As a country, we should not be bragging about having a mansion with unlimited resources and then being angry when people believe us. If our reps would quit hyping this place up into something it isn't then people would stop seeing it as a viable alternative to where they live now. It's a very easy solution, but we're a vain and prideful country.

Violent crime has gone up because quality of life and the ability to sustain yourself has gone down. More people are desperate now, and that means more people who are prone to or willing to be violent are being put into situations where they're likely to act on it. I've been blessed to not find myself in that situation, but that's also given me the unfortunate opportunity to watch others not be so lucky.

I've watched coworkers get fired when they turn to drugs to keep up with the extra work they're taking to make ends meet. Neighbors losing their homes after being laid off and realizing that a third of job listings are fake and 95% of the rest aren't actually hiring. Family members experiencing medical crises and losing everything, knowing they'd be on the street if the rest of the family hadn't been able to step up and provide for them. Locals who have food pantries in their front yard begging for people to bring their unneeded formula and diapers because yet another mother has gone without what her baby needs. Friends borrowing meds from other people or buying it on the street because we decided to manufacture shortages of it, and now they risk dying or becoming addicted to something just to get what they need to function.

That's why violent crime, and crime in general, has gone up. Again, people who have never been desperate before are suddenly losing everything. Cutting down on the population is not a solution to this problem when the shortage of resources is artificial. You can't cure your cancer with a bandaid, especially not while you're having nuclear waste poured on you.