Certified to do a job

A world without criminality

Considering a world free of crime is not about being idealistic nor espousing a utopian vision. It is more a reflection on the cost to society. Look at all the human endeavour spent countering criminality, protecting against it, and dealing with the aftermath. One third of all our efforts is in some way connected to criminality. It is a credible figure depending upon the culture in place. The police and maybe the army are at the forefront, but everyone spends a lot contending with it directly. We have passwords, encryption, locks on the door and immobilisers on the car. Roller shutters, burglar alarms, video cameras and anti-climb paint. Software protection, fencing, safes, vaults, screens and so the list goes on. All the dishonesty that creates mountains of extra paperwork. All the time proving who you are and that you are not a security threat. Then we have prisons, court cases, thefts and muggings, fraud to deal with and pay for. Even lights left on to make it look like someone is at home. Do not think that scores of people would be without a job if there were no crime. Instead, these people could be deployed doing many other things and we would all be much richer. From filling in potholes to research and development, countless things that are not being done could be addressed rather than battling crime. We can either see it as a way of life and just how it is, or we can fight to end such insanity. Cutting spending on policing and prisons might seem like a good way to save money, but the tax revenue losses are larger than the savings made. Businesses reclaim tax on things that are stolen. They pay less tax as their profits are so much lower.

It is quite rare for someone to steal something because they are without food. Most theft is to satisfy greed. The irony is that people break the rules within society, but still expect the rest in that society to treat them with similar respect as everyone else when spending the ill-gotten gains. If they broke into a bank and took a hoard of money, they are relying upon the society to honour the stolen cash.

Clever criminals soon discover that breaking into someone’s house is nowhere near as effective as theft by invoice. If you overcharge the vulnerable or the ill-informed you can get away with a lot more money knowing full well that the penalties are typically much lower. It is not too difficult to set up a business of some sort and start ripping people off. You don’t need to use violence to clear out people’s bank accounts, all you require is the audacity and the ability to disregard any guilt that comes after.

Every act of dishonesty makes the world a shittier place to live. If a bank overpays, we can hand it back. If a shop undercharges by mistake, we are free to point it out. When the money is reconciled, there will be a shortfall and some poor humble worker will either have their wages docked or get a warning. I recall a tale of the train guard: Passengers would leave items on the train and the guard would pick them up and take them home. “How can someone leave something on the train is beyond me, sometimes they come on with two suitcases and get off with one.” Some years later the guard became absent minded as well and forgot to lock the door of the guard’s room. As a result, someone tried the handle and woe and behold went in and took the wallet that was left in there. How can you be so stupid as to not lock the door! All the cards had to be cancelled, the cash lost, and the sentimental wallet given as a gift was gone. Some may call this karma, pay back even. We all are absent minded at times, and it is sad that there are so many vultures out there ready to take advantage. We may live in big cities, but we can have the same atmosphere as the relaxed little islands that we go on holiday to. Good will is contagious.

Cloth dealers have been known to use a long ruler to buy and a short one to sell. Scams of one sort or another have been around for millennia. We become subjected to new types all the time and become adept at avoiding them. It is a mistake to think you will always spot them and not get swindled. Would you like to have your shed treated with preservative for just a small extra fee? Why not when all such garden furniture is made from pre-treated wood anyway. I wrote 20 on a piece of paper before we set off in a taxi to then be charged 40 on arrival. 20 each my friend. We don’t like being duped as it makes a fool of our ego. Principle vs the crafty plays, playing out in the game of life. Sometimes it is an insignificant amount we lose and occasionally it is very detrimental to our financial wellbeing. Either way we still get a horrible sense of our own failings, what we did wrong and question how we could be so stupid. Once you enter the realm of trusting no one, you find things harder for you than the con artists. They move on to other prey; you are stuck with a form of grief. Delaying your actions can stem the flow. The trickster will make it seem vital that an action is done quickly when few things in life need be carried out right there and then. Very few worthwhile offers will be unavailable tomorrow or the day after.

Will we always consider curtailing crime like trying to stop it raining? We just get used to it and maybe find an umbrella to shield us from the worst of it. Where do you draw the line? Some see stealing from an old person as wrong but would take from a big business with little guilt. The big business is often owned by lots of small people via pension funds and saving schemes. Each crime means they pay out less to those in the position of being the least able to work now. Those working there on low pay have greater job insecurity and less bonuses.

To say that copying something such as media or software is not theft as the original has not been removed is farcical. Let me copy all your private pictures and show them to who I like. You still have the pictures; nothing will be lost. Taking without permission is theft. To paint a picture and present it as a work of someone renown is adding to the output of a nation in the same way as a farmer grows vegetables. Those that own pictures of the same artist find that their works are now not quite so rare. Rarity is scarcity not a measure of value, it becomes subject to the whims and capriciousness of supply and demand. As we well know, something is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. Authenticity is something in keeping with a tradition theme, in a personal sense it is being true to your identity and roots.

Dodge a bit of tax, who will really notice? The heaver the tax the more we might feel that we have paid enough already, and a little wheeze/fiddle is not that bad. When the wealth distribution seems unfair it creates an ill feeling with those left behind. Consequently, we feel more comfortable doing back hand deals and the black economy get bigger. We acquire a principle of fair game. We fashion our own set of morals and never accept somethings as being too wrong. All animals are born to misbehave to some extent and continue misbehaving for as long as they can get away with it.

Those trudging on, content with their lot, will be pleased to see criminals having a hard time dealing with the stress, uncertainty and looking over their shoulder all the time. Most end up earning less than the hype would suggest. Only those at the top of the crime pyramid do well, but that is compensated by having plenty eager to take them out. The real attraction is often the feeling of power. Getting people to respect their wishes by controlling and commanding them about.

Increased wealth does have a few drawbacks that some may not appreciate. The more you have, the more you may have to worry about. Bigger houses have more rooms to clean, more cars add to the hassle of maintenance and employing lots of housekeepers becomes a job in itself. There is a freedom in poverty as there are options with wealth. It is not a freedom to buy whatever is needed or a freedom to afford to travel where and when you want, but a freedom from responsibility. Tell that to someone without much and they may laugh, but after explaining how much time you spend keeping on top of things, they may understand it is not as perfect as it might seem.

Whilst stacks of money in the bank provides a security blanket it all can seem pretty insignificant when real tragedies occur to us or our family. Quite often money will be to no avail when one’s health deteriorates. Some problems can’t be solved by throwing money at them, but those that can need little mulling over. People tend to just spend it and be done with it. Concerning themselves with more pressing things. Hence why saving a small percentage of your income can be so powerful. Save enough to get you out of trouble when needed, but not so much that it impinges on your present day-to-day life now. No other animal has the mechanism to store even a tiny fraction of what they forage to be used years later, like we can. You can save 2, 3, 4 percent and still live a great life now. You can sleep at night knowing that if a real calamity arises you can pay towards what is needed without having to go cap in hand to other people. Telling people what they should do is the ultimate no-no, however. They say time is money, but money put aside can give you time, time to sort many a situation out.

Whatever you build or create or collect or hoard you are only a temporary custodian. We are owners of many things, things that are left behind when we go. Wealth, fantastic family life, a beautiful partner, time, health - you judge for yourself what you would swap. As for me? I found myself far more interested in going to an inner-city skateboarding park than finding ways to accumulate more wealth. It was supposed to be for zooming about on wheels, but we were zooming about hand in hand dancing. And this is what philosophy is about. Working out what it is all for, for us individually. Some things money can’t buy, but if I hadn’t got the money, I would have had less time for fun.