by Richard L. Davis

About the author: Richard L. Davis is a professor of sociology at Quincy College in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He is also a retired police lieutenant.

To become properly acquainted with a truth we must first have disbelieved it, and disputed against it.

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898)

It is said that for every complex problem there is a simple and elegant solution that is wrong. I believe that our public policymakers love easy solutions. “Indians on good land? Move ’em out. You want Texas? Start a war with Mexico. Crime problem? Bring back the death penalty. Prayer in schools will solve the moral lapse of the nation. Busing schoolchildren will end racial segregation. Problems with domestic violence in our homes? Make a law that will forbid it. Those who have been abused...