The War on Crime: How Enlightenment Socialism Breaks the Chains and Ends the Cycle

We are living in a system that thrives on the very existence of crime. Not because crime is some inevitable consequence of human nature, but because the system is engineered for it. The private prison industry, in particular, is a profit-driven monster—a parasite that feeds off the pain and desperation of those caught in the web of its own creation. Today, I’m going to break down how we can abolish crime at its core by dismantling the systems that create it. And I’m going to show you how Enlightenment Socialism is the key to solving this problem for good.

So, what’s the real source of crime? It’s not some flaw in human nature. It’s not the idea that some people are born evil or predisposed to break the law. No. Crime, at its root, comes from four systemic categories: crimes of need, crimes of greed, crimes of passion, and crimes of cognitive divergence.

Let’s talk about these. Crimes of need are the most obvious. People steal because they need food, shelter, or medicine. We live in a world where access to basic resources is hoarded by the few, and those at the bottom are left scrambling to survive. And let’s not pretend it’s random. Capitalism creates this. People are forced into crime by their circumstances, because their survival depends on it.

Then we have crimes of greed. The fraud, the embezzlement, the exploitation of workers, the system that’s rigged to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. This is a crime of the system itself. The whole system incentivizes wealth hoarding and inequality. Greed becomes necessary to maintain one's status, to keep climbing the social ladder, to ensure you don’t get trampled by the people above you. Capitalism is structured to ensure that greed remains a part of the game. If it wasn’t, the system wouldn’t work the way it does.

But then we get to crimes of passion. These are the crimes driven by emotion—anger, jealousy, heartbreak. These are the crimes that happen when people are pushed to their limits, when their emotions spill over because they’ve been pressed down for too long. These crimes might seem individual, but again, they’re deeply tied to the systemic stresses of life under capitalism. Emotional crises are often made worse by economic pressures. A person might lash out because they feel helpless and trapped in a system that doesn’t offer them a way out.

And finally, we have crimes of cognitive divergence—mental health issues, disorders like sociopathy or kleptomania that cause individuals to break the law, not out of need, but because of how their minds work. These individuals are often not receiving the proper care, not because they’re “bad,” but because our society has failed to provide the support they need. We toss these people in jail instead of offering the rehabilitation they require.

So, these four types of crime—need, greed, passion, and cognitive divergence—they’re all products of a system built on scarcity, exploitation, and isolation. And it’s in this system that the prison-industrial complex thrives. The private prison system doesn’t care about rehabilitation or reducing crime. It thrives on recidivism. The more people it can keep locked up, the more money it makes. Repeat offenders are return customers, and the system feeds off of their misery.

But here’s where Enlightenment Socialism comes in. This isn’t just about fixing the criminal justice system—it’s about transforming the system that creates crime in the first place. Enlightenment Socialism removes scarcity by ensuring that everyone’s basic needs—food, shelter, healthcare—are met. People won’t need to steal to survive because everyone will have access to what they need. The need-driven crimes? Gone.

But we’re not stopping there. In a society where wealth is no longer hoarded, greed disappears. When resources are shared, not exploited, there’s no need for people to cheat, steal, or manipulate. Greed is a product of capitalism’s artificial scarcity. Once that scarcity is removed, we’ll find that greed is no longer an instinctive necessity—it’s just another symptom of an unjust world that’s been cured.

Now, let’s talk about crimes of passion. The anger, the rage, the deep sense of disempowerment that drives people to lash out in violent or reckless ways. In a society that isn’t based on economic inequality, those pressures disappear. Instead of struggling just to survive, people will have the time, resources, and emotional support to work through their problems. There will still be conflict—human nature doesn’t just evaporate—but we won’t have a system where anger becomes the only outlet for a life of frustration.

And what about crimes of cognitive divergence? For those with mental health struggles, Enlightenment Socialism provides comprehensive mental health care, not just as an afterthought but as a fundamental part of society. Kleptomania, sociopathy, other disorders won’t be criminalized and punished—they’ll be treated and understood. These people won’t be left to rot in prisons; they’ll be given the care they need to live full lives.

Now, let’s talk about POSIWID—the principle that stands for “The Purpose of a System Is What It Does.” Look at our current justice system, look at the prison-industrial complex. The purpose of the system is to punish and control. That’s it. It doesn’t fix the problems that lead to crime. It doesn’t address the systemic failures that create criminal behavior. The system we have right now is designed to keep people in a cycle of harm, where punishment becomes the default response to suffering.

But in an Enlightenment Socialist system, POSIWID shifts. The purpose of the system becomes about restoration, about healing, about ending the cycle of harm and creating a world where people don’t need to break the law to survive. This new system is built on justice, equality, and mutual care. The state’s role isn’t to punish—it’s to restore balance and provide support.

So, how does Enlightenment Socialism solve the systemic causes of crime? It eliminates the root causes—it takes away the pressures that create need, it abolishes greed, it provides mental health support, and it creates a system where passion is channeled into healthy expression. The criminal justice system as we know it? It fades away. Because it’s not needed. Crime, in this new world, becomes a relic of the past. And instead of prisons, we have spaces of rehabilitation, spaces of learning, and growth.

This is the world we can create—if we choose it. This isn’t just a dream. It’s a choice. The systems we have in place today are broken and unjust. We can fix them, but it requires a complete transformation. That transformation? Enlightenment Socialism.

The question is—do we want this future? If we do, then it’s time to fight for it. Not with violence, not with division, but with the power of ideas, reform, and the courage to build something new.