5 ms·

While it is easy to pretend that some secret cabal is pulling all the strings the reality is the majority of the population wants to be tough on crime. This lea

While it is easy to pretend that some secret cabal is pulling all the strings the reality is the majority of the population wants to be tough on crime. This leads to politicians competing to be seen as tough on crime.

noir_lord 11y ago
Except the majority of the people want to be tough on crime because they have a grossly distorted view of how much crime there is and how severe it is because of the large news corporations 24/7 coverage of every violent incident. Which re-enforces the "tough on crime" mechanism, the whole system is rigged towards incarcerating people.
- happyscrappy 11y ago
  Sure, but this is a structural problem not a conspiracy. You cannot sell newspapers saying 10,000 flights landed safely today.
- rayiner 11y ago
  I'm not sure that's really true. Here's the homicide rate in various western countries: http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5463783b6da811d82983136a-960/screen%20shot%202014-11-11%20at%205.56.18%20pm.png http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5463783b6da811d8298.... Our current prison industrial complex was designed in the 1980's and 1990's, at a time when our murder rate was 5x higher per capita than in our peer countries. Chicago, which features prominently in the news, has over 4x as many murders as London, despite the latter being a much larger city. You're much more likely to be murdered in Chicago than to die in a traffic accident,[1] while the opposite is true in most of the western world. [1] Interestingly, you're also about 3x more likely to die in a traffic accident in the U.S. than in the U.K.
throwaway1967 11y ago
First of all, the US is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 So whatever the "majority of the population wants" doesn't count, period. Second of all, if you really believe the US isn't ruled by a secret cabal, like so many US Presidents and other important US politicians have warned us about since before Andrew Jackson, I'm sorry to say but it just makes you come across as ahistorical.

noir_lord 11y ago

Except the majority of the people want to be tough on crime because they have a grossly distorted view of how much crime there is and how severe it is because of the large news corporations 24/7 coverage of every violent incident. Which re-enforces the "tough on crime" mechanism, the whole system is rigged towards incarcerating people.

happyscrappy 11y ago
Sure, but this is a structural problem not a conspiracy. You cannot sell newspapers saying 10,000 flights landed safely today.
rayiner 11y ago
I'm not sure that's really true. Here's the homicide rate in various western countries: http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5463783b6da811d82983136a-960/screen%20shot%202014-11-11%20at%205.56.18%20pm.png http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5463783b6da811d8298.... Our current prison industrial complex was designed in the 1980's and 1990's, at a time when our murder rate was 5x higher per capita than in our peer countries. Chicago, which features prominently in the news, has over 4x as many murders as London, despite the latter being a much larger city. You're much more likely to be murdered in Chicago than to die in a traffic accident,[1] while the opposite is true in most of the western world. [1] Interestingly, you're also about 3x more likely to die in a traffic accident in the U.S. than in the U.K.

throwaway1967 11y ago

First of all, the US is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 So whatever the "majority of the population wants" doesn't count, period. Second of all, if you really believe the US isn't ruled by a secret cabal, like so many US Presidents and other important US politicians have warned us about since before Andrew Jackson, I'm sorry to say but it just makes you come across as ahistorical.