Poverty, Power, and Crime
Poverty is the absence of key elements that guarantee the proper existence of people ranging from social, economic or political aspects while power is being in authority or in control of what other people should do. On the other hand, crime signifies illegal acts that make one a culprit and indictable by law (Blunt 539-551). The three are related in the manner discussed in this essay, and that relationship affects various cities. The connection is observed in the way the first two (poverty and power) lead to crime. People tend to engage in illegal acts based on the influence that emanates from the two dimensions where the first force is the scarcity of resources and lack of authority while the second one is when there are plenty of resources, and people are in a position of issuing commands.
Shortage of resources and lack of control are the likely causes of insufficiency for most people, which in effect make crime an option for them to meet their needs. This is for those who feel that they are estranged by the way the system operates, and they are not afraid of the castigation that would result from their criminal acts since they will incur no damage (Blunt 539-541). Crime may also be committed due to greed by those who are not necessarily lacking wealth and are in authority meaning that they are not seeking to meet their needs. This results in two different kinds of crime. Crimes of lack are committed by those who have insufficient resources to fulfill their needs and crimes of plenty are done by people with many resources due to self-indulgence.
Inequality in terms of economic possessions and positions of influence are the key causal factors of crime. The people who deem themselves as being alienated due to poverty and lack of power fail to respect those who are wealthy and in authority, which becomes a recipe for crime (Blunt 539-545). On the other hand, for the rich and those in power whose needs are already met, greed makes them strive to accumulate more goods for future trading. Societies with higher levels of inequalities are encountered with more complex crime issues.
This relationship involving poverty, power, and crime has an effect on many cities today in that criminal activities are major hindrances to the growth and advancement of a country. For instance, in India people rely to a large extent on business activities for the growth of the sectors that operate on a macroeconomic scale such as tourism. Such growth can be affected by the crime that targets business activities most of the time. In the course of fighting crime alongside poverty, the development of the economy and the society is slowed down even as more funds are channelled towards the same. Crime is the reason behind instability and uncertainty in some states in the US such as Mississippi, and this prevents businesses from flourishing. This serves as a way of making local and foreign investors shy away from investing (Blunt 559-571). The society is thus faced with the challenges of formulating redistributive policies to ensure satisfaction of the needs of the poor and taming the influence of the rich.
In the modern society, there is a likely never-ending cycle of crime, lack of jobs, and insufficiency of resources. This in effect leads to unavailability of a resourceful workforce and low amassing of assets for the society. The overall effect of the relationship amid poverty, power, and crime is compromised quality and standards of living.
Works Cited
Blunt, David. “Is Global Poverty a Crime Against Humanity?” International Theory, vol. 7, no. 3, 2015, pp. 539-571.