The latest school massacres

[Undertoad]

What if I told you that, over the last 25 years, as society has sunk into the abyss,

Originally Posted by Bobby Jindal

Rape, torture, murder, mass murder, all are cinematic achievements. Our music does the same thing, we promote evil, we promote the degradation of women, we flaunt the laws of God and common decency and we promote it all and we flood our young people with it, and... We have generations of young boys who were raised on video games where they compete with other young boys around the country and the world to see who can kill the most humans. We make it so fun, so realistic, so sensational.

What if I told you that after all that...

...for the last 25 years, murders and violent crime are way way down?

America's Faulty Perception of Crime Rates

Today, the national crime rate is about half of what it was at its height in 1991. Violent crime has fallen by 51 percent since 1991, and property crime by 43 percent. In 2013 the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970.

Do you still think it's culture?

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

...for the last 25 years, murders and violent crime are way way down?

Chart is deceiving. Total number of violent crimes is irrelevant. Crimes per GDP are relevant. Relating same data to the population is number of violent crimes per citizen:
2010 0.0040
2005 0.0047
2000 0.0050
1995 0.0068
1990 0.0072
1988 0.0064
1985 0.0055
1980 0.0059
1975 0.0048
1970 0.0036
1965 0.0019
1960 0.0015

Violent crime is down significantly. But not as much as the chart would have us believe. Crime rates are similar to crime in early 1970s.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

In 2013 the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970.

Originally Posted by tw

Blah blah blah... Crime rates are similar to crime in early 1970s.

Is there an echo in here?

[tw]

A second look at that chart - it is violent crime per GDP. But the numbers are apparently per 100,000 people. My numbers are annual violent crimes per person.