Every criminal act is primarily an act of violence. However, criminal violence is essentially the culmination and amplification of common everyday violence, rooted in the hidden violence of actions and omissions that fill our lives. The disappearance of some simple—and previously established—values has not only degraded the quality of life but may have also contributed (to an extent) to the increase in minor, and subsequently major, criminality through the broader flexibility and tolerance established for dealing with everyday violence.
Acts or omissions that we often encounter today, and which many have come to regard as normal, would have provoked familial and social disapproval years ago. Lies or petty theft no longer arouse the shame and aversion they once did. Perhaps the possible reaction is due only to the risk of exposure and not to the disdain for the act itself. Systematic petty thefts from shops or dining places seem to be purified in the eyes of many due to their small economic value, while this should not affect the moral judgment. The varied pollution of public spaces with graffiti or litter is almost accepted, especially if it is surrounded by politico-social challenges. Yet, even more common is the tolerance towards economic crime, the morally reprehensible nature of which has been weakening over time, aligning with its penal impunity, if not reaching social admiration.
I dare to assert that the generalized rudeness, expressed through the abolition of various customary habits, like giving up one's seat on the bus for an elderly person, respecting queues at checkouts, politely allowing another to proceed first in an entrance, or using courteous phrases and terms, has led to an increased acceptance of violence. Because everyday rudeness, as well as seemingly harmless petty thefts or misdemeanors, are manifestations of violence, differing from criminal violence only in magnitude. And magnitude is not a dimension of morality.
Since the moral law is no longer connected to the penal code, no repression or threat of repression can prevent crime. And the very society that worries about criminal violence has already tolerated violence in its simple, yet deeply erosive, form. The abolition of inhibitions, cultivated from childhood, leads to the weakening of an individual's defense mechanisms when faced with the "opportunity" of a criminal act. The gradual restoration of small values may likely revive the abhorrence for everyday and seemingly harmless violence, thus contributing to the reduction of the more obvious and alarming criminal violence.
Plato Rivellis