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Japan is pretty famous for having almost no crime. I doubt they're debating crime-fighting. Their main problems as a society seem to be workaholism and a lack

by Arizhel 10y ago

Japan is pretty famous for having almost no crime. I doubt they're debating crime-fighting. Their main problems as a society seem to be workaholism and a lack of children, not crime or school quality. Here in the US, crime has been falling steadily for decades now, and no one's really sure why. One big theory is that the elimination of leaded gasoline had a big effect: our population was suffering from low-level lead poisoning from all the lead in the air and environment. But crime here is of course still much, much worse than Japan. Crime in England is probably significantly worse, with the main difference being that you don't have to worry much about getting shot over there, but you have to worry a lot more about being mugged or knifed.

lhopki01 10y ago
Crime is England is a lot worse than Japan or the US?
- nkoren 10y ago
  Um, no. It's FAR safer than the US, but not nearly as safe as Japan (but then, what is)? Comparing crime statistics is notoriously difficult due to differences in methodologies and reporting rates, but "homicide" is one statistic that has sufficiently uniform categorisation and reporting rate as to enable a comparison. Doing that, you can see that the US is about 4 times worse than the UK, and 13 times worse than Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... Edit: perhaps the grandparent comment meant that crime in England was "a lot worse" than in Japan? If so, then yes that's true.
  - Arizhel 10y ago
    As you said, it's hard to compare because of methodology and such. Yes, the US looks bad when you average everything together, but that ignores that some places are very different from others. Basically, if you stay out of blighted urban districts ("ghettos"), you're far less likely to suffer from violent crime. Many of the homicides here are because of gang violence, something that really only affects gang members and people living around them.
    - lhopki01 10y ago
      If you take out areas with high crime in any country then of course the statistics look better. Similarly of course it's possible to find areas in one country that are safer than areas in another country if you want to.
      - Arizhel 10y ago
        You're ignoring the fact that there's a huge racial division in the US. If you're a white person, gang warfare in the black or hispanic ghettos simply does not present a danger to you the way it does to those minorities. (Note I'm not saying these problems shouldn't be dealt with or that these minorities should be ignored or that the deserve it, just that this is the reality on the ground.) From what I can tell, in European countries the divide isn't so stark and middle-class-and-up people are more likely to be victims of petty and street crime like muggings. Here, if you're a white suburban dweller, you just don't have to worry about being victimized in a mugging or carjacking very much, while in the ghettos you definitely do.
suaveybloke 10y ago
Where is your source for crime in England being "significantly" worse than the US?
gaius 10y ago
Japan is pretty famous for having almost no crime. I doubt they're debating crime-fightin The reason for this is not generally applicable outside extremely homogeneous populations.
- throwaway13231 10y ago
  Singapore is one of the most diverse countries in Asia and has similar crime rates to Japan.
  - ng12 10y ago
    Singapore is over 75% ethnically Chinese. That's still remarkably homogeneous by US standards.
  - gaius 10y ago
    It depends what you mean by "diverse". You could say Switzerland is diverse, they speak 3 languages there, but there is an essential Swissness that everyone generally agrees on. I believe the same is true of Japan. Maybe the word I actually wanted was somewhere between homogeneous and harmonious.
    - kalleboo 10y ago
      Over 15% of Singapore's population are non-citizens ("foreign talent"), so whatever they're doing it's not the same as Switzerland
- mafribe 10y ago
  Singapore has similarly low crime figures and is not remotely as homogeneous as Japan.
- clock_tower 10y ago
  What's the reason, then? Looking at Appalachia and southern Italy, I don't see any reason to believe that ethnic/racial/cultural homogeneity is a magic bullet.

by Arizhel 10y ago

lhopki01 10y ago

Crime is England is a lot worse than Japan or the US?

nkoren 10y ago
Um, no. It's FAR safer than the US, but not nearly as safe as Japan (but then, what is)? Comparing crime statistics is notoriously difficult due to differences in methodologies and reporting rates, but "homicide" is one statistic that has sufficiently uniform categorisation and reporting rate as to enable a comparison. Doing that, you can see that the US is about 4 times worse than the UK, and 13 times worse than Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... Edit: perhaps the grandparent comment meant that crime in England was "a lot worse" than in Japan? If so, then yes that's true.
- Arizhel 10y ago
  As you said, it's hard to compare because of methodology and such. Yes, the US looks bad when you average everything together, but that ignores that some places are very different from others. Basically, if you stay out of blighted urban districts ("ghettos"), you're far less likely to suffer from violent crime. Many of the homicides here are because of gang violence, something that really only affects gang members and people living around them.
  - lhopki01 10y ago
    If you take out areas with high crime in any country then of course the statistics look better. Similarly of course it's possible to find areas in one country that are safer than areas in another country if you want to.
    - Arizhel 10y ago
      You're ignoring the fact that there's a huge racial division in the US. If you're a white person, gang warfare in the black or hispanic ghettos simply does not present a danger to you the way it does to those minorities. (Note I'm not saying these problems shouldn't be dealt with or that these minorities should be ignored or that the deserve it, just that this is the reality on the ground.) From what I can tell, in European countries the divide isn't so stark and middle-class-and-up people are more likely to be victims of petty and street crime like muggings. Here, if you're a white suburban dweller, you just don't have to worry about being victimized in a mugging or carjacking very much, while in the ghettos you definitely do.

suaveybloke 10y ago

Where is your source for crime in England being "significantly" worse than the US?

gaius 10y ago

Japan is pretty famous for having almost no crime. I doubt they're debating crime-fightin The reason for this is not generally applicable outside extremely homogeneous populations.

throwaway13231 10y ago
Singapore is one of the most diverse countries in Asia and has similar crime rates to Japan.
- ng12 10y ago
  Singapore is over 75% ethnically Chinese. That's still remarkably homogeneous by US standards.
- gaius 10y ago
  It depends what you mean by "diverse". You could say Switzerland is diverse, they speak 3 languages there, but there is an essential Swissness that everyone generally agrees on. I believe the same is true of Japan. Maybe the word I actually wanted was somewhere between homogeneous and harmonious.
  - kalleboo 10y ago
    Over 15% of Singapore's population are non-citizens ("foreign talent"), so whatever they're doing it's not the same as Switzerland
mafribe 10y ago
Singapore has similarly low crime figures and is not remotely as homogeneous as Japan.
clock_tower 10y ago
What's the reason, then? Looking at Appalachia and southern Italy, I don't see any reason to believe that ethnic/racial/cultural homogeneity is a magic bullet.