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Violence, Crime & Corruption in America: Indicators of the Failure of Leadership
By Joseph J. Adamson, Posted by Ruth
For OpEdNews: Posted by Ruth - Writer
When I graduated from high school in 1959, America was different than it is now. At that time prosperity was more widespread and the middle class was larger. Minimum wage workers were paid a living wage, and they could even save some money, get an affordable education, and improve their lot with hard work. And that was largely because the New Deal that President Roosevelt had instituted in the 1930s had gradually improved the lives of the majority of Americans.
Unfortunately, many things happened during the last five decades that brought about the gradual but steady decline in the well being of most Americans. That was caused by the gradual but steady increase in corruption, inequity, crime and violence, which are clear indicators of the failure of leadership.
In my view, it was in the 1960s that America's decline really began, even though the signs of it did not become newsworthy to the media until the decades of the 1990s and 2000s when the consequences of political and corporate corruption became unescapable.
Ironically, it was moderate Republican President Eisenhower during his farewell address in 1961 who tried to warn Americans about it. In fact, he issued a crucial warning against the acquisition of too much power by the U.S. Military Industrial Complex. But, too many Americans ignored that warning and forgot how easily power corrupts. And, even worse, too many Americans also ignored and forgot the universal divine imperative (which happens to also be the golden rule).
Consequently, the abuse of power and wealth by corporate industrial forces grew, along with the abuse of power by political leadership. Noteworthy early examples of that were in Selma in 1965 against the Civil Rights Movement, in Chicago in 1968 against the Anti-War Movement, in Berkeley in 1969 against the Free Speech Movement, and at Kent State in 1970 against the Anti-War Movement, because those with power and authority resorted to violent and even lethal suppression of protesters to "keep law and order," rather than listen to the people, face the truth, redress grievances, and make amends.
Unfortunately, many Americans do not understand that yet.
Many Americans misunderstand history because they've been misled and even deceived by certain political and religious leaders, some of whom may have thought they were doing the right thing, but most of whom were and are actually greedy and corrupt, but masquerade as good.
That us why many misguided Americans still believe that the true American spirit was "reborn" in 1981 when a very charming man rose to the power of the presidency as a so-called "conquering hero." They do not yet realize that he was a demagogue, and they ignore that when he was Governor of California he reacted violently against the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley in 1969, contributing to the wave of confrontational violence that swept across the U.S. and deeply polarized and divided Americans.
That demagogue gained presidential power in 1981 with the support of those who understood that waving the flag, thumping the bible and rattling a sword can stir up zealous emotions and pride. Unfortunately, it's the kind of pride that is distorted and perverted by bigotry and prejudice. For if you make people feel superior, whether for nationalistic or religious or racial reasons, you can easily get them to jump on your bandwagon and march to the same drum, cheering.
Thus the fact is that in 1981 the true American spirit was ignored, and America began its slide down a very slippery slope which would result in the inevitable consequences of self-interest, greed, corruption, bigotry, avarice, mendacity, and military-corporate-industrial imperialism.
That is why America is now in turmoil, conflict and tribulation, and that is why I have become increasingly ashamed of it during the last several decades.
That is why I now submit that it's high time that the network media journalists start doing their job properly, to educate the public and keep all politicians honest, because the media has failed to do that. Instead, they've actually enabled bad leadership, and thus many Americans have been misled and deceived by that bad leadership.
In fact, bad leadership has caused the trouble that plagues us. Bad leadership has divided us. Bad leadership has served the interests of the wealthiest few at the expense of the majority and to the detriment of about 60 million poor Americanswho have insufficient incomes. (And that, by the way, includes the working poor, because 78 percent of the poor work full time and yet still can't afford all the basic necessities of life. See the page on Poverty: America's Hidden Shame.)
Another one of the consequences of bad leadership is that America now leads the world in both the number and percentage of its citizens in prison, and America has one of the highest rates of violence in the world. And I'm not talking about the kind of violence we see in certain other countries where it is caused by war or by large organized militias or groups using deadly weapons against people of other ethnicities, races or religions.
No, I'm talking about violence that has been growing in America for a long time, especially since the early 1960s and increasingly in the last 10 years, which has now become as insane as it was in the 1960s.
"There's battle lines being drawn. Nobody's right if everybody's wrong. Young people speaking their minds, Getting so much resistance from behind. I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down." Stephen Stills in 1967
Once again battle lines have been drawn, not only by gangs fighting neighborhood turf wars, but by partisan gangs fighting political turf wars, by bigger "gangs" fighting for world power, and by all sorts of other people fighting for power over others. It has had a horrible impact in America, not only on growing numbers of individuals, but on targeted groups, and occasionally even on indiscriminate groups of people.
We have to realize why there is so much violence, because it has gotten so bad that American school girls are beating each other up, and their friends are video taping it and putting it on the Internet as entertainment!
Of course, one of the worst things in the U.S.A. is that we have ugly gangsters and thugs fighting and killing each other in neighborhood turf wars. Gangs intimidate, bully and assault people to gain power and establish their turf, and then fight other gangs to maintain it. They even resort to cowardly "drive-by" shootings to kill rival gang members, and often kill innocent people inadvertently. It's like the "collateral damage" caused by government-sanctioned killing, and it's insanity, usually triggered by greedy, power-hungry, malicious human beings who have been completely corrupted and deluded by the "gang mentality."
That's why we should understand the gang mentality, and realize how and why it creates and perpetuates a sense of belonging, superiority and power in its members. And we should understand that the neighborhood and regional gang mentality is merely a microcosm of the larger and more widespread gang mentality. It's what creates nationalism, racism, and religious bigotry. It drives national partisan political parties and partisan religious sects, as well as terrorist groups and rogue military regimes. Their members are led to believe they belong to a superior group, and they are led to believe that they must fight and defeat other groups that are judged wrong. Some are even led to believe they must fight and even kill in order to destroy or gain and/or maintain power over others.
The gang mentality is also demonstrated by right-wing extremist "Christian Identity" groups, as the FBI calls them. Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 killing hundreds of men, women and children, belonged to one such group. Others have bombed medical clinics and killed doctors and medical staff, and sadly that continues. It has happened even recently due to all the hate speech by proud, militant right-wing extremists who masquerade as patriotic Christians.
But, much intimidation and violence is not caused by organized malicious groups. Bullies of all sorts use violence or the threat of violence to instill fear and compliance in their victims, erroneously thinking that they command and deserve respect. Unfortunately, they are incredibly stupid, because they do not realize that they have set in motion powerful forces that will ultimately bring about their downfall, one way or another, sooner or later.
In America we also have increasing incidents of violence due to "road rage," increasing incidents of domestic violence, and increasing incidents of rape. We have parents fist-fighting at their children's sports events. We have professional athletes fist-fighting in sports arenas, providing horrible examples to our children and youth. There has been an increase in interest in so-called "professional wrestling," "ultimate fighting," and even in dog fighting and co*k fighting, all of which are disgusting and appeal to the worst in people. And those are just some of the indicators of what I'm talking about.
Why the powerful urges to fight? Because we all feel it sometimes, and it's no wonder. We know we have the right and reasons to be angry. But some people just don't know how to channel it, or deal with it in constructive, creative ways. They act out in malicious, destructive ways.
Don't get me wrong. There is far more good in the nation and in the world than bad, and there are far more good people than bad. My writings emphasize that fact because we should always keep that in mind. However, the bad is increasing and getting worse, and it wasn't always this way. I think it reached this point gradually, and the violence has evolved.
In my view, the pivotal point that triggered the increase in violence in America was instigated by racists in 1965, just as it was in 1861 to start the Civil War. The atrocities in Selma, Alabama in 1965 began a wave of violent confrontation by those with power and authority, first against those who protested against racism, and then against those who protested against unjust war, inequity, inequality, and corruption. In 1969 the Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, reacted intolerantly and with brutal violent force to the student Free Speech Movement in Berkeley at the University of California. In doing that Reagan exacerbated the violent right-wing reactionary confrontations that swept across America in the 1960s to try to suppress dissent and protest. (See the pages on Little Known American History, and Reagan's Legacy.)
As Governor of California Reagan also started the trend of turning mental patients in state institutions out on the street to save money, and that trend caught on with many right-wing politicians across the country. Consequently, most state government policies now dictate that no matter how mentally ill patients are, as long as they can somehow be deemed "no harm to themselves or to society" they can no longer be cared for in a public hospital or state institution. That's because Reaganites have claimed we "can't afford" to care for them, and they've been able to get away with it. That's why we see so many mentally ill people on the street, homeless. That's also why we have seen the increasing criminalization of the mentally ill, because many communities find that throwing them in jail is the easiest way to get them off the street.
I bring that up because in the long run, the Reaganite folly has been even more costly to us in many ways, not only because of the impact of the mentally ill who become violent, but also because of the cost of arresting and incarcerating the mentally ill who cause public disturbance or become a nuisance. In the final analysis, it would be better for society and the mentally ill if we cared for them as we should, in proper facilities staffed by qualified professionals.
You see, most people deny or forget or don't know that Reagan had a mean streak, and that is also evident in the "anti-crime" initiatives he pushed as president, because his ideological world view about crime politicized criminal law issues. The result was unforgiving legislation known as the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, which ushered in both procedural and substantive laws that are terribly unfair and continue to haunt the administration of federal criminal justice. It severely restricts the discretion of judges, and results in terribly unfair prescribed minimum sentences, which creates more crime perpetrated by those wronged and treated unfairly by the criminal justice system.
Over the last 30 years since Reaganism began impacting our society, there has been an erosion of affirmative action; a drastic reduction in affordable housing programs; racial profiling; disproportionate targeting and unfair treatment by police; racially skewed charging and plea bargaining decisions of prosecutors; discriminatory sentencing practices; and terrible failure of judges, elected officials and other criminal justice policy-makers to redress the inequities.
As I stated in my second book, this situation has grown steadily worse ever since the policies initiated by then-president Richard Nixon began targeting black people, and particularly since then-president Ronald Reagan rendered the Civil Rights Commission impotent and ineffective, and virtually opened the doors wide open for institutionalized racism once again. And, not coincidentally, one of the terrible consequence of Nixon's and Reagan's folly was the rise of the African-American and Hispanic-American street gang culture in America.
The impact of Reaganite folly has increasingly impacted our people. In fact, according to a recent study by the non-partisan PewResearchCenter, more than one out of every hundred adults in the United States is now in jail or prison. That is an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more. And, with more than 2.3 million people behind bars (most of whom are black or hispanic), the U.S. leads the world in both the number and percentage of its citizens in prison, far more than China, which is a distant second, and far more than Russia.
The growth in the prison population is largely because of tougher state and federal sentencing imposed since the mid-1980s by Reagan's policies and his Comprehensive Crime Control Act. Minorities have been particularly affected, since one out of every nine black men ages 20 to 34 is behind bars, and rates for Latinos is nearly as high. Many of them, along with many white people are locked up for mandatory minimum sentences for victimless crimes, to the point where there is a lot of overcrowding in prisons. And it's very costly, because over the past two decades, state spending on corrections (adjusted for inflation) increased 127 percent, as compared to spending on higher education which rose only 21 percent.
All these things are clear indicators of how counterproductive Reaganite "law and order" policies have been with regard to the criminal justice system. But, the rising crimes and incarceration rates are caused also by Reaganism-turned-Bushism with regard to its terrible lack of social and economic justice, its built-in inequity, and its redistribution of wealth to those who were already wealthy, at the expense of all the rest of us.
That's because, as president, Reagan also increased the trend of cutting taxes for the wealthy, claiming there would be a "trickle-down" effect that would ultimately benefit all citizens. He also started the Reaganite (and later Bushite) trend of trying to whittle down and destroy President Roosevelt's New Deal programs (like Social Security and Medicare), and all other social and human services programs, claiming that people should be "self-reliant" and "not depend on government." But that is misleading deception, and it is really a cunning way of ignoring the advice of the Christ Jesus, who said we should care for the poor, the disadvantaged, and the least of our brethren.
Since then, Reaganites and Bushites have not only continued to cut taxes for the wealthiest one percent (the wealthiest three million Americans), falsely claiming that it will ultimately benefit everyone. They've also continued to cut funding and decrease investment in human services and proven prevention and intervention programs.
That is relevant, because it has proved disastrous on many different levels, not only with increases in poverty, hunger and homelessness, but with increases in crime and violence.
Reaganites and Bushites have been blind to the utter foolishness of their policies, and to the fact that their policies during the last three decades have caused most of the problems that we have today. They don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, and yet they create greater need for greater revenue to pay for greater police forces and larger prisons and greater military forces, all of which are the most costly to our government and to the average American taxpayers who must bear the burden.