Crime in America

Crime and criminals in America are always in the news. We teach our children right and wrong and what they should or should not do.

The Ten Commandments is a fine list of things we should not do. Things such as lie, cheat , steal and murder are a few. The thou shalt not's numbering 10 contain no references to thou shall do anything. I find it curious the almighty only instructs us against acts, not failure to act.

I by know means would attempt to include the 10 Commandments into accepted laws of our land. I am a firm believer in separation of Church and State. I happened to be familiar with the 10 Commandments being raised as a Christian. I assume other religions have similar mandates to follow.

One of our most infamous criminals in American history was Alphonse Gabriel Capone. Capone and his gang ruled Chicago during prohibition. The Capone crime family made most of it's income from bootlegging booze. Capone was a vicious criminal who dominated organized crime in his city. Alphonse was a very bad man indeed and we make no attempts to condone his illicit behaviors. We merely point out that he was never convicted of anything he did.

Anyone seeking to invade Capone's illegal trade would be exterminated. Because of all the money that could be made in bootlegging, Capone had many suitors. There were an endless run of those who would challenge the Capone domain in Chicago. The results were a lot of murdering of criminal challengers.

Adding to the complexity was Canada only a few miles away and accessible by boats did not prohibit distilling alcohol. Canadian Whiskey is still some of the best booze today. Most of the American distillers were forced out of business.

The Kennedy's of Massachusetts are reported to have made their fortune in bootlegged booze. They have many famous labels to their credit in today's legal booze markets.
I think it ironic, most of the crime committed by Capone would be legal today. After we passed the 21st Amendment 1933 to the Constitution, bootlegging all but stopped. To further the irony Capone was never convicted for anything he had done. Capone was convicted for something he had not done, paying income taxes. Income Tax is the 16th Amendment 1913 to the US Constitution.

The contrast of Capone who was a bootlegger and Joe Kennedy who was a bootlegger cannot be found in Income Taxes paid. I am certain Joe Kennedy never paid a dime of taxes on Old Grandad income during prohibition. Capone was tried instead in the court of public opinion from outraged citizens. Murder, prostitution and maybe gambling is the divide between Joe and Alphonse. We do have legal gaming in most states today.

The lesson here is our laws are only as good as those who support the rule. If people reject the law it will eventually vanish. More corrupt, are laws which the people do support but, find a government refusing to enforce.

At the top of this list is Immigration Laws that are ignored.
On the docket in the court room of public opinion are several laws in question. First is income taxes and collection. There is a vast number of jurors out there in America who do not support the current system. Everyone agrees we need a fair tax collection system to pay for services such as roads, bridges etc. Most of us agree our taxes should be earmarked for specific goals. We all are against creating a huge glut of money for politicians to use for slush funds for crony capitalism.

Another law punishable for not complying is purchase of Auto Insurance. We have laws that hold us accountable for liability on and off the roads. Insurance Mandates for any commodity is a conspiracy between the the authority of the people and private business.

The law in Florida provides for jail time if you don't have insurance. The law completely overlooks you may not have driven without insurance. Without any proof of having broken the law, the conspiracy between government and business assumes your guilty and revokes your tags and operators license. The result is prison for those who haven't enough money for the extortion.

They do not refund the tax paid on your tags or operator's license. Instead of credits they fine you additional penalties for renewals. The essence of the law seems to be the logic of assumptions. You will drive without insurance. You will have an accident. You will not pay for damages. You must have Insurance for coverage of things you may not and probably will not ever require. Even if you do have insurance; if the awards in court exceeds the coverage, you still owe the balance.

Today people are rejecting unfair taxes and other mandates to act, or prison time. These people are characterized as Extremists or Anarchist. They are largely people who do not commit crimes until they are forced to protect their freedoms to chose. Unfortunately when the two forces cross, the outcome can be horrific. I think we need to reconsider all laws mandating actions of free people. We never seem to have a problem agreeing on those who commit crimes. The divide seems to occur when we mandate people must act.