re: #465 BishopX

You can get high crime because people realize that throwing their life away in a factory isn’t going to get them squat, and that is honestly their best option. Physical labor started to die in the 1950s(not just manufacturing but longshoremen, masons, farmers, butchers…etc), Hunter S. Thompson wrote about it in 1967. America has been bleeding for a long time, and the crime waves of the 70s, 80s and 90s were just symptoms.

Crime waves are first and foremost a symptom of a failure of will on the part of the authorities. Throwing your life away in jail isn’t going to get you squat either. In a setting where the laws have teeth, crime is almost always a really stupid option. Most people aren’t really stupid, and as a result, crime is kept within reason, to where it doesn’t sink the city or propel people to flight.

The death of physical labor has skipped the furniture moving business and I’d bet some others. What’s more, there’s an endless demand for conscientious workmen who can do home repair work, lay tile, replace roofs, and on and on. People who aren’t going to get a college degree are far from useless and powerless in the job market.