The nature of infinite cause is not the same as finite cause. Infinite cause is manifest as the will and consciousness of all that exist. While finite cause is no more than an illusion that has no substance or meaning beyond the bubble of consciousness that it forms. This is self evident when considered carefully. It is a cartesian truth, i.e. a truth derived directly from Descartes "cogito ergo sum", though one must be sure to correctly interpret Descartes meaning as "I am cognizant, therefor I exist", and not the commonly misunderstood "I think therefor I am".
(J.D. July 14. 2014)
Friday, September 19, 2014
Here's A Crazy Idea
Normally I resist the urge to make specific suggestions about ways to reduce criminal behavior (especially sex crimes) because I don't feel it is my place to do so. My goal, amongst many, is merely to provide the information and hopefully insight necessary to allow society to develope effective solutions for itself. But sometimes a solution seems so obvious that I feel I must provide more than just a hint, and detail my thinking even knowing I will likely be ignored. I must at least offer.
I have said before that the "message" that gets "sent" by our criminal justice system, aimed at discouraging would be criminals, is seldom if ever the same "message" that is "heard". I point out that my crimes were intended to "send a message" as well. But as it turns out in both cases, the message received is nearly opposite of the one sent. Ask yourself, did you feel punished and ashamed for having been a part of a society that sent a sixteen year old boy to prison to be raped and terrorized for 20 years because he had forced another boy to have sex with him? Well, that's what I wanted you to feel, that was the "message" I wanted to send. And if you didn't get my message, what do you think the chances are that I got the message that society sent me before I even got out of prison, when it executed Westly Allen Dodd, for raping and murdering boys? Did I feel punished and ashamed for the thoughts I had about having sex with children? Did I "think twice" about my own plans to punish society for what it had done? Well? Did my crimes make you "think twice" about punishing sex offenders? Of course not. If you're like most "law fearing citizens" my crimes only made you want to punish sex offenders even more... to "scream" the "message" even louder!
The result of this "shouting match" between criminals and the criminal justice system should be obvious. But it's not, because nobody is listening to anything but their own screams. In the meantime crime statistics are manipulated by the very people doing all the shouting in order to "demonstrate" the effectiveness of their "messages" (i.e. penal laws). And if statistics have ever been used to deceive people then crime statistics are it. The truth is that when new "tough on crime" laws are passed there is a very predictable and consistent pattern of response in crime rates for the area of crime the law targets. The rates drop for a short period, which the press and advocates of the law proclaim loudly as evidence of the law's effectiveness. But, what they always fail to observe, and often take measures to cover-up in the name of protecting the integrity of the law (i.e. their "authority"), is the just as inevitable fact that as long as the cause of the crime is not addressed the crime rates rebound like they were bounced on a rubber sheet and usually don't resettle (statistically) until they've reached some higher rate than before the law was passed. Sometimes this effect is dramatic and obvious, such as with the prohibition of hard alcohol in the 1920's. Other times it is just as obvious but less dramatic (i.e. especially with the advent of political publicity experts) such as with the so-called "war on drugs". And even when it is not so dramatic, but just as certain, such as with all the sex-crime crackdown laws that have resulted in so much "deviant" sex in America that the only response possible was to start removing the laws that caused the increase, so that most behavior that was once considered criminally deviant, such as homosexuality, sodomy and public sex, is now considered legal and even "normal". The super self-righteous Christian right are the first to confirm this tendency (i.e. by claiming that if we legalize homosexuality that pedophilia will soon follow) though always the last to admit their responsibility for it (i.e. by pushing for more and tougher penal laws that consistently ignore the root causes of the behavior they target).
There are so many "critical links" in this problem that allow it to continue that it's amazing that it does continue. And yet it does. So to point out how easy it is to fix (assuming you can somehow get society in general to take responsibility for the problem) I'd like to make the following suggestion: Educate people, about this pattern of rebounding crime rates, instead of allowing politicians and law agencies to cover it up. I realize that is a lot easier said than done, but if it could be done then I'm certain all sorts of ideas will present themselves, offering the possibility of real solutions to the problem of crime.
Here's one idea that would become apparent as soon as people knew the truth: stop persecuting criminals and start "helping" them instead. Numerous (most) European countries take this approach to crime, and they do it because, despite some persistent public ignorance, studied show that it works. And if studies aren't enough to convince you then a quick glance at the statistics might help (i.e. The US incarcerates ten times more per capital than any other country on average, and has five times the crime rates than most (1)... and that's just for starters). Of course I'm not suggesting we help criminals commit crime (as some ignorant people are bound to "hear" me say). I'm only saying we should stop making criminals the "enemy" and start treating them like the "citizens" that they are!
Let me give you a couple of concrete examples, one in general and in fact, the second one personal and in truth.
Crime rates in New York city are today lower than they've been in a long time. The reason for this reduction in crime is well documented even if under reported (at least outside of New York - I found out about it after subscribing to the New York Times for one year a couple of years ago). The crime rates have dropped not because of tougher laws or more police. They've dropped because of campaigns aimed at increasing residential pride, and individual respect, even for the "dregs" of the city, instead of condemning and punishing people. Neighborhoods were cleaned up, painted, repairs were made, lights installed, artwork commissioned and advertisements taken out that promoted positive behavior rather than condemning negative behavior. The result was remarkable and nearly instantaneous. Even the police were amazed and brought on board (hesitantly I might add).
And now for a personal example, one you'll just have to look in your own heart to find the truth in. If I had known that I could get "help" for my "sickness" instead of condemnation and punishment, I would have turned myself in long before I hurt anyone. And I know first hand that nearly all men (and women) like me feel the same way. In fact, it was the condemnation and punishment - especially the social rejection that it implied - that pushed me further and further into the perverse dark corners of the insanity that infected me. And if it weren't for the incredible power of love and acceptance that I experienced from my last intended victim, Shasta, I would never have been able to mount the wall of fear and resentment that had been built systematically with penal laws and persecutorial social campaigns. It took more "courage" than anyone will ever know for me to bring Shasta home and allow myself to be "caught". But, as I have often pointed out since, the courage didn't come from me, it came through her, through Shasta (2). My hope has been ever since that someday society in general might find some similar source of courage to stop hating, fearing, and condemning it's own people, itself, and start trusting in love and forgiveness to heal the insanity that infects us all (3).
(J.D. July 26. 2014)
Notes: (1) I am citing these figures from memory, and I'm certain to be mistaken one way or the other. But, the point is just as valid either way. If you'd like to see the actual figures for yourself then look them up online, they shouldn't be hard to find, or check out a book like THE CELLING OF AMERICA.
(2) Shasta "gave me" the courage I needed.
(3) This is not meant figuratively or romantically. It is a simple statement of a very real and practical solution to a very real and insane problem. By "love" I mean open hearted acceptance and recognition that we all share the world together (in that sense, if no other, we are the same), and by "forgiveness" I do not mean the hypocritical Christian variety (that implies guilt even as it supposes forgiveness) but true forgiveness that accepts the truth of what has happened (i.e. ignorant and hence harmful behavior, a.k.a. crime) without condoning it or condemning it. I like to say that true forgiveness isn't something you do; it's something you DON'T do, i.e. judge and condemn. And such forgiveness restores sanity by removing the premise of insanity itself - the crazy idea that we can pass judgement on another person or even ourselves without knowing what God knows (or pretending to know what God wants).
(By God here I am only referring to the idea of infinite knowledge and wisdom; you can call it whatever you like, and for the purpose of this argument it doesn't even matter if such a thing exists; only that no one has the "authority" to judge anyone else unless they are infinitely wise and knowledgeable)
I have said before that the "message" that gets "sent" by our criminal justice system, aimed at discouraging would be criminals, is seldom if ever the same "message" that is "heard". I point out that my crimes were intended to "send a message" as well. But as it turns out in both cases, the message received is nearly opposite of the one sent. Ask yourself, did you feel punished and ashamed for having been a part of a society that sent a sixteen year old boy to prison to be raped and terrorized for 20 years because he had forced another boy to have sex with him? Well, that's what I wanted you to feel, that was the "message" I wanted to send. And if you didn't get my message, what do you think the chances are that I got the message that society sent me before I even got out of prison, when it executed Westly Allen Dodd, for raping and murdering boys? Did I feel punished and ashamed for the thoughts I had about having sex with children? Did I "think twice" about my own plans to punish society for what it had done? Well? Did my crimes make you "think twice" about punishing sex offenders? Of course not. If you're like most "law fearing citizens" my crimes only made you want to punish sex offenders even more... to "scream" the "message" even louder!
The result of this "shouting match" between criminals and the criminal justice system should be obvious. But it's not, because nobody is listening to anything but their own screams. In the meantime crime statistics are manipulated by the very people doing all the shouting in order to "demonstrate" the effectiveness of their "messages" (i.e. penal laws). And if statistics have ever been used to deceive people then crime statistics are it. The truth is that when new "tough on crime" laws are passed there is a very predictable and consistent pattern of response in crime rates for the area of crime the law targets. The rates drop for a short period, which the press and advocates of the law proclaim loudly as evidence of the law's effectiveness. But, what they always fail to observe, and often take measures to cover-up in the name of protecting the integrity of the law (i.e. their "authority"), is the just as inevitable fact that as long as the cause of the crime is not addressed the crime rates rebound like they were bounced on a rubber sheet and usually don't resettle (statistically) until they've reached some higher rate than before the law was passed. Sometimes this effect is dramatic and obvious, such as with the prohibition of hard alcohol in the 1920's. Other times it is just as obvious but less dramatic (i.e. especially with the advent of political publicity experts) such as with the so-called "war on drugs". And even when it is not so dramatic, but just as certain, such as with all the sex-crime crackdown laws that have resulted in so much "deviant" sex in America that the only response possible was to start removing the laws that caused the increase, so that most behavior that was once considered criminally deviant, such as homosexuality, sodomy and public sex, is now considered legal and even "normal". The super self-righteous Christian right are the first to confirm this tendency (i.e. by claiming that if we legalize homosexuality that pedophilia will soon follow) though always the last to admit their responsibility for it (i.e. by pushing for more and tougher penal laws that consistently ignore the root causes of the behavior they target).
There are so many "critical links" in this problem that allow it to continue that it's amazing that it does continue. And yet it does. So to point out how easy it is to fix (assuming you can somehow get society in general to take responsibility for the problem) I'd like to make the following suggestion: Educate people, about this pattern of rebounding crime rates, instead of allowing politicians and law agencies to cover it up. I realize that is a lot easier said than done, but if it could be done then I'm certain all sorts of ideas will present themselves, offering the possibility of real solutions to the problem of crime.
Here's one idea that would become apparent as soon as people knew the truth: stop persecuting criminals and start "helping" them instead. Numerous (most) European countries take this approach to crime, and they do it because, despite some persistent public ignorance, studied show that it works. And if studies aren't enough to convince you then a quick glance at the statistics might help (i.e. The US incarcerates ten times more per capital than any other country on average, and has five times the crime rates than most (1)... and that's just for starters). Of course I'm not suggesting we help criminals commit crime (as some ignorant people are bound to "hear" me say). I'm only saying we should stop making criminals the "enemy" and start treating them like the "citizens" that they are!
Let me give you a couple of concrete examples, one in general and in fact, the second one personal and in truth.
Crime rates in New York city are today lower than they've been in a long time. The reason for this reduction in crime is well documented even if under reported (at least outside of New York - I found out about it after subscribing to the New York Times for one year a couple of years ago). The crime rates have dropped not because of tougher laws or more police. They've dropped because of campaigns aimed at increasing residential pride, and individual respect, even for the "dregs" of the city, instead of condemning and punishing people. Neighborhoods were cleaned up, painted, repairs were made, lights installed, artwork commissioned and advertisements taken out that promoted positive behavior rather than condemning negative behavior. The result was remarkable and nearly instantaneous. Even the police were amazed and brought on board (hesitantly I might add).
And now for a personal example, one you'll just have to look in your own heart to find the truth in. If I had known that I could get "help" for my "sickness" instead of condemnation and punishment, I would have turned myself in long before I hurt anyone. And I know first hand that nearly all men (and women) like me feel the same way. In fact, it was the condemnation and punishment - especially the social rejection that it implied - that pushed me further and further into the perverse dark corners of the insanity that infected me. And if it weren't for the incredible power of love and acceptance that I experienced from my last intended victim, Shasta, I would never have been able to mount the wall of fear and resentment that had been built systematically with penal laws and persecutorial social campaigns. It took more "courage" than anyone will ever know for me to bring Shasta home and allow myself to be "caught". But, as I have often pointed out since, the courage didn't come from me, it came through her, through Shasta (2). My hope has been ever since that someday society in general might find some similar source of courage to stop hating, fearing, and condemning it's own people, itself, and start trusting in love and forgiveness to heal the insanity that infects us all (3).
(J.D. July 26. 2014)
Notes: (1) I am citing these figures from memory, and I'm certain to be mistaken one way or the other. But, the point is just as valid either way. If you'd like to see the actual figures for yourself then look them up online, they shouldn't be hard to find, or check out a book like THE CELLING OF AMERICA.
(2) Shasta "gave me" the courage I needed.
(3) This is not meant figuratively or romantically. It is a simple statement of a very real and practical solution to a very real and insane problem. By "love" I mean open hearted acceptance and recognition that we all share the world together (in that sense, if no other, we are the same), and by "forgiveness" I do not mean the hypocritical Christian variety (that implies guilt even as it supposes forgiveness) but true forgiveness that accepts the truth of what has happened (i.e. ignorant and hence harmful behavior, a.k.a. crime) without condoning it or condemning it. I like to say that true forgiveness isn't something you do; it's something you DON'T do, i.e. judge and condemn. And such forgiveness restores sanity by removing the premise of insanity itself - the crazy idea that we can pass judgement on another person or even ourselves without knowing what God knows (or pretending to know what God wants).
(By God here I am only referring to the idea of infinite knowledge and wisdom; you can call it whatever you like, and for the purpose of this argument it doesn't even matter if such a thing exists; only that no one has the "authority" to judge anyone else unless they are infinitely wise and knowledgeable)
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