(The Western Socialist, No.1 – 1967) The Washington Post, Sept. 11, 1965, editorially chided President Johnson for “permitting his enthusiasm to run away with his judgment (in his pledge) not only to reduce crime but to banish It.” We must have a “new approach to crime,” wrote the editor. And he quite properly pointed out that: “Crime is not committed in a vacuum. It is only a product of the environment which this generation and its predecessors have created.. .The crime commissions are likely, therefore, to find themselves wrestling (our emphasis) with the basic social problems of the age.”
One would assume, then, that “the new approach to crime” would wrestle with “the basic social problems of the age.” Modern society Is a class society where the ownership of the wealth produced by the vast portion of the population (the working class) belongs to (is the property of) the relatively few owners of the means of wealth production (the capitalist class). We live in a property society whether it be privately or state owned. The sanctity of property rights is the holy of holies. Basically, crime consists in violations of these property relationships in their many and various aspects. (An exception can be made for the relatively few pathological “crimes.”)
Possibly the classic treatment (in the scientific sense) of crime can be seen in Banger’s Criminality and Economic Conditions.” *
“While most authors who have published studies upon the question have thought it unnecessary to give an exposition of the economic system in which we live, or perhaps have given a little attention to it along with other social conditions, I shall begin by setting forth the present economic system ‘as that upon which the other parts of the social life rest. These I shall treat in their turn in so far as they are connected with criminality. . . Then I shall investigate the question of how far criminality, under its different forms, is the consequence of the condition we have found.” (page 246).
In a particularly interesting observation, Bonger stated that “The theory of Marx and Engels results in our having a method of investigation already marked out.” His detailed, documented study ranged over the entire field of specitlc crimes. It would take a column of this journal just to list the various categories he analyzes. Of special interest to our readers would be his observation on militarism:
“But the army serves not only to act against the foreigner, it has equally a domestic duty to fulfill. In the cases where the police cannot maintain order the army reinforces them. The army most especially is ‘active at the time of great strikes, when so-called free labor is to be protected, that is, when employers are trying to replace the striking workmen with others who, in consequence of their poverty, or their lack of organization, put their personal interests above that of their comrades.
“Our present militarism is, therefore, a consequence of capitalism. Tho double duty of the army proves it; for its function is to furnish the bourgeoisie with the means of restricting the proletariat at home, and of repulsing or attacking the forces of foreign countries!’ (p. 375)
A “NEW” APPROACH?
In the name of a “new” approach, the Washington Post editor trots out the old, discredited theory that no one “can be seriously expected to devise means of correcting all the deficiencies in human nature that lead to violations of the law.” Just what does he mean by deficiencies? “Greed,” “selfishness,” devil-take-the- hindmost “callousness,” “criminality,” “brutality,” and other “sins”? These are but descriptions of human behavior. Given class relations and property interests, such behaviors are the consequences. In a dog-eat- dog society, dog-eat-dog behavior results.
No responsible criminologist any longer gives credence to the theory that “criminal types” are responsible for violations of the law. “Human nature” and “human behavior” are not synonomous terms. “Human nature” refers to the biological nature of man. We inherit human characteristics, such as our highly developed thinking apparatus and our gregariousness, etc., which distinguish us from our ancestors in the animal kingdom. Humans do have “instincts” (unconditioned responses) triggered by physiological, unconditioned stimuli. Such instincts as rage, fear, love are tracable to biological evolution~ These physiological emotions are transmitted through the genes in our chromosomes. However, there are no hereditary carriers of moral concepts or ethical values. These can only be acquired in our environment.
The things that enrage us, the situations we fear, our loves, etc. are conditioned in our environments. Our concepts are obtained in the world in which we live. Human behavior is the product of the milieu to which we are exposed. To project human nature as the cause for the violation of laws is to forget that laws are man-made and are constantly subjected to changes and amendments in response to changing requirements in society.
The editorial urges the President to convert the idea of punishment into the protection of society and the rehabtlitation of the offending individuals.” Protection of whose society? Present-day society is governed by a ruling class whose interests are in conflict with the vast portion of the population. In fact, capitalist society is typified by conflicts of interest on every level. Inherent to such a society is the need for punishing offenders of those in power.
To quote Bonger: “(A crime) is an act prejudicial to the interests of those who have the power at their command.. . Power, then, is the necessary condition for those who wish to class a certain act as a crime.” (p,’ 379).
And to compound the confusion, what is meant by “rehabilitation”? Rehabilitation to insecurity, frustration, fears of poverty, etc. which confront all sectors of society? To a world in which success is measured by your cash resources? How you get it is unimportant, providing you do it legally or don’t get caught.
Finally, truth will out. Even the Washington Post must recognize it. This same editorial acknowledges: “Crime is not committed in a vacuum. It is the product of the environment which this generation and its predecessors have created.”
Yet the editor advised the President that we cannot banish crime on account of “human nature.” Socialists do not rely on either the President or the Washington Post to banish crime. That task is ours, the workers of the world.
RAB
* The American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology commissioned the noted criminologist, Professor
William Adrien Banger of Amsterdam, Netherlands to make a definitive study. The work was published by Little, Brown & Co.
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