"Rich kid" robber Junaid: But will we re-think crime, punishment, and society?

News story: Rich 19-year-old Karachi kid, son of a billionaire, mill-owner - Junaid Abbas - arrested for 100+ robberies carried by him & his gang. Believes "crime is an art."


A Karachiite blogger comments:

If asked the reason for crime, the gut reaction is poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, etc. But proving all of those wrong, the scion of a wealthy industrialist was finally caught after embarking on an orgy of theft and looting. The reason? "Crime is an art". I'm just glad that Karachi has one less teenager drunk on his family's power to worry about.
From: Karachi Metroblog, Nov 2006 archives

The general consensus of the blog readers, and citizens otherwise, is: "Spoilt brat. Must be killed/ shot/ hanged/ severely punished." It is feared, almost "expected" actually, that his wealth will finally set him free.

My family was severely hit by an armed robbery a few years ago, when we lost most of our possessions. The incident prompted us to think about the nature and reasons of crime. What I am going to share now is not based on abstract ideas, but personal experience.

These are my comments on the blog post above, edited slightly:

Ahem.

1. IS BEING RICH AN ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE?
The "privilege" of being rich exists only in our head. It seems to most of us, and admittedly to myself still, that being rich is some kind of ticket to elimination of all problems. To cut a very long theory short, I believe there is a "critical point" for material resources and the social status that comes with it. If one is below that critical point, they are really in need of help and their actions are driven by pathological problems. Hunger, disease, illiteracy, and no access to freedom of opinion are the hallmarks of being below that threshold. These are people who truly are exempt from the usual explanations and therefore, punishments. For them, the law must bend because they are the result of the society's neglect.

Above that threshold, a person may still be not very rich, or very rich... but they all have problems according to their own situation. They all equal in the eyes of law.

BUT WHAT I WANT TO SAY IS THIS: Just like we give no excuse to the rich for such desperate crime, we can give no excuse to the poor. Social scientists and workers and thinkers would, as Cy mentions, quickly see causes such as poverty and desperation as triggers of crime. But that's a no-brainer.

How about the rich? How about a kid who had no choice to be born in a rich household - just like no one chose to be born poor?

2. WHEN THE SOCIETY DOES NOTHING, IS IT NOT A PASSIVE CRIMINAL?
Ethics and corrections and the support of the society must be awarded to all its members. I feel very deeply that we are not, as a society, helping any of our members. And we readily award the "You are evil" decree to anyone.

Look at ourselves - mostly middle-class readers of this site [Karachi Metroblog]. Do we take any account of the gross negligence, social non-participation, and outright wrongs that we commit? Many of us regularly disrespect the law.

...[Crime is] a human trait, and little to do with the amount of money people have. To see this man's problem as only an issue of wealth is wrong. In fact, I believe his problem is just what is the problem of poor kids: TOO MANY RESOURCES, AND NOTHING TO DO. Rich people have money, poor people have time. And we all burn it.

No human society anywhere will progress unless ALL its members are actively involved in its development. How many of us, when we meet a rich person, invite them to do something productive or good, and not instead worry about "how can I get a car like theirs?"

3. COME. THINK. CHANGE.
I invite us all to pause and reflect for a few moments. The human society will keep on suffering if it doesn't realize the relative importance of all its constituents.

In simpler words: everyone - rich, poor, man, woman, artist, scientist, critic, designer, philosopher, businessperson, idle thinker, sweeper, beautician, policeman, doctor, teacher, religious scholar, child, youth, adult, disabled, sportsperson, insects, reptiles, plants, worms, sun, moon - HAVE THEIR OWN PART TO PLAY. We cannot survive without any of those. Which logically means that all and any of these are USEFUL.

4. STEP OUT OF THE BLAME GAME
It is strange how we spend the best of our time and energy blaming and ridiculing those who are not who we are. And even those who are like ourselves! It's like the foot blaming the nose for not walking, and the nose sulking at the knee for not sneezing out the germs.

Look again at all the above types of humans and things I have listed, and you can recall how each and everyone of these have been blamed for all ailments.

Men are bad. Women are bad. Children are stupid. Youth are careless. Artists are losers. Thinkers are useless. Businesspeople are wicked. Sweepers are lowly. Disabled are burdensome. Active people are aggressive. Religious scholars are mad. Reptiles are creepy. The sun is too hot. The winter is too cold. Poor people are criminals. Rich people are carefree...

Only "I" am right.

OPEN YOUR MINDS!

5. JUNAID'S FATE: GIVE CRIMINALS A CHANCE! TO REFORM, THAT IS.
BTW, I don't [advocate that] this man should be left off the hook. The crimes have been done. Junaid Abbas must face the consequences and I sincerely hope that his wealth does not change law's mind. That he has been caught and that someone dared report him, and the police held him are positive signs. Given the misery, fear, and poverty in which many of our law-enforcing police officers live themselves, this is a very courageous deed.

What I have written above is our "food for thought" in general and for future.

I also hope, for the good of the society, that given that this young man has indeed a lot of resources and obvious "talent" put to an ill use, that he is counselled. Unless he has killed someone, he is going to live. He should not carry on as a criminal, but a reformed man. He must be given that chance.

His mind may be sick, but those with healthy minds must seek healthy solutions.

Thank you for thinking.

Feedback: nextbyramla (aht) gmail

Edit: I realized on second thought that it was gratuitous to use the term "rich kid" without inverted commasin the title earlier. The derogatory term itself has to be re-thought. That's why, I now have it as a quote. Until a better concept is found...

To be is the answer!

Having said that, there is a quote that has often inspired me:

Near the end of life, it's not what we have done that we regret, but that which we have not done.

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Only one life to love!

A job that I took up - a mere act of chance - demanded indirectly that I get involved in career counselling. Actually, it was a role that I got myself into as I counselled myself and felt basically distraught at the side of humanity that revealed itself to me during the many interviews I took and trainings I gave.

In two words: sad people.

I decided to travel a little back up the value chain and educate. There, too, I met sad people. Which was a bit shocking since I thought disillusionment only comes with job searches or unhappy careers.

There is a solution. It's very simple, yet cunningly elusive. It's called, "Do what you love."

Problem is, in the process of growing up, many of us have forgotten precisely that: what do we love?

I taught Entrepreneurship in a class last year. In one of the session where I brought up the subject of love - myself trying to understand my own love those days - I had an astounding experience. The students didn't remember what they loved as a child. A few gave a very forced out opinion. They loved music and friends. But mostly, they were all quiet. It was shocking. Why, at least, one must know what one loves?

My habit is to always examine myself in the light of advice that I (have to) give others. It's actually a rather painful experience sometimes when someone asks me a question, and I realize, before giving them an advice, that I myeslf am in need of that advice. Now I do generally give the advice and lately, I have picked up the habit of maintaining silence at the question for as long as I don't find a personal answer. That can stretch for months, and perhaps will explain to some the "absences." Back I come to the topic...

I finally got some advice for myself in the last one year. I can't yet say I can truly define myself in terms of what I love or who I am (the endless exploration!) - but I know what really dawned on me is something that misses the most practical and open-eyed of us. The following quote is from Tickle.com - which has a fairly neat battery of career-related (and love-related!) tests. It sums up one critical idea that can drive us to find meaning and love in life.

Are you delaying reality?
Many people take temporary or unsatisfying jobs to make money before pursuing their dream job. This is a reasonable strategy. But have you ever met people who are in the same job five or ten years down the road, even though it isn't what they really want to do? The challenge is that pursuing your dreams may require a sacrifice in lifestyle, time, or money. Unfortunately, too many people get used to a certain lifestyle and aren't willing to make the necessary changes. As a result it can be difficult to give up what a person is accustomed to, even if it's not ultimately fulfilling. It can also be tempting to some people to hold on to a dream and not pursue it in order to avoid failing. Remind yourself: There are no dress rehearsals in life. Everyday you don't work towards pursuing your goals is another day you're delaying the fulfillment of your dreams. Go for what you really want today; you don't want to look back on your life with regret.

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What is creativity?

What is creativity?

Idealog has a definition:

Creativity is making something new from two old things.

I endorse that we do not create something out of nothing. Another closer definition of creativity – my personal belief – is:

Creativity is seeing the connection between things, and putting those connections together in novel and useful ways.

I have made this definition up as an extraction of various thoughts. Leonardo da Vinci had a name for seeing the connection between things: connessione.

Notice the word “useful” in my definition. A creation is not creative if it's irrelevant, doesn't solve a problem or create an opportunity, or serve a purpose - whatever that purpose may be.

E-mail: nextbyramla AT gmail.com

"Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust"

Tom Peters quotes the obvious from The Speed of Trust – a book by Stephen M. R. Covey, son of the legendary Stephen Covey who wrote 7 Habits of the Highly Effective People. The quote is:

"Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust."
Stephen M. R. Covey

Anna Farmery broods:

I find Nothing is as fast as the speed of MIStrust!.....trust builds over time and I have never equated it with speed. Branding being a product or Brand You, depends on building trust over time. Now Mistrust can be instant and can spread like wild fire! It is a great quote but in what context?

Tom Peters laments that it is a “good point.”

Since I love finding context for truths, I don’t think I will give up on this one. Here is what I think solves the conundrum:

There is a (philosophical) context for "nothing is as fast as the speed of trust."

As I see it, there are 2 kinds of activities in the world: create something, or idle. Those who create something are the ones with a purpose. Those who idle have to follow the law: "there is no such thing as a vaccum." Over time, they also get a purpose: which is to take down or destroy or waste things. This is what is known as the "negative mindset" - the reactive mindset - the reactive group of people.

So we end up with basically two broad classes of people: the purpose-driven, action-oriented people, and those who do everything else. There are then two "worlds:" the reative, positive world where good, beneficial, interesting things are being created. And the other world, which is busy with everything else, often the sum of their activities being (self-)destructive.

In the first world, "nothing is as fast as the speed of trust." Because mistrust or lack of trust means that the creative process in that world is slowing down and time is being spent on getting things right rather than getting things done.

In the second world, things depend on whatever is influencing that world at any given time. Generally, mistrust would pervade. Mistrust can travel faster than the speed of light - but it is serving any purpose?

So what do you think? Does trust emerge a winner?