Why is it that people do not allow their kids to play outside anymore unsupervised or leave their doors open anymore at night? Once again I am not here to test anyone’s intelligence. They turn on the TV and sexual predators are literally breaking into people’s homes and stealing children. Or it seems like once a week a child is abducted and news stations are putting out Amber alerts that another child is missing. It is safe to say we are not all paranoid but realistic that no matter where we live we are not as safe in our country as we once were. As a person of this country I am baffled that we have gotten to this point and no matter how much law enforcement we have it appears crime is happening all the time.
Sorrell points out in his book that as many as 570,000 inmates every year are let out of our prisons and roam the streets because they are misplaced. Ok there are people against Capital Punishment and it is harsh. But if someone is let out and let out and gets three strikes against them with violent crimes then maybe capital punishment needs to be more of a part of our culture. If someone cannot be rehabilitated and you have no room for them in the jails then it might be time to say good night in my opinion.
It is unbelievable when you hear of a murder that takes place and the person has a rap sheet of like 20-25 past offenses and he or she was just allowed to roam the streets in our country. Why should a good person’s life be taken by a criminal that is consistently let out to harm or kill someone else? I stand by the writings of Sorrell’s message in his book wholeheartedly that too many are worried about the overseas terrorism and not about the own terrorism we have right here in the United States. We have people harming our own people on our own grounds at a higher level that terrorists are harming us overseas. We are at such a time in our history when we need to take a step back and look at the big picture. We are harming ourselves more than we are in wars. Our government and local authorities need to take our streets back and that is where our money needs to go.
He points out that overseas terrorism cost us $1 Trillion dollars from the September 11th bombing till the beginning of 2007. Crime and murder in this country cost us a staggering $3.5 trillion during the same time frame. If you do the math you can see where our efforts need to be. What we are doing with our judicial system and our jails flat out is just not working and we are simply killing our country. American crime directly and indirectly cost our country $675 billion a year Sorrell says on his website. That number is beyond comprehension. I think much of this cost is tied once again to many people being depressed and desperate and the content battle with drugs and lost productivity that we have happening each and everyday we get up in America. I realize there are different economic classes and genders in this country, but how can we not love more in this country and just get up learn to just be more productive in this country?
I remember vividly growing up as a child in the late 1970’s that I had an experience that I have had to think about way too much in my life. My twin brother Chris and my younger sister Heather lived in an upscale suburb in Northern New Jersey. The town still today is so beautiful and is predominately safe and sits about 30 minutes outside of New York City. If I could afford it today I would live there in a New York minute. On a nice early evening the three of us were just minding our own business collecting beer cans for a beer can collection of ours. In this beautiful town had we not made the decision we made it could have changed our lives and our loved ones forever.
We made our way behind a convenience store just collecting the cans and simply minding our own business. Out of nowhere two disheveled men quickly pulled up in an old rustic colored Trans Am and tried to call us and grab us into their car. I pass by that spot sometimes when I am back there and cannot help but look over there and realize my life could have ended that day. The men’s intensions were to grab each and every one of us and God knows do what with us.
At first my sister and I froze like two deer in headlights trying to figure out what was occurring. My quick-witted brother Chris yelled “run” and took off. My sister and I followed suit and ran across the parking lot with our feet barely touching the ground. Had those men really wanted to harm us they could of grabbed us, but our yelling alarmed them. We all were crying and ran into a local convenience store and told the storekeeper we were almost abducted as the car flew out of the parking lot and raced away. The store owner called my father who raced down to the store to comfort us. I think as a young person I realized on that day that it did not matter where you lived in today world that nobody was safe from imminent crime.
For many years I chose to block that day out of my mind because that was the first time that potential real harm had crossed my path. Well that would only last for a couple more years until another incident happened that almost took the lives of our entire family. It was a warm July night in the quiet peaceful town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Ocean Grove is a charming beach town on the Jersey shore that nobody would ever think you would not feel safe.
It was my sister’s birthday and we celebrated a wonderful night together with about 10-15 friends and family. It became late and we shut the house down and everyone made their way to bed. In the house were my brother and sister and three other step-sisters and brothers. On that warm summer night a man who was an arsonist made his way up the side of our house and staked out where our gasoline heater was in the house. He lit a fire in a trash can next to the gasoline tank that was next to the house in an effort to blow the house up. He was an evil person and his intension was to take out our whole family in one sweep. One minute we were enjoying a wonderful birthday party and the next minute our lives could have been taken.
A woman in her 80’s happened to get up to go to the bathroom late at night and looked across the street. Her vision was not great and she saw the flames but thought that it was just a candle from a birthday cake. She thought it was better to be safe than sorry and woke up her elderly sister. Her sister looked over and the whole side of our house was in flames.
In a nightgown she ran across the street and banged on our door. I remember the sound of a desperate person slamming on our door. My step brother woke up and I remember him screaming “The house is on fire and everyone hit the floor and get out.” I awoke to smoke flying in my lungs and it was super dark in the house that night. My brother and I jumped out of bed and hit the floor and made our way to the stairs. We jumped down the stairs and hit about every third step and made our way to the front of the house. As we had made our way to the downstairs of the house I can just remember the dark deep smoke in the house making it really hard to breathe. My step brother Doug grabbed the hose and my brother and I helped spray the fire to the side of the house till the firemen came. I just remember thinking that we really should not be alive and that had we not been woken up we would be up in heaven with God today.
This man had one goal that night and it was to wipe out the lives of eight to ten people and was probably around to witness it all. That sick man than only two hours later tried to burn down another home because he had not succeed with our house. He was caught weeks later when he tried to burn down a shack on the beach that held beach umbrellas and rafts and was caught by the police, because they were waiting for him to make another move.
Now I am just an average Joe and twice in my life I witnessed and was part of a situation of serious crime. Here is an example where I was in an upscale neighborhood in Northern New Jersey and then a quint little seashore town and almost had my life snubbed by a couple of unjust people. Later in life, I would almost be carjacked in the city of Miami on my way to work for the Florida Panthers and was caught up in a shooting of two men trying to kill one another in Lake Worth, Florida. It is these stories and the stories of others that I repeatedly see on TV that make me realize it is like I am a soldier at war in my own country. Some of these stories I am sure my Mom will read and be horrified, particularly by what happened in Florida because I never spoke of it to her. But the facts are there that each one of us has probably be a victim of some crime and sometimes a serious crime.
America now ranks as the Number 1 most violent nation in the world. No it is not Columbia or Afghanistan! The United States does not necessarily have the most overall crimes accordingly to reports but our violent crime is the worst. These are the crimes that really count and really hurt our reputation. What is the reason for this? I cannot overstate it that much of this is attributed to our morality and our codes of ethics in this country not being what they once were.
Quite simply it is many put drugs and alcohol and immorality way before anything else in life. I think and after researching I also believe that we have some great lawyers out there that do too good of a job helping free some people that should really be locked up. I have a friend out of Southern New Jersey who is now in the FBI. He started out as an attorney and he said he would talk with other attorneys and he just got so sick of being paid to help DWI clients and bad people beat the system. It weighted on him and he decided that since he wanted to serve his fellow man he would take down the bad guys working in the FBI instead. My own opinion is that we are too lenient in America on giving many convicts more rights than they deserve. We are not going to crush crime in this county if we do not get a lot more strict with our laws on crime. Sure, our judicial system works in many cases and does put away some bad people. But to many times people seem to get a slap on the wrist if they are powerful or are a well-known person with money.
A few days ago I was watching CNN and there was a horrific story about two girls that got in a fight in a subway in a Seattle, Washington bus tunnel. The one girl robbed and punched the other girl in the face and then when she dropped to the ground she repeatedly kicked the girl in the face. There were three security guards who just stood there when all this was going on thinking it was a fight between two girls. I guess when another girl is kicking a girl straight in the face as she lays there unconscious that is not a behavior to make a big deal about anymore. I wonder how much of that went on some 50 years ago where so many disregard the life of another person? Might have happened once in a while but not to the degree that we see today because we have many people that are in this world for their own selfish desires and it is destroying us. I for one will raise my kids to protect themselves against these kinds of people, but first to treat their fellow man with dignity.
Just the other morning as wellat a local school outside of Harrisburg, PA where I live the news talked about a melee that broke out at the school between about 100 girls. They met and had a fight that got completely out of hand and the police were called in to break up the fight. Yes, I did say 100 girls. Find me an article from the 1950’s or 1960’s, where such a situation happened anywhere in the United States. If this was a group of boys it would still be pathetic but when it is 100 young ladies, I would say our society has an issue that must be addressed. I for one have seen such violence in our country only get worst and people will say that is because the media is everywhere to capture such incidents. The sad part is that these random acts of violence are everywhere and the media is just doing their job and lets us know it is going on everyday. Each and every one of us needs to show more love and acceptance and help to get our friends and our family members headed in the right direction if need be.
With 159,000,000 million crimes a year over that thirteen-year period that Sorrell spoke of, how can you not blame many for just simply wanting to protect themselves? In no way can we expect anymore to be protected in our own country 24/7 and to me that is utterly horrible. We are America and not a third world country. It was never my intension to set out to be cynical because I am a positive person by nature and want to live peacefully for my years here on earth. But when you listen every day about crime and see it never getting better you do become a little sick of it. But with these numbers, there is negativism in all of us and we all pay taxes to be protected by our great country and deserve that.
The problem we really have in our country is that our jails are overloaded and studies have shown that year to year as many as 500,000 prisoners are released back onto our streets. Our jails are overloaded with criminals because we have not tackled the issues yet that are causing so many people to turn to the dark side of crime. I do not operate in this business but man somehow or some way we have to do something to lower this number drastically. Many, many of them will go and live productive lives but how many of them will go out time after time and commit the same act they did before because they know no different? It is vital that we get to these people when they are growing up and are young to learn what is right and wrong in this country.
Since many of them have criminal records and cannot be trusted, many will not find work and therefore will murder and steal and rob just to survive. Sorrell mentions in his book that over 80,000 criminals in the United States are illegal aliens. I realize that this country was founded for all to come to and start a new life. It never said to come to the United States and rob it clean and kill people to make a better life for yourself. We have that many illegal aliens coming into the United States to just to do that.
The United States is spending billion of dollars of money we all work so hard for to arrest criminals and not sentence some of them or give them probation or give them a plea bargain. When that happens, many are put right back out there to harm you and me as innocent bystanders once again. Let’s be frank - this form of system is not working and never will. The numbers I have addressed in this chapter are factual and with it like this it will be impossible to get back to the way we used to be. We are at the mercy of our Presidents and our Congress and our law enforcement agents that run our country to keep us safe. But we all have an obligation to also police ourselves because law enforcement cannot be everywhere and instruct ourselves to do what is right.
The other thing is, if I turn on another new telecast and watch one more program and see a murderer plead he is insane and should therefore get a slap on the wrist it may drive me insane. It is apparent that many are insane because they would not have done what they did but maybe many are saying it just to be let free to prey on someone again. They use it as a ploy to beat the system and it some cases it works and we are so let down each and every time it happens. If they are insane then lock the insane people up and “throw away the key” for many years so they can do insane things behind walls. Not out on our streets where the next law-abiding citizen does not have to fall victim to them. So many people have become so immoral in their ways and care only for themselves or just their family and will continue to do crimes against humanity.
It is way more than a couple of bad seeds that are perpetration our society and I only pray that many will read this book and some way or somehow step up and try to change. We have to do it and the biggest ally we have is you and I. We know people that stray the wrong way and we are just as bad if we do not try and help people to make it a better world for us all. If I save one person from crime then maybe I just saved another person’s life. Our President and Congress and Judicial system have to say no more to leniency to anyone that just strays and conquer crime over all else to help get us back where we need to be.
I heard a saying once that resonates in my mind once in a while and that is “a country’s people are a reflection of its laws and rules and how these laws are rendered.” Well right now in 2009 and moving into 2010, we are failing ourselves and our criminal activity in this country will continue on this terrible pace, and we will go down. I love this country and would have not wanted to be born in any other region of the world. I can speak my mind with freedom and do with my life anything that I want. Even though I had some serious crimes committed against myself and my family members I still believe in this country. I am one who wants to try and leave the world a better place before I came in. I can only do so much as a single speaking voice and I will do it just to leave a world better for my own children. ________________________________________________________________________
Action Steps for all Americans
Chapter 4
America and Taken Care of our Own
“For me, Los Angeles, New York, where I don’t know my neighbors, where people don’t necessarily care if they know their neighbors, I’m missing things that truly fed my soul when I was younger, the exchanges between people, the caring and the shared history with people.” –Sela Ward
It is very difficult to comprehend the loss of life the world saw in January of 2010 with one of our neighboring country Haiti. This Caribbean nation had a horrific 7.0 earthquake that utterly paralyzed and destroyed the lives of a country, that did not need such destruction. The country has been though so much over the last hundred years but nothing like what happened on that day in January. Numbers have come out that more than 100,000 lives had been lost near the main city of Port de Prince and it neighboring towns. The businesses and homes are not structurally stable enough to handle the brunt of an earthquake of this magnitude. Many of those businesses and homes seemingly crumbled like a deck of cards and took the lives of so many love ones.
The pictures of parents holding children that were crushed under the rubble is truly heart breaking for anyone that is a parent themselves. The pictures on television and in our newspapers really have shown devastation that every person in the United States and the world has really struggled with. How can such a natural disaster that occurs over only a couple of seconds cause such mayhem to one continent?
Our own President Barack Obama stepped up immediately as it happened and pledged swift support for this ravaged island, because that is something that the United States does all the time, to help other countries when they need us. Our culture has always been one to help others when in dire need because we have such well trained doctors and nurses and paramedics, that many other countries do not have. Also with such a well trained army, navy, and air force so many other countries rush to the United States to help support the boundaries of their country when some bad occurs. When so many countries are in trouble so many just know it will be the United States that will be there to defend them.
In 2005, it was the United States again that raced to Northern Sumatra after they also had an earthquake and then a tsunami that decimated the area. The water rose there and literally out of nowhere covered many areas with water, that picked up and drowned thousands of people. At that time the United States flew as many as 2800 relief missions, treated more than 2200 medical patients and delivered 4000 tons of supplies according to US officials. The United States government provided more than $37.2 million in emergency relief activity, food, and shelter, water and relief supplies of American’s tax money to save the region. Yes it was needed and was again an awesome gesture of love but one that did come at a big cost to our country. This is a country half way around the world but it was the United States that stood up and said they would help their fellow man.
I remember being in high school at Conestoga Senior High School, in 1985, outside of Philadelphia, where I witnessed a concert like no other called Live Aid. In July of that year at JFK Stadium, many of the world’s greatest musical artists of that day, had a concert that raised millions of dollars to feed Ethiopians in Africa. Once again for a continent far away it was America and England that stepped up to raise money for a country ravaged with famine. In England, at the magnificent Wembley Stadium, there were also concerts as well and both stadiums combined played for sixteen hours. The musicians out of love got together for one reason and that was to play memorable music to help people not starve there.
Ethiopia which is a country of 79.2 million people and one of the worlds oldest countries, suffered a famine that could have wiped out so much of the coun