Public perception of crime...

[Jim H]

...is really off the mark in the United States.  As one example, in 1991 there were around 252 million people in the US, and there were about 24,000 murders in the year.  In other words, a murder for every 10,500 people.  In comparison, in 2008, there were about 16,200 murders for around 305 million people, so around one murder per 18,800 people.  You'd think people would be a little positive about a more than 40% decline in the murder rate, but evidently no one is.  At least not by the reactions I hear from people online and elsewhere talking about the continued decline of the world into crap.

Just trying to put things into perspective a little.  Not everything is getting worse, despite how negative we all love to be.  As one other example, abortion rates have fallen enormously (a good thing no matter your view on the practice), and teenage pregnancy rates are near the lowest ever recorded. 

[Doggett]

I think you could apply that to my country too.

It's just "Things Getting Better" doesn't make for interesting stories. The news wants gory, violent, depressing stories to fill their headlines with. So, they'll take things out of proportion and moan about them till the end of time. If there were two newspapers side by side, one with "End Of The World !" the other "Everything's Fine", well, people will pick the former. Naturally people like to trust the newspapers and headline (even though we all know better...) and we start to get in a panic.

In my country there's a paper called The Daily Express and it spends a lot of time moaning about Islam ( I don't think I've ever seen extremism mentioned, just Islam in general) and foreigners. It complains Britain is being over-run !! There's a foreigner in your wardrobe !!!! A foreigner is eating your kid (because that behavior is acceptable where johnny foreigner comes from !! ) It's just full of nonsense, it gets people scared and then they start voting for extreme far right parties....I live in London and I meet more people with foreign accents each day than I do with British ones. And yet evey person who has got in my face has been British !

The point being, people are stupid and they love to believe the negative stuff and ignore all the positives.

[Jack]

The bubble-headed bleach blond, comes on at 5
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash, with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die

[dean]

Yeah we have the same problem here:  Illegal immigration is the big political football here, in this particular case, 'boat people;' asylum seekers trying to enter via Indonesia from countries such as Sri Lanka and the like. 

The news makes it seem like its a huge issue, and thousands and thousands of people are trying to 'jump the queue.'  Yet nobody talks about the fact that every year tens of thousands of people will just enter our country as tourists and just disappear [as I'm sure happens in many countries]  An immigration lawyer I talked to the other day told me there are approximately 850 thousand people who entered this country legally who just stayed.

I suppose burning boats filled with desperate people are a much better news bite than a faceless tourist who just never left...

[Jim H]

I think you could apply that to my country too.

It's just "Things Getting Better" doesn't make for interesting stories. The news wants gory, violent, depressing stories to fill their headlines with. So, they'll take things out of proportion and moan about them till the end of time. If there were two newspapers side by side, one with "End Of The World !" the other "Everything's Fine", well, people will pick the former. Naturally people like to trust the newspapers and headline (even though we all know better...) and we start to get in a panic.

In my country there's a paper called The Daily Express and it spends a lot of time moaning about Islam ( I don't think I've ever seen extremism mentioned, just Islam in general) and foreigners. It complains Britain is being over-run !! There's a foreigner in your wardrobe !!!! A foreigner is eating your kid (because that behavior is acceptable where johnny foreigner comes from !! ) It's just full of nonsense, it gets people scared and then they start voting for extreme far right parties....I live in London and I meet more people with foreign accents each day than I do with British ones. And yet evey person who has got in my face has been British !

The point being, people are stupid and they love to believe the negative stuff and ignore all the positives.

Yeah, it's even worse in the UK than here in the states.  At least, it seems to be based on my exposure to UK-based news sites.  A "rash of murders" to them is two of them in the same 1000 kilometer radius within a year. 

I might also add I do see a large amount of racism and prejudice about Islam and Arabs from Europe lately, especially from France and the UK.  Something to keep an eye on...

[Psycho Circus]

The bubble-headed bleach blond, comes on at 5
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash, with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die

"Dirty Laundry" baby! 

[Mofo Rising]

Well, I don't think it matters who you are, but there is always the perception of the "good old days" versus "this terrible time we live in now."

One, I think that the increase in population density increases the likelihood of "faceless" crime. You're more likely to have your stuff stolen when a lot of people who don't know each other live together. But that doesn't mean "crime" was non-existent in smaller communities, just that the nature of it was different.

Second, I think that in general life becomes less abstract as you get older, usually because you begin to have very concrete things to worry about. When you're young and just starting to find your way in the world, you have a world of possibility, of which crime is just one more variable. But then you start a family, you find a way to make a livelihood, and the things that can threaten this are no longer faceless bugaboos. They are very real, and the things that can threaten that are non-inconsequential.

Of course the media are ambulance-chasing, blood-sucking, beetle-monkeys (not sure what all that meant), but they have always been so. Crime is also not separate from the human condition, another constant with an ever-changing face. Politicians, or those who have vested themselves in authority, will always use this fear to further their agendas, which usually involves them staying in office.

But politicians need to be elected, people will continue taking any means necessary to make money, and all of us still need to live and thrive in the world. Thus the whole vicious cycle is perpetuated anew every moment of every day.

What's the answer? I don't know. I think part of it is to take control of your perception and understanding of the world. Try not to let others make up your mind for you. That's just part, though. We all have to figure out the rest.

[Trevor]

I read somewhere that an advisor to the German national soccer team asked that the players be permitted to wear bullet-proof vests while at the world cup in 2010. 

[WilliamWeird1313]

I read somewhere that an advisor to the German national soccer team asked that the players be permitted to wear bullet-proof vests while at the world cup in 2010. 

Yeah, and jackboots.