Recent online videos showed a Portland, Oregon Good Samaritan confronting shoplifters to force them to take down loads of their stolen goods.
Even more shocking was the outrage of the thieves.
They huffed, puffed, and screamed. They refused to give up. They would not stop stealing whatever they wanted.
They didn’t fear any consequences for stealing bags full of items that weren’t theirs. They didn’t realize that mainstreaming their lifestyles would cause a disruption to the whole fabric of society.
This apparent assurance that there will be no consequences is what is common to the smash-and-grab, carjacking, and fighting on planes while in flight pandemics, as well as deadly Saturday night shootouts is what is most similar.
This expectation of exclusion is what drove the Antifa thugs to Atlanta to launch their latest violent attack on the police.
After 120 days of looting and arson in the summer of 2020, which resulted only in a few Antifa charges, fewer convictions, and almost no imprisonments, why not?
In the 1990s and 2000s, the “broken windows” theory of police explains how failure to punish minor offenses quickly leads to an increase in violent crime.
They take it for granted that the ancient rules prohibiting urination and defecation as well as injections on sidewalks are not applicable to them. It is no surprise that the homeless are becoming more than victims of circumstances, but rather victims of innocent passersby.
But deterrence isn’t just being eroded from below, it’s also being eroded from above — and by the elite who believe it will never again be subject to the chaos that it has created.
Andrew McCabe, former FBI Director, admitted to lying on four occasions to federal agents. This was apparently in the expectation that he would not be prosecuted.
John Brennan, former Director of the CIA, was guilty of the same foolishness. He admitted to lying under oath before Congress twice and got away with it.
James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, not only lied to Congress but also claimed that he had given the “least truthful” answer. He too faced zero consequences.
If their directors had known in advance that they would be going to prison for lying under federal oath, could the FBI or the CIA regain their tarnished reputations?
Sometimes, the problem isn’t just the lack of a sure punishment for criminal behavior but also the inequalities of penalties.
Why is it that violent criminals are released from prison the same day they punch, kick, or shoot innocents? While others who are committing lesser offenses are not.
Nations are not different from individuals. They only increase their aggression if they don’t expect a harsh response to their provocations.
Why is it that athletes who refuse to get vaccinated are barred from participating in American athletics while illegal entrants of 6-7 million were allowed in without passports, vaccinations, or COVID testing?
After President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a few thousand illegally crossed the border with impunity. Then they followed in large numbers.
Why is the Mexican government so hesitant to say no when asked by the United States to allow illegal immigration?
Mexico City allows factories to produce lethal fentanyl tablets for export northward, killing over 100,000 Americans each year.
What kind of deterrence could stop millions of illegally entering the United States or Mexican-made fentanyl from killing more Americans in the past decade than all those who died in all our wars since World War II?
The $60 billion worth of remittances to Mexico each year, mostly from illegal immigrants and often subsidized through our federal and state entitlements, should the United States be taxed?
America should declare cartels international terrorists and extradite them.
China sent Mexico fentanyl raw materials in confidence, believing that it was a win-win strategy. This strategy has huge profits for China and many deaths for American youth.
What could deter China’s nonchalant aggression from being stopped? More concessions? Are you still ignoring the Wuhan origins of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Or would 350,000 Chinese students be expelled from American universities to stop them from fentanyl-exporting? Or prohibiting Chinese companies that have ties to the Communist Government from purchasing American farmland
Evidently, the more technologically advanced and wealthy Americans were, the more they believed that they could alter the ancient human nature that is stable and predictable over time.
They redefined criminality to be a lifestyle choice or reimaged the criminal with legitimate grievances against the society he subverts.
The Biden administration is more likely to ignore those who are hurting us overseas, and the more they see it as American weakness, or decadence to further exploit.
Is it any wonder that the civilized world we used to know has disappeared when our federal and state governments allow foreign criminals and nations to injure without impunity their law-abiding citizens?