WET BANDITS

 I love me some Hughes movies. Ever see the one with the wet bandits? Where a dillinquent bound child, lost in a sea of siblings, gets abandoned at Christmas, only to take on and eventually expose two seasoned criminals? You should see it, it's a hoot.

I think that I have an opinion now about criminals, based on very shallow reading. About their IQs, about the nature of society as a whole over the course of the last century. I intend to expose these areas of injustice so the interested reader can form their own perspective. After all, criminality hits different in the individual.

Just got through reading an article, more  scholarly and abstract than newsworthy, on what makes the criminal in terms of intelligence quotient. The article briefly touched on the different variables that go into the making of a criminal. It also highlighted some of the points that have been at the heart of the issue. One point being that while there is a common concern within the scientific community as to whether IQ is bred by environment or is innate due to genetics, the idea that criminals are affected by socioeconomics doesn't matter. 

This was presented by saying it is "politically incorrect" to suggest that people have genetically received their portion of intellect. What could be wrong with this? Another article highlights that even in environments that are at high risk for falling into criminal behavior, the more intelligent person is better equipped to ward off such evils. 

The proof is there. In fact, it goes to show that being in the lowest bracket of socio-economics is an intolerable position, but can be managed by intelligence, which leads us to wonder if focusing on raising expectations for our poor could bring about and encourage successful behavior. Why is this such a hard endeavor? 

Whether IQ is born or bred, it still plays a significant role in criminality. Low IQ isn't about how well we solve crossword puzzles, most importantly, it is about how we are able to predict outcomes. Weighing the different variables and making wise choices doesn't even occur to certain individuals. This leads to a shallow excuse, that those with limited options will give in to environment. 

That is just not good enough. If environments are hopeless, what has the larger world done to deserve these small infractions paid to them in their safe havens? How do these criminals know where to go to steal, and not to engage in normal behaviors? 

This has profoundly affected certain institutions, namely education, where students are shuffled around to expose them to different circumstances. But has it made an impact?

Another article suggested that crime is effectively impossible to escape if it runs through society-wide. It suggests that no person is able to withstand societal pressure, or that we cannot see ourselves headed down the path of destruction. It reads like a fan of crime. Of course criminals are geniuses, they have to be able to get away with it!

According to all the evidence, the more crime we get away with,  the further entrenched we become. It isn't a matter of being saved by the Lutheran minister, either. Everyone is susceptible to falling into perdition.  

Whether or not IQ is born or bred is silly, by the way. Of course, these tests are designed to aid in surmounting the limits of what we can perceive of an individual by the face value we are presented, but emotional intelligence has become more important due to the areas IQ are lacking. EQ and IQ are a good estimate of the overall value of an individual, and there lies the answer to the big question: What makes a criminal?