Are you a Criminal?

  

Are You a Criminal

     Very simply, according to Google a Criminal is a person who commits a crime. Seems pretty clear cut, but is it? What if someone commits a crime that is later deemed not a crime? What if someone is found guilty to have committed a crime, but then it is discovered they were innocent? What about the "Founding Fathers" of this nation, do we consider them criminals for the act of committing high treason? These are questions I pose for the sake of understanding that being a criminal is more of a mindset that can't rightfully be placed as a label on just anyone who has committed a crime.

Do Yo Consider Yourself A Criminal

     The first thing you should take into account is whether you think of yourself as a criminal. Believe it or not, most criminals consider themselves criminals. One thing people forget is intention. Stephen Covey once said, "we judge ourselves by our intentions, and others by their actions". When criminals consider what they are and what they do, they usually focus on their motives for acting against the law as reason enough to do so. For some who decide, that it is better to destroy your family by selling them drugs than for mine to go hungry, is a noble intention wrapped in the guise of feeding their family. The law is not calculatedly when one chooses to make such a drastic decision to commit crime, like selling drugs. Rarely are the ramifications and affects that such a profession (I use the term loosely) may cause others deemed worthy of consideration and thereby leaving the individual with the stand alone belief that either they or their family eating is all that matters.

Everyday Criminal (Misdemeanors)

   Misdemeanor - a nonindictable offense, regarded in the US (and formerly in the UK) as less serious than a felony. A lot of folks don't consider these kind of crimes as those relating to "criminals".  There are those that commit misdemeanors every day but are never considered to be criminals, like my mother. According to the law in the state where she resides, buying and possessing marijuana is a crime. Yet, rarely is she without her weed, so she is in a constant state of criminal activity. Let’s remember that a criminal, according to google, is a person who commits a crime.

Above the Law

     Are you a politician or activists? A significant amount of the people that I speak with consider most politicians to be criminals but not activists, and vise versa. I think a common theme that works along the lines of all criminals is a perception that the individuals seem to believe they are above the law, the law doesn't apply to them, or the law is wrong. Politicians are commonly seen as criminals by their acts that appear to disregard the law. Activists are seen as criminals when they break the law in order to bring awareness and change to a particular legal issue. Now whether you think you’re above the law, the law is wrong, or it simply doesn't apply to you, is a question only you can answer.

Critical Thinking

     Do you have the ability to think critically? People with the ability to think critically can see that the world we live in is run by criminals. The only way to be free is to see beyond the reality of a ruling class of policy makers and live a life that makes you happy. Thinking critically allows one to question the validity of he law and make a personal determination as to whether the law is right or wrong, and act in a way they see as right regardless of said law.

The Legal System

     Do you need the legal system to exist to keep you from doing bad thing? The craziest thing about the legal system is it can allow the most reprehensible acts to go unpunished. The law is something that a lot of people would see as a pillar of a modern civilized society. However, a man can snatch a 7 year old girl off the street, violate every orifice of her tiny little body, chop her up, cook and eat most of her body, have a fair trial where the prosecution failed to provide some of the evidence to the defense, have a mistrial or worse, the man could beat the case altogether, and thereby legally he is

still not considered a criminal, justice (whatever your definition) hasn’t been served, and the law has made what the man did ok. That is likely to happen because criminals don’t tend to take too kindly to hurting children. We go round and round and the baseline for what is a criminal is quite simple… A criminal is a person who defines right and wrong for themselves. They don't allow the world to dictate what is right or wrong. The will go to any leangths to protect their family and be happy.

Well...?

     Those are some o the basic elements of the criminal mindset and the ignorance of the legal system. Examine the world around you and ask yourself the questions posed here. Remember that not everyone who has committed a crime is a criminal, and not every criminal commits crime for the sake of personal gain or to terrorize the public. There's a story behind every criminal. There's pain, loss, struggle, and a desire for better a world. Criminals are created by the law. A question for you to ponder, if there were no law, would we still have criminals?

T.D. Rucker

American Criminal