The cycle of crime

Blame Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Blame the Government for lack of initiative.

Blame the Opposition for having the formula and not sharing it.

Blame National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and even MP Fitzgerald Hinds for just posing. Blame Hugo Chavez.

Blame Nicolas Maduro. Blame Donald Trump. And when you run out of people to blame, just blame God.

Crime is as old as mankind.

An important trait of the creation is its ability to self-destruct be it the destruction of human beings, trees, animals, the air, the water and even the land forms. However, our part in the annihilation is limited to only changing the form of matter.

In the past the world had agreed to commit crimes against humanity: the slave trade, World Wars One and the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, ethnic cleansing, Catholics against Protestants, Muslims against Hindus.

Other crimes against the planet: air and water pollution, hunting the animals, destruction of the forests, desecration of the seas, and even mining and quarrying.

On a more individual note: food producers dumping commodities to maintain high prices, doctors deliberately mistreating their patients until they can pay no more, lawyers representing the guilty for exorbitant fees, and the list goes on and on.

Everyone is born with constructive and destructive tendencies.

We have criminality embedded in our DNA, hence our ability to commit the atrocities above and keep a straight face with no remorse.

Despite all that’s happening, indoctrination and the education system are purposeful in maintaining the status quo. Is this a silent agreement of the trend? If no, what were the adjustments made in the society to cure the ills? We have agreed to blame each other, collect symptoms and engineer superficial solutions for an age-old problem.

A civil society will make every effort to discover what the individual has in his or her constitution and provide an environment that allows the venting of positive tendencies.

Failing to do this the society will have to build a hierarchical system of punishments to treat with offenders and satisfy the cravings of the offended for vengeance.

This is what modern-day societies call a judicial system. It is based on catching the culprits and proving that they are guilty of wrong-doing.

The glaring faults of such a system are that an eyewitness is needed; guilt may or may not be established based on the competence of the attorney; the punishment may or may not equal the crime; the innocent can be mistakenly punished and the guilty can get off scot-free; not all offenders are caught and justice appears to be vengeance by a third party.

The limited definition of crime allows high economic status to elevate some above the law. In this type of society there is a high demand for selective corporal punishment, security forces, protective services, institutions for incarceration, firing squads, and even hangmen.

We are then caught in the tangle of helping, protecting, correcting, nurturing and destroying, which give crime a foothold in the universe that even prayer cannot eradicate.

LENNOX FRANCIS via email