by New Unionist

About the author: New Unionist is the monthly newspaper published by the socialist New Union Party.

Even though the crime rate in the United States has been declining, people’s fear of crime keeps increasing.

Rising Fear of Crime

In part, this is due to profit-hungry news media sensationalizing violent crimes in a lurid race for ratings, and to fleabag politicians who run against “soft-on-crime liberals” in a squalid race for votes.

Still, fear of crime does have a basis in fact even if the crime rate is not rising. This is because violence is no longer confined to “rough” neighborhoods, but now can strike anyone, anywhere.

If people weren’t plagued by other very real fears and worries over their jobs and families, they’d be able to view the crime...