Q. Are falling crimes rates
just another sign of the unreliability of this generation?
A. A growing number of prosecutors
blame computer games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, which have
enticed the young to play out their violent, rapacious fantasies in the comfort
of their own bedrooms rather than misbehave on the streets. One Attorney
General told me “We were against violent computer games when they were first
introduced, and we are against them now, we are just less sure how to explain
why”.
Psychologists argue that it
is the increase in One Parent Families which so often lack the presence of a
violent father as a role model, also, that working mothers are just too tired
and no longer at home to terrorise their teenage children and drive them out
onto the streets.
While authoritarian
governments see the absence of youth on the streets as a good thing other
governments have coped with the decline by pretending that crime rates are going
up in keeping with the public’s perception.
Parents who in the past have
relied upon their teenage children to bring home the bacon and anything else that
they could lay their hands on are facing financial hardship. The issue is
compounded by their own parents who are retiring earlier and earlier; demanding
attention and financial support. The solution is for retired parents to undertake
shoplifting and mugging duties. Governments could set a generous limit to the
amount that retired parents could steal before their Age Pensions are reduced.
Falling crime rates could be
reversed by the adjustment of existing laws. For instance, change “threatening behaviour”
to “looking at me in a funny way” and leave the rest up to police discretion. Who
would not applaud the application of the terrorism laws to telemarketers?
By combining these simple
changes with an increase in police numbers and a return to trumped up charges, the
courts will be as busy as ever and no longer reliant on jobless youth.
Extract from - My card "without prejudice" -advice on law and lawyers by John Fytit AO, lawyer to be published later this year.
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