Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gersh Avery who wrote (51884)	6/28/2011 12:46:20 PM
From: John	3 Recommendations Respond to of 103300

Are a gang of shoplifters violent criminals? Officially, a violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. Shoplifting alone is not officially classified by the FBI as a violent crime, but it does materially violate the owner of the property. For example, consider your losses if someone were to steal everything that you own, including all of your money, property, and other assets, consider. You would have to start over and replace everything. The crime of theft goes beyond a material loss. All of the years that you labored for those things would have been stolen from you as well. All of the bumps, bruises, and setbacks that you incurred along the way, while earning the material things in your life, would be lost as well. That is what theft really is at the root; a physical assault on you and your time. Think of it in a simpler way. Assume you're a 10-year old boy sweeping a warehouse floor to earn a quarter that you intend to use to buy an ice cream cone. Assume that it takes you an hour or so to sweep the floor. During that hour you fall down and bruise your knee. Afterwards, you go and buy your ice cream cone. Walking home, you sit the cone down on a park bench to tie your shoe. Meanwhile, another boy runs by and swipes it. He didn't threaten you in any way. He just took your ice cream cone that you worked an hour to earn. Your loss is material and physical. Consider what you actually lost... - the ice cream cone - the time it took to earn the quarter - the time it took to walk to the warehouse - the time it took to walk back home - the wear and tear on your clothes and your body from working and walking to and from the warehouse What must be added to the loss? - the minor injury that you incurred while laboring, which subtracts from the value of the quarter that you earned As you can see, the other boy took far more than just the ice cream cone. What is the difference between the other boy (a) stealing the cone without threatening you, and (b) wielding a knife and saying, "Give me that cone or I'll stab you"? The later was a violent crime, the former was not. The result was the same, minus the fear aspect of dealing with someone wielding a knife. Are drug offenders violent criminals? Using illegal drugs is not defined as a violent crime, but drug offenders commit a disproportionate amount of violent crimes, according to the FBI's uniform crime index.