Crime, and in particular homicide, is on the rise in major American cities. Gun violence has increased to the emotional point of certain communities feeling the pressures as a siege mentality. There are new theories impossible to ignore for what is at the root of this social instability.
Some old arguments are established as fact. Some new realities of cause and effect are emerging. Some recent changes in policy are finding difficulty in bridging the old with the new.
America is recognizing, and becoming more sensitive to, the systemic sins of its historical racial past. The consequences of racism have not yet been reconciled. The old problem of displaced opportunity for people of color is generational in solution.
Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time in the history of mankind that mass isolation has been experienced globally to such an extent. Mental health concerns are now the purview of educators and police forces dealing with teenage youths. Two years of limited social contact are the suspected culprit of children aged 12-15 threatening suicide at an alarming rate. Many middle school principals are calling this a crisis.
The bridge too far of government policy was brought into question by former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton. He stated, “The scales right now are tipped very heavily in favor of the reforms of the progressive left. Well-intended, some needed, but a bit too far. And what we have seen as a result is the growing fear of crime as evidenced in almost every major American city.”
When asked if they agreed, both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and current New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said yes. Neither denied the need for social workers to cushion the societal irritants that can lead to crime. However, both emphasized that government objectives have abandoned the rights of the victims of the crimes to be protected and secure in the homes in which they live.
It is not helpful when the district attorneys in California fail to prosecute crimes hoping that leniency will result in a change of attitude in the perpetrator’s mindset. This is misguided compassion. Youthful offenders are harmed by not being taught there are consequences for their actions. They must not be left to figure out right and wrong on their own.
Many participants engaging in this new crime wave are repeat offenders. They run as gangs with easy access to firearms. As immature youth, they must be held accountable to the order that society demands. Social programs for them, as important as they are, will require implementation after their arrest. Under these extraordinary circumstances, increased funding for police is necessary as called for by President Biden in his State of the Union speech.
In the upcoming election cycle, both conservatives and progressives will point fingers at each other claiming detachment, insensitivity and ingenuous naïveté for each’s political dogma. The public will be left a nation seeking its people.
The United States of America, at its founding through the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the drafting of its current Constitution in 1787 ratified by the states in 1789, is the world standard for self-rule.
America is unique in its definition of what character is as a nation. Yes, not all residents of America in the 18th century were granted the rights enshrined for freedom and liberty. Yet the promise was projected through its ordained destiny even though then unfulfilled.
Martin Luther King Jr., in his selfless quest for the elimination of racism and the establishment of equal opportunity for all in the United States, never condemned America. Instead, he called her to reach her ordained destiny as promised in a covenant with the Creator. King had faith that America’s greater days were yet to come. He had a dream of a time when color had no measure and only character held value.
Dehumanization begins when a person looks at another fellow human being and sees someone different than oneself and defines their hopes and dreams differently than one’s own. This axiom is true whether the lens of the viewer is one of privilege or oppression. For a nation to be whole, every citizen must look into the mirror of values and only see faces that look exactly like themselves. To accomplish this requires societal agreement on the guidelines for equal opportunity.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the federal civil rights law commonly referred to as Title IX. This legislation was actually initiated as an academic criterion. All institutions of higher learning that received any federal funds whatsoever were required to spend equal amounts of money on both men’s and women’s programs. This ultimately included NCAA sports. No mention of race was documented in the title.
It has been one of the most successful government policies rendering equality of opportunity in the history of our country.
In America’s current situation, the first priority is to restore law and order to every city immediately. Law-abiding citizens deserve not to become victims at the hands of immature juveniles untethered to the stability of a founded family unit. Providing local police with necessary resources and public support is the first step. This does not diminish the commitment to provide for the social needs of the youth. It just reestablishes the community commitment to accountable behavior.
Concurrent with this priority is every citizen’s responsibility to see their fellow citizens as equal in dreams, values, moral purpose and right for equal pursuit of happiness. This commandment is not one citizen wanting to be like or yielding to another citizen. It is building an environment wherein both citizens are free to be whatever they choose to be with respect and without condemnation of the other, regardless of where either began their journey.
We exist as segments of society on different points of an equilateral triangle. A nation finding its people is the people building toward a common destiny at the top of the triangle.
Only when the nation finds its people, respecting its ordained destiny, …
Will America be “One Nation under God?”
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe. What do you believe?
Marc Nuttle is an attorney based in Norman, Oklahoma, who specializes in international trade, international foreign policy and international political affairs. He is widely recognized for his expertise in forecasting political and economic trends. He represents corporations, business projects and political entities nationally and internationally. Mr. Nuttle is the founder of the New Horizon Council, a forum for the discussion of transcendent government and business principles. He is the author of Moment of Truth: How Our Government’s Addiction to Spending and Power Will Destroy Everything That Makes America Great. He is also the author of the weekly commentary The Nuttle Report.
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