No western nation, locks up more of its own people, than the nation that claims the mantle of being the bastion of liberty, freedom, and opportunity. This would presuppose that there is indeed a serious disconnect between what the United States professes to be and what it so actually is. It would seem then that America must then be a nation that has some very troubling societal problems that are unsolvable, and also systemic – for why else would they have so many criminals?
Yet, as many as this nation has locked up, the makeup of those so incarcerated, clearly reflects that America has a propensity and a preference to lock up those that are minorities, ill-educated, poor, defenseless, un-championed, as well as often these people originating from environments that are not conductive to the creation of good citizens. This then is a clear indication that when it comes to criminality, that America has a penchant to lock up in particular, certain peoples, probably because they are easy targets to incarcerate, and based upon that fact, discriminatory.
The thing about America is that because it is the wealthiest nation that the world has ever known, and of which, there seems to be inborn within Americans, an abiding desire to “keep up with the Joneses” that this definitely breeds an attitude for many a person, of doing whatever that it takes to achieve success, licit or illicit. So then, in America, there is also a fairly sizable amount of what has been designated as “white-collar” crime, in which the crimes so being committed, are non-violent to other people, and thus consist of fraudulent activities so meant to extract money, by unjust means, in a clearly illicit way from the party that has been victimized to the other party so committing that white-collar crime.
The thing about crimes being committed by impoverished people, is that it doesn’t much matter what the Constitution does or does not stipulate, the bottom line is that people without money and without status are going to be routinely convicted, because they have not the tools or the knowledge to successfully fight against a conviction, and in consideration that well over 90% of criminal cases are resolved through a plea bargain, which is basically a form of coercion, the disenfranchised of America, are going to thus be locked up. On the other hand, a lot of those people, that commit white-collar crimes, actually have some money, though, of course, they want more; and frequently they have some access to people of influence, or if lacking that, a connection to a competent attorney that knows the ropes.
So then, rob a bank for $500, go to jail for twenty years; but on the other hand, embezzle thousands upon thousands of dollars, or trade in the market via insider knowledge, and in a lot of those cases, a deal will be worked out, in which, no time will be served, of which, a typical result might be a lessening of the charges, leading to a monetary fine, and perhaps some community service, as well. In this nation, those that know the right people, or have influence, or can lawyer up, are going to find that the law works entirely differently for them, as opposed to those that have nothing; because in America, it’s all about punishing the weak, and treating those with influence, favorably.