or business once did. It provides a means by which you can generate money and subside the feeling of helplessness.

It’s Time to Prepare

1. Continue to help your family and friends the best way you can without endangering you and your families ability to care for yourselves.
2. Help people to network so that the few jobs that are out there can fall into the hands of those that you love.
3. Accumulate lists of community groups that can assist. Soup kitchens, shelters, clothing donations and other such services can help people get through this rough spot.
4. Save & start a home-based business. In the event your position is eliminated, you’ll have something to fall back on.
5. Learn how to defend and protect yourself. While some will say that they own a gun or other such weapon, those can be taken and used against you. No one can take your self defense skills from you.
6. Be a little more observant, but not paranoid. If you sense that something is wrong, then take steps to ensure your safety. Observation can bail you out of situations before you find yourself in them. Paranoia makes every situation appear as if it were a dangerous situation, and that can impair your ability to discern true trouble from fear-based illusion.
7. Remember that nothing you own is worth your life or the life of your loved ones. You can replace anything material that has been taken from you.
8. Keep those who are in need in your thoughts, meditations and prayers. They need them now more than ever before.