Technology Affirms of the Need for the Ten Commandments

while the human experience can be improved by modern technology, this experience remains tainted by immorality. thus, thievery remains a problem. a problem of astronomical proportions.

in the past centuries, humanity was subjected to pirates on the open seas. these criminals had legendary names such as blackbeard and captain kidd.

presently, we are subjected to pirates on our door steps. the dreaded “porch pirates.”

while it sounds cute, the magnitude of this thievery is huge.

there was a great article in input magazine that interviewed an expert in the field. it was reported that “an estimated 1.7 million [are stolen] every day in the u.s., according to josé holguín-veras, an engineering professor and director of the rensselaer polytechnic institute center of excellence for sustainable urban freight systems. “our conjecture is that the people who are stealing these packages are going to try and steal as many packages as possible,” says holguín-veras.” inputmagazine

If we extrapolate the amount of theft to a full year, then was have 620,500,000 stolen packages. thus, more than one-half of a billion packages are stolen in one year!!!! if we make an assumption that the average package worth is $10.00, then this is over a 5 billion dollar problem.

according to the article, “package theft is an entry-level crime, says holguín-veras. “it’s a crime of opportunity, something that is like one step above shoplifting,” he says. and police departments seem to treat it at that level. they have much higher priorities to investigate than where the pair of slippers you ordered on amazon prime went to once the delivery driver dropped them off outside your door.” inputmagazine

according to the article, “he’s also certain that, as the way we shop changes, the problem is getting bigger. police departments only started recording data on package thefts four or five years ago, according to holguín-veras, and have seen an increase in that short time. industry sources he speaks with say that around four or five percent of packages never make it to their destination for one reason or another; a colleague of his estimates it could be as high as 10 to 15 percent. inputmagazine

in the article “we found thieves tended to operate during daylight hours; homes closer to the roadway are targeted more than those way back; and the package size, visibility, and whether or not it had a brand on it seems to have been a factor,” says stickle. like holguín-veras, he also reckons that package theft is seen as a simple crime, and one fuelled by social media commentary and media coverage.” inputmagazine

immorality does not discriminate against any sex. in the article, “stickle’s study had some interesting findings. women accounted for 51 percent of the thieves seen in the videos — about on par with the shoplifting gender breakdown, but a lot higher than in other crimes.”inputmagazine

absent theft proofing, what can be done? one can argue that an improvement in the morals and values of our society could help. namely, ten commandments values which include the commandment to not steal.

a society with morals and values should have far less porch piracy than what is currently occurring.

the porch theft is arguably the tip of the iceberg as to the ramification of the action. the contents of packages stolen can include life saving or sustaining medications. packages stolen can include food to a home which is in need. packages stolen may include textbooks or equipment so individuals can be educated and continue with their schooling. packages stolen may have have materials that are needed so someone can earn a living.

thus, in the worst case scenario, it is possible that a porch pirate could be responsible for the death of a human being. a murder.

our society is sad. leaders will not come out and simply call out these pirates as being “immoral.” further, leaders should come out and have increased penalties for porch piracy. if this theft was placed on the level of burglary with significant penalty, perhaps there would be some deterrent.

on the otherhand, one must think how wonderful it would be living in a moral society in which people’s packages would be left alone.

be well!!

thus, there is an ancient solution to a modern day problem.