Erick Monkkonen's Homicide: Explaining America

As history has shown us, homicide in the United States is a differing matter than that of Europe. In Erick Monkkonen’s article, Homicide: Explaining America’s Exceptionalism, it is stated that one big difference between the two is their contrast in crime rates. Data shows that as Europe has experienced a decline in homicide and stabilization has occurred, the United States has had an increase in in murder occurrences. There is currently no explanation as to why these two nations experiences such a stark difference in homicide rates. When compared with other countries, the United States actually has murder rates similar to the poorest nations in the world. As the paper states, this fact contradicts the ideal experience of “well off” nations. …show more content…
This thus creates a culture that turns the other way when violent crime occurs. When we live in a society that allows citizens more liberty to “take care of the problem themselves” we then see In “Democracy Came Too Early” it is stated that “the street code emerges where the influence of police ends and personal responsibility for one’s safety is felt to begin.” In the United states the idea of individual needs comes before monopolization in all areas of power structures. This is one example that may explain why murder rates are higher in the US; people neglect to follow the rule of common idealistic laws. After all, there is statistically a 50/50 chance of getting away with murder; this shows that the United States functions on another level than other nations. As for the article Homicide in Los Angeles, an important point is made that contemporary homicide is not a “black problem”. Instead, it is important to note that historically more than half of all victims of murder were white; knowing this fact can call attention to the fact that all citizens across the nation need to stop assigning high crimes rates as a certain race’s problem, and instead look at it from a national