SOC: Crime rates down again

Max More (maxmore@primenet.com)
Mon, 02 Jun 1997 15:58:39 -0700

For those who think society is in an inevitable decline: The FBI just
released their crime figures (no, not crimes *by* the FBI--those they don't
reveal!). Violent crime dropped for the fifth year in a row in the USA,
this time by 7%. This includes an 11% decline in murders (16.5% decline
here in LA).

Of course, government agencies want to take the credit, though it's really
not clear why this downward trend is happening. The LA Times story
speculating that it's because the baby boomers are aging and there are
fewer young people (who mostly commit the violent crimes). This may
contribute, though I find it doubtful that this alone would result in such
a rapid decline in violent crime.

All is hardly well in this country, but this 5-year trend is encouraging.

Max

Max More, Ph.D.
more@extropy.org
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
Author: The Augmented Animal (Forthcoming: HardWired, 1998)
President, Extropy Institute: exi-info@extropy.org, http://www.extropy.org
EXTRO 3 CONFERENCE on the future: http://www.extropy.org/extro3.htm