Paul Duberstein makes the fascinating point (Letters, Jan. 9) that Heather Mac Donald is right that poverty is not the root cause of crime ("A Crime Theory Demolished," op-ed, Jan. 5). Instead, he asserts it is "relative deprivation," an Orwellian term he defines as "inequality." He states that the "income gap has narrowed . . . which may well explain why crime has decreased." Are we to believe that crime has diminished because rich people have become slightly less rich?
As part of the progressive academy's "root causes" excuse-making struggle to remove the burden of responsibility from the individual and put the fault on some great social injustice, he reveals a deep contempt for the people for whom I am sure he feels he is an advocate.
If we accept that crime does not come from the desperation and hopelessness of impoverishment, but that even the materially comfortable are so wracked with envy that they are driven to crime because someone else is better off, then the values of criminals are worse than I thought. Perhaps he agrees that greater policing is needed to remove such appalling antisocial behavior from society. Values overwhelmingly determine economics, not the other way around.
Chris Orlowski
Milton, Mass.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 