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I just watched this brief and interesting report on the phenomenon of a spike in petty crime committed by the elderly in Japan. Just more proof that seniors the world over are struggling just to survive changes in family structure, the economy and strained social support systems in a country with one of the oldest populations. Currently 1 out of every 3 people is 65+ -- or 29% of the total count. Italy is 24%, Germany is 22% and the US is 18%.
https://youtu.be/A3Jbk49tCr8?si=117Ur_-PW8hv9aW3

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Could it be that elderly populations are realizing that they are unlikely to be punished for petty crime? From what I can tell, younger populations aren't punished much either. Takeovers of city streets and shopping malls, shoplifting, beach riots on spring break, whatever. Unfortunately, we defunded the police in many places. We admire sports heroes who are punks and thugs. So what if a 65-year-old man steals a grapefruit from the supermarket? Who cares? (Except for you and me, of course.)
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Fawnby, they are shoplifting essentials and many are so old they are not punished. Others want to get caught because Japanese jails are much nicer than living on the streets: in jail they get “3 hots and a cot”. Yes, every country has homeless people it’s just so much more tragic when they’re in their 90s and shocking when it’s in a wealthy and “orderly” country.
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Japan stopped having kids. Men worked long hours away from their wives for decades only to end up with shaky marriages and no growing family. They are not in a good shape financially and are over taxed. The government funded retirement accounts are just not enough and with Japan continuing to struggle financially, thinks don't look great. With no descendants and a poor retirement plan, it's no wonder some are panicking.
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The world is all but in a global depression. If people can't afford to eat they're going to steal. Responsible adults aren't having children anymore because they can't afford them. The only populations that are booming are third-world countries and reckless people who don't provide for their kids. Then so many with no money, professional skills, or any way to support themselves and families migrate to places like Japan who didn't have the strictest immigration policies and they break their social service systems. Same thing happened in Western Europe and the Scandinavian nations. So there's very little left to support the non-migrant population of a country like the elderly, disabled, and their lower incomed citizens. Now factor in the prices of everyday things like food, fuel, housing, etc... and you're left with a whole segment of the population stealing to get by and living int he street.
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To understand why most industrialized countries are below replacement birthrate, I highly recommend watching the award-winning documentary "Birthgap" on YouTube.

The birthrates in 3rd world countries are also dropping but they were extremely high to begin with. Africa's (or is it India's?) average number of children per woman was 10 and now it is 4, so still above replacement (2.1) by a lot but dropping like a rock.

If poverty is the reason why people steal then why wasn't there a huge crime wave during the Great Depression? But maybe it's different now because there are less opportunies to make a living? The world is no longer in a consumption model of economics and we have nothing to replace it with right now. We may actually have to use Universal Income. The younger generation cannot carry the tax burden that the very large Boomer generation supported because it will result in what's happening in Japan and S Korea: the younger gen literally cannot afford children. In the US, the younger gen cannot afford to buy a house because they are still paying off their college loans.

Few people hear what's actually happening in China, which I follow closely. Their economy is in dire straits and their population numbers are crashing -- and no, they never did have 1.4 billion people and they don't have that now, plus they lost an astonishing number of their people during covid, which the CCP put a lot of effort into covering.
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@Geaton

There was huge crime waves during The Great Depression. Back then the people who had jobs often got paid literally in cash. My grandfather did. He also carried a gun on payday because he had to. Often the police used go on paydays and stay by the workers in line for pay. Not every time though. On payday men travelled in groups and escorted each other home. This was because down-and-out people would wait and follow them and they'd be robbed. Off-duty cops would escort women who worked to the banks where they'd deposit their pay.

Communities were different then than now especially in cities. There was usually always someone in a home 24/7. A woman with kids, other family members living in the home, and a male head of the house who came home after work. So there wasn't a lot of opportunity to rob a home.

A lot of crime from back then went unreported too. There was A LOT of domestic violence and child abuse going on in the Depression times. Many times my grandfather had to break it up when some neighbor was beating on his wife or kids.

Then there was the organized crime waves in ethnic neighborhoods that no one dared to report. My grandparents were Sicilian immigrants. My grandfather got shaken down by some capo every week for a cut of his pay. So did everyone else they knew. If you weren't paying it to an Italian boss you were paying up to some other kind. Crime in The Depression was crazy.
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