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> inhuman US judicial system Exactly this. The US is a remarkable country, but how can they suffer such unjust and downright pernicious justice and health syst

by srrge 9y ago

> inhuman US judicial system Exactly this. The US is a remarkable country, but how can they suffer such unjust and downright pernicious justice and health systems? That puzzles me.

bitexploder 9y ago
It isn't like most of us sit around enjoying it. It has grown and changed over the decades, even centuries. To understand America and the large systems we have you have to start at the Civil War and work your way forward. The years history complicate in subtle ways few appreciate. The balance of the federal government and the states, and the three branches of our government operate and interact in complex ways. Though we are definitely one country, and you can generally rely on things to be consistent from one state to the next, they are their own legal entities and things that you can do in one state can land you in prison in another. Factor on the modern age of media and the gravity of the interests that want to keep things certain ways and it gets easier to see why it is so hard to shift our society as a whole -- it truly is quite diverse, even if predominantly white.
- srrge 9y ago
  I can appreciate the complexity of those systems. Moreover all countries have their issues... But you seem such an innovative and industrious people! Therefore seeing how your justice, health and even education systems are deeply dysfunctional -- to say the least -- and possibly impossible to fix, is mind boggling.
  - striking 9y ago
    Most countries got a pretty long head start. The US is like, what, 250 years old? I think we're lucky to have gotten so far, so quickly (of course, with the caveat that this thought shouldn't make us complacent).
    - bonzini 9y ago
      Even several European countries have only been sovereign states for less than 200 years. Finland became independent from Russia in 1917.
gerbilly 9y ago
The American dream, the idea that anyone can make it in America if they just work hard enough, may be behind this. As some have pointed out, the American dream is a type of 'just world hypothesis': that people get what they deserve.[1] This belief sometimes cuts both ways. If people are poor, it's their fault, if people are sick, it's their fault. I think it is not despite being a remarkable country, but precisely because of America's exceptional growth and prosperity that this belief persists. Even though the nearly unlimited land, cheap (or even free) labour and geographical isolation that fueled this mythical prosperity are not the case today, I think many Americans still hold on to this belief, and that it colour's their attitudes to people who face structural disadvantages. [1] https://markmanson.net/american-dream https://markmanson.net/american-dream
InitialLastName 9y ago
There are people in power who benefit from the population being, on the large, tied to their (as-large-as-possible) employer and home at night afraid of crime.

by srrge 9y ago

> inhuman US judicial system Exactly this. The US is a remarkable country, but how can they suffer such unjust and downright pernicious justice and health systems? That puzzles me.

bitexploder 9y ago

It isn't like most of us sit around enjoying it. It has grown and changed over the decades, even centuries. To understand America and the large systems we have you have to start at the Civil War and work your way forward. The years history complicate in subtle ways few appreciate. The balance of the federal government and the states, and the three branches of our government operate and interact in complex ways. Though we are definitely one country, and you can generally rely on things to be consistent from one state to the next, they are their own legal entities and things that you can do in one state can land you in prison in another. Factor on the modern age of media and the gravity of the interests that want to keep things certain ways and it gets easier to see why it is so hard to shift our society as a whole -- it truly is quite diverse, even if predominantly white.

srrge 9y ago
I can appreciate the complexity of those systems. Moreover all countries have their issues... But you seem such an innovative and industrious people! Therefore seeing how your justice, health and even education systems are deeply dysfunctional -- to say the least -- and possibly impossible to fix, is mind boggling.
- striking 9y ago
  Most countries got a pretty long head start. The US is like, what, 250 years old? I think we're lucky to have gotten so far, so quickly (of course, with the caveat that this thought shouldn't make us complacent).
  - bonzini 9y ago
    Even several European countries have only been sovereign states for less than 200 years. Finland became independent from Russia in 1917.

gerbilly 9y ago

The American dream, the idea that anyone can make it in America if they just work hard enough, may be behind this. As some have pointed out, the American dream is a type of 'just world hypothesis': that people get what they deserve.[1] This belief sometimes cuts both ways. If people are poor, it's their fault, if people are sick, it's their fault. I think it is not despite being a remarkable country, but precisely because of America's exceptional growth and prosperity that this belief persists. Even though the nearly unlimited land, cheap (or even free) labour and geographical isolation that fueled this mythical prosperity are not the case today, I think many Americans still hold on to this belief, and that it colour's their attitudes to people who face structural disadvantages. [1] https://markmanson.net/american-dream https://markmanson.net/american-dream

InitialLastName 9y ago

There are people in power who benefit from the population being, on the large, tied to their (as-large-as-possible) employer and home at night afraid of crime.