Some people believe that poverty is the cause of most crimes? Do you agree or disagree?

The common notion prevails in the minds of people is that among greed, lust, drug addiction and mental health issues being the cause of crimes, poverty is the greatest adversity that leads to the most crimes in the world. I vindicate this view since in my opinion poverty is such vice that it might lead a completely sane man to commit a crime so heinous that he wouldn’t think of doing it in normal circumstances.

Firstly, a poor man is prone to rob a wealthy man in a situation where he finds his child being hungry or ill and he is unable to produce food or medicine because he is out of work either because of limited job opportunities or any other reason. The temptation to loot might become stronger when he will encounter the elite class enjoying the luxuries of life while he and his offspring are deprived of basic necessities of life. This is one of the primary reasons of higher crime rate of developing nations.

The causation of crimes due to greed, lust and mental health issues also contribute to the total crime rate to some extent, nevertheless, poverty remains the primary reason. Greed of having more by unfair means, lechery and pedophilia might be eliminated from the members of the society by moral training and education but to eliminate crimes related to poverty, a stable economy is required where the goal of the government should be keeping the citizen above the poverty line, a goal in which most of the governments are struggling.

To conclude, when members of the society aren’t provided with the opportunities towards financial stability, when class difference prevails and they don’t have access to food, shelter and health facilities available to them, the poverty will remain the top reason of most crimes.