Is Poverty an excuse for crime?

Question

If poverty and a lack of opportunities is an excuse for Illegals\Criminals to break the law... why do we lock up bank robbers?

Are burglars uninvited guests or criminals?

Answer 1

If it were a legitimate excuse we'd probably have alot less people in jail. Just think of all the robbers and theives and drug dealers and prostitutes and just about anything having to do with porno and child pornography and everything else that has to do with people trying to make money for a better life. Problem is....where's the line to a "better life"?

I remember working for a major department store who would throw their damaged or dying goods in the dumpster. If...as an employee you took something from the dumpster......you were charged with theft. I mean anyone else could drive up and take it.....but not an employee. You may be in charge of writing throw aways off and decide these old neck-ties would be really appreciated at the grade school for art class......ask permission to take them or even offer 5 bucks for a bag of them....NO...must be thrown away. They got to where they paid us to stand there with scissors and cut things up to where they couldn't be used for anything. Now...sorry....once something hits the dumpster....that's a free deal to me. I don't consider garbage picking, theft. So we really do have people charged with theft who did nothing but take a dying mum plant out of the garbage because they were a whiz with plants and felt a little tender care might revive it. Or were poor and took a table that was busted up and in the dumpster yet because they were handy with furniture repair they took it because they could make do with it. I tell ya though.....it didn't make any difference when they charged people. Full price as if they heisted it out the store brand new because in the employee handbook it said employees weren't allowed to remove items even from the garbage without being charged with theft for the full price of the items. And they were relentless with employees. So if that is punishable for citizens who are poor.....why is comming to this country illegally, using stolen identies, scamming our welfare system and everything else considered "nothing".?

If it's a crime it's a crime for everyone. If it's not...fine. But it's not right when there's a dual set of laws and punishments. I don't care if it's a kid stealing an apple or a CEO altering the books. I don't care if its a white, black, brown, or green person....if it's wrong...it's wrong. Poverty or wealth, race or sex shouldn't have different sets of rules or levels of punishement for the same thing. Whoever has the most money or the biggest mouth or grander threats shouldn't be the "winner" exempt from laws everybody else abides by.

NOTHING should be an EXCUSE for crime. There may be valid reasons but that's when you beg for MERCY from the court......not DEMAND more ways to get out of obeying the law.

Answer 2

Poverty does not justify or cause crime. Think about it--not all poor people are criminals, so obviously poverty doesn't always lead to crime. This indicates that people have to choose to be criminals--poverty doesn't lead them to it. There's a correlation, but no causation.

To say that poverty causes crime means that people should never ever be held accountable for their own actions, because ultimately it's society's fault. This is the problem with America today. Nobody wants to hold criminals responsible for their behavior. But everybody wants to blame crime on poverty.

Answer 3

There are a lot of crimes committed by the well off, wealthy, and common man, so we can see it has nothing to do with poverty, all to do with morals and not being taught the value of serving God. 2 Tim 3:1-5 lets us know that this would be more prevalent in the last days and so here we are in the last days when the love for God is just about gone, except among Jehovah's people. Even in the churches today we see so much immoral things taking place and being forgiven or looked over as if they are ok.

Answer 4

The heart of man is just wicked. People work and toil hard to become something, to own possessions and if I was a judge and notice that someone was robbed or killed just to get it quicker I would give them life in jail without parole or the death penalty.

Poverty is not an excuse to commit a crime period.

Answer 5

So are we supposed to change the law's for the poor. A law is a law and poverty or ignorance is not an excuse.

Answer 6

an illegal breaks the law so he can work fairly and obtain means to support his family...
a bank robber is unwilling to work for his living and chooses to steal..

one is hardworking while the other is plain lazy ..

Answer 7

Robbing is bad in any way. It can't be justified. As far as you have Billionaires in this world, you gonna have people stealing to eat. Things aren't right. While other have money they don't know what to do with, others die.

The Bible say, that the more you have, the more you want.

Answer 8

no. crime is an inevitable product of poverty. you're not going to walk into a poor neighborhood and see everyone holding hands, singing cumbaya. You're going to find people struggling to survive

If your family were starving for a month and you didnt have money to buy food for them or there weren't any organization available to you to find food, or work. Will you sit back and watch them starve, or go and commit a "crime" by taking food.

Answer 9

History shows us Christians martyred for disobeying Caesar, people rescuing slaves, protecting Jews from the Holocaust, and resisting segregation -- all in violation of the law but in support of justice. The list of examples fills many volumes. Not all laws are just and moral....Stop looking at the world in terms of black and white....Thank God for Martin Luther King and a few courageous individuals who saw injustices and did something about it, despite going against the law, where would African Americans or Jews be today?

Answer 10

No, it isn't. Good question that the anti-USA people need to answer!

EDIT: FREE.. Many of those people already HAVE jobs in their country of origin...they just are greedy and want more money, so they come here and break laws left and right. For instance, when the SECOND highest source of revenue in Mexico is USA money sent BACK to Mexico, something is SERIOUSLY wrong!

Angela, those people didn't come here illegally or bring diseases and drugs, gangs and crime with them. BIG DIFFERENCE!