Social Disease

Mar 09, 2026

The classic musical West Side Story has a long list of memorable songs, and most of us can sing snippets of several. Among them is the comical “Gee, Officer Krupke,” where the Jets sum up social theories and the various excuses for delinquency.

The nearly 70 year old song turns out to be as prescient as anything Orwell wrote, in that it offers us a summation of modern thought on the matter.

RIFF
Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
Ya gotta understand:
It’s just our bringin’ upke
That gets us outta hand.
Our mothers all are junkies,
Our fathers all are drunks.
Golly Moses, natcherly we’re punks.
ALL
Gee, Officer Krupke, we’re very upset;
We never had the love that ev’ry child oughta get.
We ain’t no delinquents,
We’re misunderstood.
Deep down inside us there is good!
RIFF
There is good!
ALL
There is good, there is good,
There is untapped good.
Like inside, the worse of us is good.
TIGER
(imitating Krupke) That’s a touchin’ good story.
RIFF
Lemme tell it to the world!
TIGER
(imitating Krupke) Just tell it to the Judge.
RIFF (**to Snowboy)
Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,
My parents treat me rough.
With all their marijuana,
They won’t give me a puff.
They didn’t wanna have me,
But somehow I was had.
Leapin’ lizards, that’s what I’m so bad!
SNOWBOY
(As Judge) Right!
Officer Krupke, you’re really a square.
This boy don’t need a judge, he needs a [sic] analyst’s care!
It’s just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He’s psychologically disturbed!
RIFF
I’m disturbed!
ALL
We’re disturbed, we’re disturbed,
We’re the most disturbed,
Like we’re psychologically disturbed.
SNOWBOY
(Spoken, as Judge) Hear ye, Her ye! In the opinion
Of this court, this child is depraved on account he ain’t had a normal home.
RIFF
(Spoken) Hey, I’m depraved on account I’m deprived!
SNOWBOY
So take him to a headshrinker.
RIFF (to Action) (sings)
My Daddy beats my Mommy,
My Mommy clobbers me,
My Grandpa is a Commie,
My Grandma pushes tea.
My sister wears a mustache,
My brother wears a dress.
Goodness gracious, that’s why I’m a mess!
ACTION (As Psychiatrist)
Yes!
Officer Krupke, he shouldn’t be here.
This boy don’t need a couch, he needs a useful career.
Society’s played him a terrible trick,
And sociologically he’s sick!
RIFF
I am sick!
ALL
We are sick, we are sick,
We are sick, sick, sick,
Like we’re sociologically sick!
ACTION
In my opinion, this child does not need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a
social disease.
RIFF (spoken)
Hey, I got a social disease!
ACTION (spoken as psychiatrist)
So take him to a social worker!
RIFF (to ARAB)(sings)
Dear kindly social worker,
They tell me get a job,
Like be a soda jerker,
Which means like be a slob.
It’s not I’m anti-social,
I’m only anti-work.
Gloryosky, that’s why I’m a jerk!
ARAB (As Social Worker)
Eek!
Officer Krupke, you’ve done it again.
This boy don’t need a job, he needs a year in the pen.
It ain’t just a question of misunderstood—
Deep down inside him, he’s no good!
RIFF
I’m no good!
ALL
We’re no good, we’re no good!
We’re no earthly good,
Like the best of us is no damn good!
SNOWBOY (As Social Worker)
The trouble is he’s lazy.
JOYBOY (As Psychiatrist)
The trouble is he drinks
BABY JOHN (As Judge)
The trouble is he’s crazy.
ARAB
The trouble is he stinks.
MOUTHPIECE
The trouble is he’s growing.
ACTION
The trouble is he’s grown.
ALL
Krupke, we got troubles of our own!
Gee, Officer Krupke,
We’re down on our knees.
‘Cause no one wants a fella with a social disease.
Gee, Officer Krupke,
What are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke,
Krup you!

On one side we have those who blame bad behavior on circumstances of birth and home life, so therefore it should be excused. On the other, we have those who have concluded that there are bad people out there who should be punished for their misdeeds.

There is truth on both sides of this divide, and our justice system allows for discretion in prosecuting those who commit misdeeds.

Somewhere in the recent past, however, the “social disease” side decided that lower level criminals should not be prosecuted, no matter how recidivist they are. The right-leaning press offers near-daily reports of criminals with dozens of prior arrests being non-prosecuted, despite violent actions against others.

This was echoed in Nellie Bowles’ recent TGIF column at the Free Press, who quoted someone named Cassie Pritchard:

To the extent leftists excuse schizophrenic murderers but not schizophrenic bigots, it’s because only the latter is felt as a social problem we get mad about. Like on the left we fundamentally don’t care about “crime,” it’s morally uninteresting to us—it’s just a thing that happens in the world, like the weather, so we are willing to excuse mentally people for theft, violence, etc. . . . Everyone’s a prisoner of their own cognitive, emotional, neurological limits. And we all have them. No one has unfettered free will. No one is a blank slate capable of any and all behavior, feeling, or thinking. We are all locked inside our skulls, one way or another.

For a political bloc that purports to care about the oppressed, the Left shows a remarkable apathy toward victims of crime. No matter that those victims are disproportionately poor and of “oppressed” identities.

There’s a strange dichotomy here. On the one hand, the Left believes it can fix everything, if given a free hand. Obama’s hubristic “we are the ones we have been waiting for” echoes that belief. On the other hand, crime gets excused and blamed on “society.” And, again, with zero concern for the victims.

It’s of little solace to a bodega owner when the people elected to ensure public order tell him that the people stealing his goods are the real victims of society. Whether or not it’s nature or nurture, crime against others must* be deterred with consequences if society is to function. The real disease is the failure to do so.