With a 9 percent spike in the homicide rate this year, many are wondering what factors are contributing to the rise in violence across the country. Here are some reasons behind the growing frequency of these crimes:

Personal honor being insulted at record-high rates



Officers too modest to show off effective policing techniques in front of body cameras



Universe’s irreversible slide towards chaos and entropy



American obesity epidemic rendering targets and bystanders much easier to hit



Brookdale Meadows neighborhood watch resting on laurels



Criminals developing natural resistance to death penalty’s deterrent effect



Earth just moving through natural ebb and flow of 10,000-year murder cycle



Present political climate of fear-mongering and aggression somehow failing to discourage violence