[lbo-talk] Why is violent crime so rare in Iceland?

Wojtek S wsoko52 at gmail.com
Fri May 17 06:16:17 PDT 2013


Iceland is awash in guns, yet it has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world. US law student Andrew Clark asks why.

First - and arguably foremost - there is virtually no difference among upper, middle and lower classes in Iceland. And with that, tension between economic classes is non-existent, a rare occurrence for any country. Continue reading the main story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22288564#story_continues_3> “Start Quote

The tycoon's children go to school with everyone else”

Björgvin SigurðssonSocial Democratic Alliance

A study of the Icelandic class system done by a University of Missouri master's student found only 1.1% of participants identified themselves as upper class, while 1.5% saw themselves as lower class.

The remaining 97% identified themselves as upper-middle class, lower-middle class, or working class.

[...]

The country ranks 15th in the world in terms of legal per capita gun ownership. However, acquiring a gun is not an easy process -steps to gun ownership include a medical examination and a written test.

[...]

In addition, there are, comparatively speaking, few hard drugs in Iceland.

According to a 2012 UNODC report, use among 15-64-year-olds in Iceland of cocaine was 0.9%, of ecstasy 0.5%, and of amphetamines 0.7%.

There is also a tradition in Iceland of pre-empting crime issues before they arise, or stopping issues at the nascent stages before they can get worse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22288564

[WS:] Again, it is culture of violence, not access to tools of violence that matters. -- Wojtek

"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."



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