Monday, December 16, 2013

Economic Epidemiology

Yer Honor, I just had to do away with him. He was cheatin' at cards...Please your honor, my family was starving so I had to shoplift the giant economy pack of Beef Jerkey...Yes, your honor, I know I mis represented my undeclared income and failed to pay taxes on it, but after my unemployment ran out, I spent it all on my rent!
There has been a previously undiagnosed epidemic running rampant in America. There have been millions of victims for many, many years. The untreated victims have been persecuted and sent to debtors prisons and forced into years of economic slavery because until now, we were unaware of the tragedy of Povertyitus. The symptoms of Povertyitus went unrecognized and undiagnosed for years we blamed the sufferer and not the disease. Well, thanks to the discovery of another economic epidemic decimating the other end of the social structure of America, perhaps there is hope for the sufferers of Povertyitus....
It was brilliantly uncovered in the successful defense of the 16 year old Tarrant County, Texas spoiled drunken brat, Ethan Crouch, who after stealing liquor from a Walmart, crashed his car into a group of pedestrians, killing four and paralyzing another for life. He had a blood alcohol level of .24...three times over the legal limit. Crouch's lawyer had a psychologist testifying for the defense diagnosed Couch with "affluenza," a term popularized by British psychologist Oliver James to describe a pathological valuing of material wealth over all else. Couch's psychologist, G. Dick Miller, uses "affluenza" somewhat differently. For Miller, the term describes a condition in which a wealthy child is so over-indulged, he loses the capacity for responsible behavior.
According to the Star Telegram, Miller testified that Ethan was never disciplined, and enjoyed freedoms "no young person should have," including the freedom to drive since the age of 13:
“The teen never learned to say that you’re sorry if you hurt someone. If you hurt someone, you sent him money.”
In spite of being guilty of manslaughter and his previous 3 drunk driving arrests, The Texas court accepted the Affluenza Defense and put Crouch on probation and his parents have to pay a few hundred thou to have him rehabilitated. Can we get the same kind of justice, or something similar for the victims of Povertyitus? Maybe it would be symbolic compensation if the victims of Affluenza were made as part of their rehabilitative therapy to give some of the source of their affliction to the victims of Povertyitus, which would act as a preventative vaccine so to speak, there by curing two epidemics with one simple act! One epidemic could cancel the other! I'm brilliant, ehhh?????
Nahhhh........The victims of povertyitus could never afford the kind of expertise legal and psychiatric defense it would take to make this work in a Texas court of law. A public defender just doesn't have that kind of time. Texan Justice just doesn't have that kind of compassion or imagination. 
Meanwhile, Povertyitus spreads unchecked, claiming thousands of new victims daily and at the same time, alas, the Affluenza epidemic seems to be infecting more and more young wealthy brats by the hour. There was a very serious outbreak of Affluenza, just last week in Los Angeles. Last Wednesday, December 12, a $7 million LA-area mansion with no one at home set the stage for an epic party that will cost 16 teenagers some time in court after they trashed the place.
Some high-school students nearby announced a party in the property’s backyard on Twitter, Lt. Arthur Scott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Industry Station told KTLA TV on Wednesday. The property is on the market, listed at about $7 million. The teens broke into the home and did $1 million in estimated damages in what Scott described as a “free-for-all,” as they Tweeted selfies with stolen property like a suit of medieval armor and a stuffed snow leopard.
Police arrested 16 people — 13 juveniles and three 18-year-olds — after following the trail through social media where the participants posted their hijinks.

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My only question here, and this is going to be a tough one, is that this is the affluenza of the owner, Nick Radolfi, more powerful than the affluenza of these kids?

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