Lokalkosmopolit writes:
It is probably that high income inequality ”encourages” violent crime, however: I just read an article about crime rates in the USSR (and Soviet bloc). It was noted that in 1980s the crime rate in Bulgaria was considerably lower than in Sweden. And Sweden is a rather equal society and people as a whole were considerably better off than in Bulgaria (which was also equal, but ”equal in poverty” like it’s usual in communism – I was born in the USSR ;)).
The author of this study suggested that crime rates tend to be low in totalitarian/authoritarian regimes of surveillance and limited freedom. I find this argument convincing.Also, as far as the USSR is concerned, in the Baltic states.crime rates were consistently higher than in poorer republics such as Central Asia, with one explanation being that the the former were more modernized and latter were more ”traditional” societies (in the grassroots level so to say).
After China moved towards capitalism, the crime rate exploded. After 1990, the crime rate went through the roof in Eastern Europe and the former USSR. The reasons are obvious – as these nations abandoned socialism for capitalism, the crime rate skyrocketed, as is always the case.
This makes no sense at all. Capitalism causes crime, period. The more capitalism, the more crime. The less capitalism, the less crime. The more socialism, the less crime. The less socialism, the more crime.
Studies have proved this so many times over that it is stunning that we even bother to keep studying it again. But we are forced to study it over and over because the rightwing SCUM refuses to accept the obvious facts about capitalism and crime.
Granted there are many positive things about capitalism, but the increased crime that goes along with it is certainly not one of them.