I just want to belong
Many years ago the Labour Party had a slogan: ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’. That meant: it treated criminals more harshly, but also tried harder than the Tories to tackle the causes of crime.
What are the real causes of crime? The evidence is overwhelming: they are poverty, lack of socio-economic opportunity, lack of meaningful community involvement; plus a lack of social hope. People resort to crime because they are poor in a society which appears to value wealth above anything else. And because they are not encouraged sufficiently to value the good will and good life of their neighbours, and of strangers.
Being ‘tough on crime’ is quite pointless unless one is also prepared to be tough on the causes of crime. It’s pointless tackling the symptoms without tackling the underlying disease.
And so this week the Torah presents its manifesto on curing the many social malaises that attack civilised societies. The Torah doesn’t speak of prison as a penalty for those who steal. Instead its speaks of an eved, often wrongly translated as slave. An Eved Ivri is a Jew who has stolen but lacks the funds to pay back what he has stolen. He therefore becomes an indentured servant; his wages are payable to the family that he has stolen from. After the debt has been paid he can go free. However, there is a curious scenario where he wants to stay and continue his service. Why wouldn’t he want his own freedom?
All of us want to be part of a group, to be loved and appreciated by others, to be part of something bigger than ourselves. And, indeed, when we don’t satisfy this need to belong, when we feel rejected by the groups we want to join, we can suffer deep depression, and even decide life is not worth living, or turn to a life of crime. This is part of the causes of crime.
We see people searching for this all the time, trying by the way they dress, the words they use, the credentials they seek, to become a part of a group.
Is it wrong for us to feel this way? Is it wrong for us to want to belong? No. This desire to belong is a basic human need, an expression of our humanity. We need to be loved, we need to know who we are.
This explains the desire to stay. It’s quite possible that the thief who was sold to pay his debt, finally discovered meaning, belonging and purpose. His life has meaning and he wants it to stay that way. We all want to belong, perhaps a society that excludes will be a society that continues to have problems whereas if we give people something to live for and acceptance we will create a society that is cured of its ills.
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