Crime and Criminality in America

Have you ever thought about the amount of individuals that are in distress from their continuous state of destitution? February 18th, 2010 brought a story out of Austin, Texas, about a gentleman who decided to fly his plane into a building that house IRS offices and employees. Typically, the media and criminologists flock to such cases and declare terrorism, mental incapacity, and or deviancy on the part of the individual committing the act. However, this case does not involve the typical profile that accompanies many case files that include criminal or violent acts. Rather, this man seems to ring true to the typical blue collar, lower to middle class individual in the United States.
Crime and criminality in America are not aspects of our society that one wants to be exposed to, especially if an individual is not involved in criminal acts. However, crimes seem to get our attention as much as act of altruism, and even more at times. Individuals have learned that if they commit acts of violence, they are able to secure attention that would have othwerwise been almost impossible to secure without some acts of breaking the law. The media is not the only agent that takes notice whenever criminals acts are committed. People in general take notice and if the act is severe enough, government typically pays attention by becoming involved in the matter.
It is definitely a shame that individuals have to resort to violence to get attention to matters that affect the majority of individuals within our society. Let us hope that it does not take another major act of violence to open up our eyes to the possibility that the next person committing the act could be you or your neighbor.