Two Christian podcasters explain how the rising crime rates in America, along with other major issues plaguing the nation, are driving people into dangerous conditions.
John Stonestreet and Timothy D'Padgett highlighted in the December 15 episode of their podcast, "Breakpoint," the spike in the United States' crime rates leading thousands into a "deaths of despair."
The Christian Headlines explained that the "deaths of despair" was coined by researchers Angus Deaton and Anne Case in 2018 to refer to cases of deaths that are alcohol-related, drug overdoses, and suicides that have shortened life expectancy among Americans in the last three years since 2015.
These "deaths of despair" is the primary reason why life expectancy has dropped in the United States for the third year in a row, as per a Centers for Disease Control report. Deaton and Case said that these "deaths of despair" are the result of unemployment and a multitude of "personal disappointments" influenced by broken families and failed expectations in life.
"Yesterday on BreakPoint, we talked about the rise in addictions and overdose deaths due to our nation's opioid crisis. Through a constellation of unemployment rates, cultural darkness, and opioid availability, thousands in America's 'Rust Belt' are falling to what are being called 'deaths of despair.' All of which was worsened by the greed and deception of pharmaceutical companies and the FDA," Stonestreet and D'Padgett said in an op-ed in the Christian Headlines.
The podcasters revealed that the increase in "crimes of all kinds," which ranged from shoplifting to murder is paralleled by opioid deaths, actually affect many of the poor living in various urban centers in the country.
Accordingly, the current crime per capita is still lower to that seen in the early 90s but the increase in incidents are still alarming. Homicide cases in Portland, Oregon; Tuscon, Arizona; and St. Paul, Minnesota far exceeded that of New York's and Los Angeles that reflects a 13% increase to that of 2020 and even breaks the 1990 record. More than a dozen major cities in the country have broken the annual homicide records.
"Overall, major American cities have seen a 33 percent rise in homicides since the 'new normal' of Covid began. 63 of the 66 largest police jurisdictions saw a rise in at least one violent crime category in 2020, those being homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault," Stonestreet and D'Padgett emphasized.
The crime rates have soared because systems, particularly the "diminishing presence of law enforcement," made to deter crime have been removed out of activists and various local leaders pointing to "defunding the police" and police brutality accusations. The crime rate is so bad, the podcasters underscored, that three major outlets involving CVS, Target, and Walgreens have been pulled out from California's Bay Area due to "smash and grab" looting, which was normally charged with misdeanors if merchandise stolen was less than $950.
The podcasters revealed that cities who advocated to defund the police have realized their mistake now that the crime rates have soared. However, "for too many, this is too late," according to a study by the American Public Health Association released last December 9.
The study, entitled "Neighborhood Racial and Economic Segregation and Disparities in Violence During the COVID-19 Pandemic," concluded that "marginalized communities endure endemically high levels of violence. The events of 2020 exacerbated disparities in several forms of violence."
Stonestreet and D'Padgett also spoke of the domino effect that the decrease in law enforcement had in a community. Fewer police officers, which has greatly influenced the increase in local crime, has a doubling effect in the economy since businesses opt to bring their business where it is safer for them to operate, and in turn, lesser food and employment in the community.
The podcasters, however, clarified that having fewer police officers and reduced law enforcement are not the sole reasons for the crime rate spike.
"A people able to govern themselves by the conscience is not in need of the constables. In our moment, those pushing to reduce law enforcement got the math exactly backward. As our culture is showing an inability to govern itself, evidenced by dual epidemics of 'deaths from despair' and what could be called 'acts of desperation,' is not the time to lose the constable," they concluded.
