Bates talks about the economic and social effects of the increasing crime rate in the United States. He estimates the consumer damage resulting from crime is $1.71 per week for each American. The homicide rate is also up, as are various felonies. Excessive belief in certain individual liberties, along with the neglect of certain others, may be a cause of the increasing crime rate. Bates believes that the future of humanity might be in danger if citizens do not weep over the slaughter of the innocent and demand an eye for an eye. He also stresses that it is crime--not law enforcement--that is the oppressor. The circumstances of the day should reawaken in every citizen a fierce devotion to the supremacy of law and equal justice.