In a moment of irony, Donald Trump recently asserted that if reelected, he would seize direct control of Washington, DC, claiming that crime there had spiraled out of control. “We’re going to federalize it,” Trump declared at a Las Vegas rally. “We’re gonna have the toughest law enforcement in the country. We’re not going to have any more crime and it’s going to look beautiful.”
As usual, Trump’s statement betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. Most experts agree that crime, particularly property crime, is primarily driven by poverty, as exemplified by the impoverished characters in Les Misérables who resort to stealing food to feed their children. However, it’s essential to recognize that poverty alone is not the culprit. In 18th century France, King Louis XVI’s policies impoverished the nation while enriching himself and his cronies.
While poverty was widespread in France during that era, periodic famines, and inequality, not poverty, were the primary catalysts for the French Revolution. This principle holds true across history and cultures.
In 1980, I witnessed firsthand the aftermath of the Tanzanian invasion of Uganda, which overthrew Idi Amin. As Amin fled to Saudi Arabia, where he was lavishly welcomed, his soldiers embarked on a rampage of killing and looting, particularly in the northern region against the Karamojong people. Thousands of women and children were left starving in the wake of the violence. Despite the dire circumstances, there was no rampant crime; instead, a sense of community prevailed.
Working in the slums of Colombia, Thailand, and other developing countries, I observed a similar pattern. True destitution does not lead to societal disintegration and crime; it is inequality that poisons the social fabric.
America, today, stands as the most unequal developed nation in the world. While billionaires pay less in federal income tax rates than the average American and blast themselves into space in phallic-shaped rockets, the majority of Americans struggle to make ends meet.
So, how does inequality provoke criminality? Research suggests that humans are inherently inclined to rebel against unfairness, which erodes social trust. A simple experiment in a preschool classroom, where one child receives a disproportionate number of cookies, illustrates this phenomenon.
This principle extends beyond humans to other mammalian species. A study published in Oxford’s European Journal of Public Health found that inequality devastates social trust, paving the way for antisocial behavior, including violent crime.
In short, inequality, not poverty, is the driving force behind crime in America. And the Republican Party’s unwavering commitment to enriching the ultra-wealthy has exacerbated this problem.
We must address inequality to tackle crime and restore social cohesion. This means taxing the morbidly rich, who currently pay a mere 3% of their income in taxes. For much of the 20th century, the top tax rate on high incomes ranged from 74% to 91%. As a result, CEOs earned only 20-30 times more than their average employees and often lived in the same communities.
Today, CEOs earn hundreds to thousands of times more than their workers and reside in opulent mansions with private jets and yachts. Three individuals now possess more wealth than the bottom half of Americans combined. This disparity is a recipe for social and cultural disaster.
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was built on promises to raise taxes on the wealthy, bring jobs back from overseas, and provide universal healthcare. However, these promises were empty rhetoric, as evidenced by the GOP’s subsequent actions.
The Republican-controlled Senate refused to support a bipartisan infrastructure bill that included funding for the IRS to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. They continue to rail against the IRS, portraying it as a threat to law-abiding Americans.
Republican tax policies, beginning with Reaganomics in the 1980s, have hollowed out the American middle class and widened the wealth gap, enriching a select few while impoverishing the masses. We have surpassed the inequality levels witnessed in 1929, which preceded the Great Depression.
To restore social order and reduce crime, we must confront inequality. This requires taxing the ultra-wealthy and our nation’s largest corporations, most of which pay virtually no income taxes.
