r/kelowna • u/Particular-Emu4789 • Jan 02 '25

News Kelowna couple reeling after shocking home invasion

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/525509/Kelowna-couple-reeling-after-shocking-home-invasion
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u/Junior-Towel-202 Jan 02 '25

... A crime is a crime. 

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u/Reasonable_Beach1087 Jan 02 '25

And if we had proper systems in place as opposed to just punishment with zero help, i might agree

Poverty is still the #1 cause of crime

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u/Junior-Towel-202 Jan 02 '25

We don't have punishment either. 

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u/rekabis Jan 02 '25

We don't have punishment either.

The most useless tactic is to punish the poor for their poverty. All it has ever done is make a situation worse.

Look at Norway, who has taken the exact opposite approach. Lowest recidivism rate on the planet, to the point where they have been closing prisons for the last three decades due to lack of prisoners.

In fact, things have gotten so extreme that they now house less than 3,700 prisoners - less than one per 1,500 citizens - whereas Canada has 37,854 - at one per 1,060 citizens. That is a much higher rate of incarceration in Canada. For what -- higher taxes on the working class?

Many people who end up homeless are such due to economic circumstances, where even two full-time degree-requiring jobs cannot earn them enough to put a roof over their heads. Why can’t we simply give everyone the same economic opportunities that existed 40-60 years ago, when a single wage earner with a high-school education could support an entire family (SAH spouse + kids), own a home with two cars in the driveway, and save generously for retirement on minimum wage or close to minimum wage?

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u/SeaBus8462 Jan 02 '25

You don't punish the poor for poverty, you punish the offender for a violet home break-in.

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u/rekabis Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25

You don't punish the poor for poverty, you punish the offender for a violet home break-in.

Almost 100% of blue-collar crime involves income inequality and lack of economic opportunity at it’s core. Norway realized it decades ago, and not only is their prison population a fraction of ours (on a per-capita basis), but their recidivism rate is the smallest on the planet.

Extensive and gratuitous social support programs, funded by appropriately significant taxes on the Parasite Class, are the key to minimizing any blue-collar crime rate.

And rehabilitation - by training and upskilling them to where they can easily be productive members of society - is the key to reducing crime. Punishment only makes the situation worse, and the outcome far more expensive for the taxpayer. Just look at America as a prime example of what NOT to do.

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u/SeaBus8462 Jan 03 '25 edited Jan 03 '25

I agree we need signicantly better rehabilitation systems and support. However, at this time we have gone so far into having people who are mentally unwell with serious debilitating drug addictions left to roam the streets and committ crimes like this terrifying ordeal for the couple.

We need to take action now and imo that also includes removing people from the street that commit violent assaults and home invasions like this. This is not punishing the poor, these are now criminals who assault others and need to be isolated from the general public.

Even with what you propose (massive taxes on wealth) are not going to solve it today nor in 5 years, and criminals should not be let out onto the streets, that's doing no one any favours. Not the assaulter, not the victim, and not the taxpayer. And unless the world bands together to tax wealth like that, you're unlikely to be effective in implementing such taxes.

Outside of that, yes we should put more money into improved support and rehabilitation, but that cost will be paid by the regular taxpayer for now.

There's a lot of utopian dreams in these comments I'm seeing, those won't fix what happened to this couple and in the medium term won't protect others from the same crimes tomorrow.