33rd Edition
I was planning to write a newsletter about rising crime and who actually pays for it, but then I remembered that Dick Butkus recently died. I’d much rather write about one of the greatest linebackers of all time than about rising crime. But the more I thought about Butkus, the more I thought about how we might curb the rise in crime in our nation’s cities. Today, it’s a challenge to watch any news show without some story related to the disturbing crime wave that seems to be worsening by the day in many of our nation’s cities. One of my rules for writing newsletters is not to dwell on or state the obvious. First of all, being redundant adds little value to the overall debate, and second, it is a rather boring exercise. In keeping with that rule, I will refrain from listing all the insane developments related to crime, the police, and our criminal justice system. I will also try hard not to use the terms politicization and weaponization. They are disgusting words, really.
There are some wonderful videos of Dick Butkus on YouTube. I’ve watched several over the years. Butkus was a no-nonsense kind of guy. He was universally respected as the greatest middle linebacker of all time. During his playing days, if an opponent crossed the line, in this case the line of scrimmage, he was likely to have an encounter with Mr. Butkus. From this perspective, on the football field, he was the law.
It seems clear that there is a powerful movement today to undermine and destroy respect for law enforcement and the criminal justice system. What I am struggling with is why. Why would any individual or group advocate for policies that cause, or at least lead to, an increase in lawlessness? Who can possibly benefit?
Which brings me to the question of who pays for crime? If a gang of hoodlums ransack an Apple store, who ends up paying for it? It’s not just Apple, obviously. We all pay for crime whether we are directly involved or not.
I’ve written several editions about the appalling lack of trust in our society. A direct consequence of this is a dramatic rise in fear. Fear is paralyzing as well as polarizing. And over time, if we fail to reverse the trends of rising crime and escalating fear, we will reach a point where we will gladly give up our individual rights and freedom for security and safety. And that, dear reader, is the path to totalitarianism. Hence the answer to my question above – Who benefits? The dictators, the ruling elite, the people in power, the State. That is who benefits. All the rest of us lose. Moreover, as history has shown, totalitarianism doesn’t end well. I fear that if we remain on our current path, our republic, this great experiment in self-government, will not survive.
Another one of my newsletter rules is that I shouldn’t identify a problem without offering a potential solution. In keeping with that rule, I would like to propose we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and appoint Dick Butkus as the next Attorney General (AG). We have plenty of his speeches and interviews, and there are teammates who can add all kinds of stories to the information database about him. Then we use AI to craft rulings by Dick Butkus, AI/AG. A no-nonsense approach to criminal justice seems apropos, don’t you think? And while we are at it, perhaps we should utilize AI more broadly in national politics. Wouldn’t we be better off with AI-created versions of these candidates – Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, and John Wooden, then we are with the current leading choices for the presidency? Seriously? Perhaps it is time we changed the way we do things politically, in order to bring integrity, respect, and a no-nonsense approach to solving our country’s problems. I really wish I had some better ideas, but I just don’t. What I do know is that our current approach is failing, in virtually every meaningful respect.
Even worse than all this, is the most disgusting word of all – apathy. My sense is most people have just tuned out and become insular, feeling that they have no ability to make anything better. Culturally and morally, have we given up? In roughly four decades, have we gone from the Greatest Generation to the Apathetic Generation? If we haven’t given up completely, we have at least become very discouraged. It’s hard to think of anything sadder. What will the next generation do about it? And who will lead them?
Please help me grow my readership by forwarding this to a friend(s). In the meantime, say tuned for my next newsletter. Thanks
Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.