'Murica! (228 Viewers)
- Thread starter Fake Melo
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- Tags afl_italia's cousins forza trump smocking gun
I wasn’t going to bring it up. For sure drugs laws are idiotic. And as I said I agree with you that some violent criminals are not redeemable, and should basically be in a throw away the key/death penalty state (even if these things have been shown to not act as a deterrent, which ironically is further evidence that some are irredeemable).
However, the caveat is, that many first time violent offenders (Assault, armed robbery, etc) would be far less likely to offend again if provided opportunity for rehabilitation, and while punishment should be part of the equation it would be much better if prisoners had better support systems in prison and upon release, for education, community support, reemployment. While not thinking we should have a gulag prison system, I definitely think work programs should be created while imprisoned allowing for prisoners to shoulder some of the cost of imprisonment, feel the social responsibility of working, and for creating some mandatory savings out of that, so they have a buffer upon release, instead of being released basically penniless onto welfare, with incredibly poor job prospects,
America has by far the highest incarceration rate and recidivism rate in the first world, and that is a major issue.
However, the caveat is, that many first time violent offenders (Assault, armed robbery, etc) would be far less likely to offend again if provided opportunity for rehabilitation, and while punishment should be part of the equation it would be much better if prisoners had better support systems in prison and upon release, for education, community support, reemployment. While not thinking we should have a gulag prison system, I definitely think work programs should be created while imprisoned allowing for prisoners to shoulder some of the cost of imprisonment, feel the social responsibility of working, and for creating some mandatory savings out of that, so they have a buffer upon release, instead of being released basically penniless onto welfare, with incredibly poor job prospects,
America has by far the highest incarceration rate and recidivism rate in the first world, and that is a major issue.
and there needs to be more focus on the issues within the criminal justice beyond initial encounters with law enforcement. recitivism rates show the punitive system isn't turning things around, people who aren't irredeamable (career violent criminals) need some path to orient them towards reentering society on a more productive path.
Otherwise justice system will just be a revolving door for millions of people and a massive drain on tax money.
Otherwise justice system will just be a revolving door for millions of people and a massive drain on tax money.
I think if you throw people into a Thunderdome pit together and stimulate their fight-or-flight instincts, as some political campaigns do, you get a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe you cannot rely on the benevolence of the other so easily, but I think there's social value in at least trying to elicit it. Humans survived this far as a species not because of our fearfulness of each other. Rather, we've survived this long because we found ways to adapt as a collective. Which implies some form of mutual benevolence as a major ingredient of why we didn't go extinct.
And really... who prefers to live in a Hobbesian winner-take-all world of scarcity every-man-for-himself survivalism? We did that well in the Middle Ages, and the general quality of life was pretty poor. I'd like to believe it's worth lifting a finger to evolve a little past that.
As for the Americans and freedom thing, I agree with you on a mental principle, but it quickly becomes an unsolvable problem and thus useless as a framing device. The concept of freedom results in unsolvable paradoxes when more than one party is involved. As such, it's entirely pliable and contextual. You can make "freedom" represent just about anything you want: freedom of one thing often runs into the opposite freedom from that same thing. So there's another identifying concept here somewhere... freedom is no better than independence or self-centeredness as a guiding rule.
But I do stick with the American value of cure vs. prevention. Take everything in life -- being overweight, catching COVID, dealing with mental health, wearing a motorcycle helmet -- there are very few things where an American wouldn't be the first in the room to ask to take a pill to deal with it rather than change their life any at the risk of the slightest inconvenience or discomfort.
One of the best laws evah.
And really... who prefers to live in a Hobbesian winner-take-all world of scarcity every-man-for-himself survivalism? We did that well in the Middle Ages, and the general quality of life was pretty poor. I'd like to believe it's worth lifting a finger to evolve a little past that.
As for the Americans and freedom thing, I agree with you on a mental principle, but it quickly becomes an unsolvable problem and thus useless as a framing device. The concept of freedom results in unsolvable paradoxes when more than one party is involved. As such, it's entirely pliable and contextual. You can make "freedom" represent just about anything you want: freedom of one thing often runs into the opposite freedom from that same thing. So there's another identifying concept here somewhere... freedom is no better than independence or self-centeredness as a guiding rule.
But I do stick with the American value of cure vs. prevention. Take everything in life -- being overweight, catching COVID, dealing with mental health, wearing a motorcycle helmet -- there are very few things where an American wouldn't be the first in the room to ask to take a pill to deal with it rather than change their life any at the risk of the slightest inconvenience or discomfort.
One of the best laws evah.
