Why Crime Rates Are Down and People Are Unhappy
Major crime in the U.S. is dramatically down from a decade ago across the board. New York remains the safest city of its size in the world.
So why are so many people complaining about crime? Why are the politicians making it a major campaign theme?
It’s because of a phenomenon I call Unsatiation. Crime is down, people realize it can be successfully diminished, so they want constant diminishment, even though a goal of “no crime” is ridiculous. But we can’t be sated. Cars produce less pollution and greater mileage than ever before, yet we want stricter and stricter controls. To what extent? Tesla as this point is more of a charity than a car company. Do we try to eliminate the internal combustion engine altogether and effectively kill-off major industries like oil?
When I bought one of the first car phones in the mid-80s, I was upset that I had too much static on a call to London. My wife told me to be quiet, I was doing business in London from my car. We fly cheaply and very safely today, but people demand more leg room and more amenities while also demanding lower prices.
i was on the high-speed Acela not long ago when a woman threw a hissy-fit when her meal choice wasn’t available in first class. We had another 90 minutes to her destination.
This is Unsatiation: The inability to be happy with mere progress, no matter how impressive, and the insistence that all of our personal grievances and discomforts be tended to—immediately, and by someone else, and at no cost.
© Alan Weiss 2016
