The bottom 1% we rarely talk about

PUBLISHED: July 11, 2026 | www.baltimoresun.com

America spends an extraordinary amount of time debating the top 1%: the billionaires, corporate CEOs, hedge fund managers and the widening gap between the rich and everyone else. It is an important conversation in a nation that prizes both opportunity and free enterprise.

But there is another 1% we talk about far too little.

Not the poor. Not the single mother working two jobs. Not the veteran struggling to find his footing. Not the family living paycheck to paycheck. Poverty is not a moral failing, and millions of Americans with modest means are among our country’s finest citizens.

The 1% that should concern us is the small fraction of people who repeatedly choose to prey upon everyone else.

They are the repeat violent offenders. The organized retail thieves who have forced stores across America to lock up everyday necessities or close altogether. The gang members who turn neighborhoods into war zones. The fentanyl traffickers poisoning a generation. The cybercriminals stealing life savings from retirees. The carjackers, armed robbers and career criminals who leave law-abiding Americans paying the price.

Their numbers are relatively small.

Their impact is enormous.

Walk through many major cities today, and you see the consequences. Toothpaste, baby formula and detergent sit behind locked glass. Small businesses that survived COVID-19 have closed because they could not survive repeated theft. Insurance premiums continue to climb after waves of auto theft and property crime. Families increasingly choose where to live, shop and worship based not on convenience, but on safety.

The greatest victims are almost always working Americans who cannot afford private security, gated communities or the option to simply move somewhere else.

History offers a consistent lesson: Civilizations rarely decline simply because of enemies abroad. They weaken when law-abiding citizens lose confidence that the law will protect them at home.

We need not look only to history books. Mexico continues its struggle against powerful criminal cartels. South Africa remains burdened by violent crime that has made private security a necessity for many households. Across parts of Europe, governments continue grappling with organized criminal networks, repeat offenders and rising public concern over safety despite expanded social programs and policing initiatives.

The lesson is universal.

When criminals become emboldened, ordinary citizens retreat. Investment slows. Businesses relocate. Families leave when they can. Civic trust begins to disappear.

America is not immune.

One of our greatest mistakes is confusing explanation with justification.

We should absolutely address addiction, broken families, untreated mental illness, educational failure and economic hardship. Those are serious challenges deserving thoughtful solutions. Prevention will always be wiser than incarceration.

But understanding why someone commits a crime does not excuse the crime.

Compassion for struggling people should never become indifference toward innocent victims.

Our national debate too often swings between false choices. Some believe punishment alone solves everything. Others speak as though holding criminals accountable is somehow unjust. Neither extreme serves the public.

The overwhelming majority of poor Americans never steal.

The overwhelming majority of young people never join gangs.

The overwhelming majority of struggling families still work hard, obey the law, pay their taxes, raise their children and contribute quietly to their communities.

They, not career criminals, represent the moral center of America.

Perhaps we would be better served spending less time resenting the top 1% and more time confronting the bottom 1% that victimizes everyone else.

Celebrate the police officer who runs toward danger.

Celebrate the small business owner who opens again after being robbed.

Celebrate the teacher who refuses to give up on difficult students.

Celebrate the recovering addict who chooses discipline over dependency.

Celebrate the millions of Americans who do the right thing every day when no one is watching.

These are the citizens holding our republic together.

Every civilization eventually rewards the values it chooses to honor. If theft is minimized, violence rationalized and accountability dismissed, crime spreads. If honesty, work, responsibility and consequences are consistently upheld, communities flourish.

Freedom has never meant freedom from consequences. Rights have always been inseparable from responsibilities. The rule of law is not simply about punishment; it is the foundation upon which liberty, prosperity and trust depend.

America’s future will not ultimately be decided by the wealthiest 1%.

It will be decided by whether the decent 99% refuse to surrender their neighborhoods, their institutions and their standards to the lawless 1%.

Our greatest inequality is not economic.

It is the widening gap between those who live by responsibility and those who profit from lawlessness.

If we continue honoring integrity over intimidation, work over fraud and accountability over excuses, America will remain exceptional for another 250 years.

If we fail to defend those principles, no amount of wealth at the top will preserve what made this nation great.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.

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