America has a problem: Part 1

By Editor | September 19, 2025 |

Food for Thought
Judge of Probate Richard Dean

I had finalized this column Wednesday morning (September 10), but modified it after the Charlie Kirk assassination on Wednesday afternoon.

We all heard about the Kirk assassination, the woman brutally stabbed on a North Carolina train (after the public outcry forced it into the news cycle) and the two children killed and 18 injured recently at the Catholic school. However, these are only a drop in the bucket of violent assaults/crimes occurring in our nation. My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families.

While researching, I was amazed at the number of recent headlines related to violent crimes that I never heard about on the news. The following headlines are from ABC, CBS and the New York Times websites. These headlines are a very small example of the recent (2025) crime-related articles I found.

I read each one to make sure the headline was reflective of the article – not that any news media would ever have a headline that wasn’t supported by context or information in the article.

July 28 (Michigan): 11 wounded in stabbing attack at Traverse City Walmart; August 18: Hamptons bar fight turns bloody as man stabs pal over woman; August 29 (New York City): Muggers savagely stab 23-year-old while stealing phone; Sept. 4: 93-year-old husband stabs wife to death because he couldn’t take it anymore; Sept. 6 (New York): 67-year-old worker at Brooklyn IHOP stabbed to death as he cleaned restaurant; Sept. 7 (New York): Female NYPD cop face slashed in Brooklyn Sunday morning by a madman; Sept. 8: Four teenagers arrested after stabbing near [Washington] D.C. high school; Sept. 10 (New York): Mother stabbed to death by own son across from elementary school; Sept. 11 (Dallas): Illegal immigrant allegedly beheaded motel manager with machete, kicked head “like a soccer ball;” Sept. 11 (San Francisco): Man fatally stabbed near busy intersection; Sept. 12 (Queens, N.Y.): Man accused of murdering a Queens couple in their 70s told law enforcement officials he killed and molested them before setting a fire that eventually consumed their home.

The number of stabbings really surprised me. Unless the crime involves a gun, more than likely we will not hear about it.

None of these assaults/crimes are once-in-a-lifetime type events. We see multiple violent crimes committed every day; however, if it doesn’t support a particular agenda/narrative, we hear little or nothing about it.

For example, when a crime involves a gun, before any facts are known, we see politicians and talking heads raving for stricter gun control laws and “comprehensive” federal gun reform. I believe the word “comprehensive” is used to create a new “catch phrase” that replaces the “appoint a committee to review this” tactic.

It is a talking point that, at best, pushes an agenda. At worst, it allows federal politicians to argue they can’t get their colleagues on board for the “comprehensive reform” needed to act.

Did you ever hear that the U.S. could do nothing about human trafficking, violence, or drug smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border without a new “Comprehensive Immigration Policy”? We heard it for years. It was obviously a lie.

It really doesn’t matter whether “comprehensive reform” on any topic is needed or not. “Comprehensive” has become the word added to any argument so politicians can use the argument for fundraising efforts and talking heads can argue for/against some agenda. It is used to deflect and not do anything substantive.

“Comprehensive” is a word added to a phrase so the issue can become so convoluted or appear to be so difficult the real problem will never be addressed, much less resolved.

If you are still with me, maybe you will stay until the end. I like to look at facts. I like to analyze and drill down to the root cause of an issue or problem. Sometimes that drives people around me up the wall. I also like to form opinions, and I have lots of them.

So, in my opinion, tighter, stricter, or more gun laws are not going to solve our problem of violent crime. We need to address the problem.

As we work through this, I believe we will come to three realizations. One: Some people are inherently mean or just plain evil. Two: Some people are fanatics (ideological, religious, climate, etc.) and illogical. Three: Some people have mental health issues that could be caused by many factors. Those factors are biological, psychological, environmental, genetic, or substance abuse.

The people committing this violence (from meanness, fanaticism, mental health conditions) are usually not stupid. They often spent time planning and thinking about their actions.

We (society and politicians) must spend less time being nasty, politicizing events, causing dissention, and bashing America. We must spend more time analyzing the problem, determining real causes and developing solutions.

When I taught Problem Analysis in leadership and management courses, we taught a fairly simple process.

The first step: Write a problem statement. We must clearly define the problem without placing exceedingly narrow parameters on our problem statement. A too-narrowly focused statement prevents us from properly performing our analysis.

For this column, our problem statement could be, “Too many Americans are killed and/or injured due to violent crime; we must find out why and fix the problem.”

Then we need to determine if our problem statement is true. What evidence supports our hypothesis? On September 4, 2024, ABC News reported that since January 2024, 11,600 people died in the U.S. due to gun violence. Of those, 385 were mass incidents (four or more people involved).

The Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Report shows that between 2015–2020 (2021-2024 report unavailable) there were 4,558,150 [avg. 759,691 per year] rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. During that period, the FBI reported 21,570 (avg. 3,595 per year) murders. Of all those incidents, 364,000 (60,666 per year) involved firearms.

Looking at these statistics, I believe our problem statement is true.

Next, we must determine the impact. Why do/should we care? According to numerous studies and surveys, violent crime causes both long- and short-term psychological, sociological, health, and economic consequences.

It overburdens our hospitals and mental health service providers. It increases costs for insurance and governance. It takes away funds for community services by forcing more funds allocation for law enforcement efforts. It even takes available law enforcement resources away from less serious offenses such as traffic control and daily operations. Definitely, there is a serious impact.

Now to the crux of problem analysis; the real CAUSES of our problem. Most politicians and news media stop here.

In this next to the last step in our process, we have to spend considerable time and effort truly analyzing facts. We must investigate root causes of our problem and not rely on hyperbole.

Many politicians and news media argue that guns are causing our violent crime problems, and the solution is simple – eliminate the guns. If we eliminated all guns, would that solve our problem?

The answer to that question and some possible solutions, or at least some possible actions to consider, will appear as part two of this column next month. Until then, pray for our country, pray for the victims of crime, stay safe, and God bless.

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