Crime is Pride

Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yeilds when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil: The only

Crime is pride.

This excerpt makes the assertion that the only crime is pride is not a valid. First off, the word only is an absolute word meaning no other solutions, subjects, or outcomes are possible. To say that pride is the only crime is not entirely correct. Of course, following what the author is thinking, crime is certainly a crime but it is not the only crime. Many other things can cause crimes such as greed and poverty.

One cause of crimes is greed. Some people own a factories and work their employees extremely hard in horrible conditions at a low wage. They do this just so they can sell more products and make more money. This happened all the time in the U.S. during the Gilded Age. At the time it wasn’t a legal crime yet but it was a moral crime that shocked and angered many people.

Some might say that these company owners were prideful in that they didn’t stop to help their workers. They didn’t change their ways and make less required work hours or higher wages. That is true however it started with greed. They had the desire to make money, to become rich and famous. That is why the owners forced their workers in such horrible conditions in the first place. While in the end it was pride that stopped them from changing their ways it was greed that caused them to start their crimes.

Another unfortunate cause of crimes is poverty. It happens everyday, children are starving on the street so they steal tourists’ money or grocers’ produce to fill their bellies.Stealing is a crime but these children can’t stop stealing or they will starve and die. Does that make them bad people? No, they are just trying to get by day to day. They’re not doing it out of spite or bad intentions.

           So, no the assertion that the only crime is pride is not a valid statement.

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