Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty

[Elijah John]

For debate:

Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty. (or both) Please illustrate your answers. (not literally )

[koko]

Our Founding Fathers answered that question a long time ago. They said that a society that is filled with crime, anarchy, and disorder is one in which there is no justice. They gleaned this from the writings of Erasmus of Rotterdam, from Cicero, and from the Bible which teaches, "no justice, no peace" ~ Isaiah 59:8. They believed in this idea so strongly that they were willing to die for it.

[Difflugia]

Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty. (or both) Please illustrate your answers. (not literally )

Even if there's a correlation, I'm not sure there's a causal relationship. Using George Floyd's murder as an example, I don't think police officers are overpaid, but I'm pretty sure that they get more than a subsistence wage and working officers in general are well above any reasonable definition of poverty. I really don't think the crime was economically motivated at all.

[Elijah John]

Is a company whose stores (like Target, Wendy's or Auto Zone) have been utterly destroyed by arsonists and looters likely to want to rebuild, and re-invest in those communities that have allowed destruction by such thugs and criminals?

How does such behavior not perpetuate a cycle of joblessness and poverty?

[Elijah John]

Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty. (or both) Please illustrate your answers. (not literally )

Even if there's a correlation, I'm not sure there's a causal relationship. Using George Floyd's murder as an example, I don't think police officers are overpaid, but I'm pretty sure that they get more than a subsistence wage and working officers in general are well above any reasonable definition of poverty. I really don't think the crime was economically motivated at all.

I was speaking about the crimes committed by the looters and arsonists, (none of which will bring George Floyd back) not about the crime of the police officer who murdered Mr. Floyd. That was a clever twisting of the point I was trying to make.

[koko]

Is a company whose stores (like Target, Wendy's or Auto Zone) have been utterly destroyed by arsonists and looters likely to want to rebuild, and re-invest in those communities that have allowed destruction by such thugs and criminals?

How does such behavior not perpetuate a cycle of joblessness and poverty?

I'm not sure about Auto Zone because it would be cheaper to reinvest in a suburban area. But here in St Paul, Wendy's and Target are extremely popular and will likely reinvest after collecting insurance because they know it was outsider thuggery that caused the damage. Neighbors did not commit the arson which torched their buildings. Once the problem is fixed, the customers will come back.

I had gone to that particular Target franchise and always found them to be good service providers. Hopefully, they will reopen before the year is out.

[Difflugia]

I was speaking about the crimes committed by the looters and arsonists, (none of which will bring George Floyd back) not about the crime of the police officer who murdered Mr. Floyd. That was a clever twisting of the point I was trying to make.

The point that I was making is that it's invalid to conflate a very narrow and specific set of crimes with all crime, particularly when the question is presented in the form of a false dichotomy that implies an undemonstrated causal relationship.

So, since you brought it up, then, perhaps you can answer a question about your wording. Was your question intentionally and rhetorically overbroad or were you just being careless?

To ask a completely unrelated question, do you know what a push poll is?

[Tcg]

I was speaking about the crimes committed by the looters and arsonists, (none of which will bring George Floyd back) not about the crime of the police officer who murdered Mr. Floyd. That was a clever twisting of the point I was trying to make.

How could it possibly be twisting of the point you were trying to make? Nothing in your OP refers to looters and arsonists. It asks broadly about crime and it was addressed as written.


Tcg

[2ndRateMind]

For debate:

Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty. (or both) Please illustrate your answers. (not literally )

Both. Poverty and crime comprise a vicious spiral of social and spiritual decline. That is why we need a more equitable global society. By way of illustration take the illegal drugs industry. The drug lord at the top takes all the proceeds, the addict at the bottom commits crime to feed his/her habit. And eventually kills him/her self through that habit.

Good question.

Best wishes, 2RM

[AgnosticBoy]

For debate:

Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty. (or both) Please illustrate your answers. (not literally )

There is certainly a correlation between poverty and certain types of crime. But then again, there are people who are poor and don't commit crime. There are also people who aren't poor, or who are even rich, yet they commit crimes. Jeffrey Epstein was billionaire and pedophile.

Because of this i don't believe poverty alone causes crime, although it can be a contributing factor in connection with other factors, like dysfunctional family or lack of family support, etc.