It has been
more than sixteen years since I began writing for this
newspaper. One of the subjects I have written a lot
about is crime. I have repeatedly made suggestions
about why the crime is increasing and some of the things
we can do to reduce it. As I listen to the news each
day the crime still litters the landscape of our
national heritage. I have asked many times: “Can we
stop the crime?” and “Do we want to stop the crime?” I
have answered these questions over and over and perhaps
have become frustrated having seen little or no
results. I am wondering if I am showing symptoms of
writer’s fatigue. Am I saying the same thing over and
over just in different ways? Am I losing hope that the
lines in this column can truly impact lives? Perhaps it
is stupid of me to think that the suggestions in the
column over the years would have impacted national
policy or change the thinking of potential criminals.
The bright
side is that countless of individuals have personally
indicated to me how these articles have impacted their
marriage or personal life. Several couples told me over
the years that I have “saved their marriage.” Why am I
not getting the same results concerning crime? Perhaps
I answered this question almost fifteen years ago in a
poem I wrote entitled “Why Stop the
Crime? Here are a few lines from the poem:
“What profits would we gain by stopping the
crime when we have gained
so much from it all the time?
Why
think of pain, loneliness, and fear?
Why
think of the tragedy our children bear?
Why
think of life loss if life isn’t much?
Why
think of dysfunctional families if family isn’t
much?
Could it be that we were poisoned through
generation in time
By
the greed and lust of power hungry minds?
What is the antidote to the poison of passivity
and greed?
It
must be a mental metamorphosis to take the lead.
If
we continue to be poisoned by the greed for
power,
Our
nation will die and we would not even realize
it’s a goner;
Because a crime isn’t a crime to the unchanged
mind,
Unless there is a re-creation of our lives and
minds.
Then, and only then, will we find the power to
stop the crime.”
Read entire poem
CONDITIONING:
Although
the above lines speak to why it is difficult to reduce
crime, I have always believed that we can if we really
wanted to. However, I have recently been reminded about
something that happens to people who are overly exposed
to something. Crime has become so prevalent or common
place, we no longer think it is a problem. Or we have
become conditioned to accept the crime as “normal” and
have been frozen in a state of “do-nothingness.”
This
reminds me of an ugly creature that can withstand the
deadly liquid acid. It is the African naked mole rat.
This ugly creature is the longest living rodent—up to 28
years old.
Moreover,
none have ever been observed to get cancer. It is the
only known vertebrate that is not bothered by acid. Yes,
the deadly liquid does not affect the naked mole rat.
According to an article in the magazine “Science,” it
explains the molecular basis underlying this acid
insensitivity, and suggests that it might be an
adaptation to their oxygen-poor living conditions.
British
researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular
Medicine (MDC) Berlin, have found out why the African
naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), one of the
world's most unusual mammals, feels no pain when exposed
to acid. “African naked mole-rats live densely packed in
narrow dark burrows where ambient carbon dioxide (CO2)
levels are very high. In body tissues, CO2 is converted
into acid, which continuously activates pain sensors.
However, naked mole-rats are an exception: they have an
altered ion channel in their pain receptors that is
inactivated by acid and makes the animals insensitive to
this type of pain.”
THE ACID
OF CRIME:
What
immediately came to my mind when I read the article was
how we as a nation have become conditioned to tolerate
the “acid crime” and other evils in our society?
Violence of all kinds, rape, murder, are far too
rampant. Far too many people are breaking the traffic
laws and it’s okay. Many think that jumping stop lights
and overtaking at intersections is skillful and creative
but not criminal or evil. It is as though we have
become tolerant of crime.
SHOULD I CONTINUE TO WRITE?:
What then
should I do? Should I continue to write on the subject
of crime? Is it is realistic to believe that a tiny
article in this giant newspaper can make a difference in
a society conditioned to the acid of crime. Is it
realistic to believe that these articles can impact
national policy, the judicial system, or even the minds
of individuals thinking about doing evil? Dear
reader, I will still write. I will continue to write,
even when words escape me and writer’s fatigue threatens
me. I will continue to write. Using the words of the
current president of the United States of American,
Barak Obama, I will have the “audacity of hope.” I
will write because in spite of the pain and stupidity in
our society, some where, some time, the sun will shine
again. It will shine again because I have the audacity
to believe that although there is a dark cloud of crime
that the sun is still shining in the hearts of some
people out there. These are the people who can and will
make a difference. I believe in them. If these
articles of mine only inspire those special people to
keep on keeping on so that change will take place in our
lovely country, that alone will satisfy me. I will
continue to write.
