Group Splintering – A K-selection Effect

We know the Misery Index, a measure of resource restriction, parallels the Crime Rate, which is mostly just idiot rabbits who can’t get free resources anyway else trying to take them opportunistically. This article offers anecdotal examples of increasing crime being accompanied by gang-splintering:

President Obama’s own US Attorney in Chicago has created a report that demonstrates how terrible the gang murder situation in president’s hometown on his watch. Tanja Babitch of WLS Television in Chicago reports:

U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon offered a sobering report on gangs and violent crime in Chicago. He said murders are up 20 percent in the city for the year.

It’s an alarming trend that affects younger victims over what have previously been petty disagreements. Shootings are now being fueled by trash talk, and social media spats.

The problem is aggravated by the city’s many gangs that are splintering into smaller and smaller groups. They now number well over 600 and they are targeting children.

Crime needs to be broken down into opportunistic r-strategist crime (ranging from burglary to attacking the helpless while heavily armed) and more confrontational/competitive crime (such as gang warfare for turf). Both are going to increase as resources restrict, but competitive/confrontational crime is more K-selected, and will appear more K to observers.

Two things of interest here. One, gangs are seeing members in-group against each other within the gangs, causing splintering. I take that as a sign the economy is even affecting them. That splintering is irritated amygdalae triggering in response to each other and causing anger. It is the same thing that will set civilized Europeans against the immigrants after the collapse, and it is exacerbated by resource restriction.

Two, note the heightened amygdala sensitivity triggering violence over ever-diminishing stimuli. I didn’t like that last tweet, so now I’m going to kill you. That doesn’t happen when resources are free and everyone is riding high.

Compare that with Europe’s borderless society, and lack of any desire to defend itself from invading hordes which adhere to a violent, intolerant ideology. That is resource excess and ease weakening people’s amygdalae.

In an intellectual society, this splintering should be welcomed among the general populace during time of peace. It is an indication that the populace is ready for battle, and itching to fight – itself a sign of amygdala development and activity, and the drive and motivation this produces. That mindset will accompany heightened productivity and civic responsibility.

It probably also keeps the amygdala’s edge sharp, by keeping it well exercised with each affront to call up outrage and anger. If Irish and Italians are sniping at each other and quick to offend, they are ready to join forces after Pearl Harbor to brutally kick the ass of anyone who threatens America proper. If during peacetime, Irish and Italians are arm in arm singing some gay Elton John love song then the country might not be ready for war, and I would expect productivity and civic virtue to be lacking as well. If there is an active movement to eliminate all antagonism and insulting behavior between everyone, that is as sure a sign of a degraded society destined for collapse as you will find.

Of course, none of this is under anyone’s control – it is all swinging off of the pendulum of resource availability, which appears to be heading toward K-selection at the moment. The poorer criminal classes are the canaries in the K-selected violence mine, and what they are telling us is to arm up.

Judging from what we are seeing in Chicago and everywhere else, the Apocalypse definitely cometh™.