4 ms·

Jesus this reads like it's from some super corrupt 3rd country, not the US.

by loftyal 8y ago

jbverschoor 8y ago
you have no idea which countries are "3rd world" these days
ensiferum 8y ago
Implying that US wasn't a 3rd world country?
- airstrike 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World
tokyodude 8y ago
Get out of your bubble? I used to think the USA was a "safe" place. Maybe it is compared to Somalia but it isn't compared to Japan or Singapore. Once I got used to the safety of these places I never feel safe in the USA anymore. I used just take it for granted there were bad parts of town and that even in the good parts of town I should be leery of people, avoid dark alleys etc. Don't walk alone at night, etc. Then I lived in these other places where that concept mostly doesn't exist. As a concrete example it's common sense in the USA if I get a 3rd party car stereo I should get a removable car stereo and always take it out or hide it. I had 5 of them stolen and my car once and just took it all as "sucks but that's that way life is, my fault for forgetting to take the stereo out or not buying a lojack". But it's not the way life is. It's the way we've let it become. There's lots of other examples and AFAIK most of it is cultural. An example, find a dropped wallet. In USA/Europe a large percentage of people have the attitude "score for me! found free money!" Not sure if that percentage is 20% or 80% but in Japan (and I think Singapore) the more common response is "OMG, someone is really going to be in a tough spot. I'd better try to get this back to them if possible". In the USA even if people had that attitude they might rationalize that the police won't care and it might be true the police don't care which is just another symptom of the same problem. I have no clues how to spread the nicer culture to the West. It seems the opposite "me me me" culture is impossible to fight. PS: these kinds of posts always illicit irrelevant responses of the problems in Japan and Singapore. I'm not saying Japan and Singapore are perfection. I'm only pointing out this one area where they do better.
- dang 8y ago
  > Get out of your bubble? Swipes like that break the HN guidelines. Can you please edit them out of what you post here? Your comment would be better without that sentence, and maybe also the patronizing bit at the end ("these kinds of posts always illicit irrelevant responses"). https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - drharby 8y ago
    Guidelines != rules Foster diversity of thought through enabling diversity in style, and watch the community grow healthy
  - iamdave 8y ago
    I'm going to disagree with this being a "swipe" because at the root of it is a critical cautionary tale that I think we should be sharing more of on HN: What you (the global "you") experience in the world and the results of your interaction are not a template, and other people's experiences may sometimes preclude them from truly realizing, appreciating and unpacking why people in other social groups might see interactions with the constabulary (keeping in context with this comment thread) or other systems of society a bit differently. As a matter of personal perspective, the suggestion to break one's bubble isn't a swipe, but a request to entertain the thought that one's preconceived notions about a given affair might change with the knowledge that their experiences are not universal and exposure to a different angle. Maybe the curt nature of the suggestion doesn't meet some arbitrary ideal of discussion, but that doesn't invalidate the root point of the suggestion.
    - dang 8y ago
      That all makes sense. I called it a swipe because it was a personal ("your") pejorative ("bubble"). It's not necessary to do that—posts get better without it—and it routinely has negative side effects.
      - iamdave 8y ago
r00fus 8y ago
Well it’s like we even have a tinpot dictator whose primary goal is to line his own pockets.
- tomcam 8y ago
  Can you explain how that plan works?
  - xapata 8y ago
    Is it not obvious?
    - iamroot 8y ago
      It's flagged. What was it?
      - xapata 8y ago
        A sarcastic comment suggesting that President Trump is a kleptocrat similar to ones from other countries. BTW, you can enable the "show dead" preference if you're curious about flagged or heavily downvoted comments.
kamaal 8y ago
You have no idea how 3rd world countries work. In India. Police supplies thieves with information. Guards the scene while the theft is ongoing. Shares the spoils, and then harasses the complainer. And to put it mildly this is like a low key operation I just described. They do a lot lot more. It's like an extended branch of the mafia. Most sought after jobs in India after civil services. Recently in Bangalore a police guy was caught on cam stealing a journalists scooter.
sneak 8y ago
A lot of people who have not had occasion to interact with the criminal justice system (myself included until recently) harbor a lot of common sense misconceptions of the police or DAs willingness to tackle simple, well-documented crimes. “Just get the video and throw them in jail, duh” accurately summarized my inaccurate understanding of the system for a long time. Turns out, police exist in US society for the express purpose of oppressing minorities and protecting property interests of large landholders (they began as slave and rebellion patrols) - historical fact, not my opinion. Their priorities and values now, a couple hundred years later, still markedly reflect this heritage. It confused me until I learned their history.

Jesus this reads like it's from some super corrupt 3rd country, not the US.

jbverschoor 8y ago

you have no idea which countries are "3rd world" these days

ensiferum 8y ago

Implying that US wasn't a 3rd world country?

airstrike 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

tokyodude 8y ago

Get out of your bubble? I used to think the USA was a "safe" place. Maybe it is compared to Somalia but it isn't compared to Japan or Singapore. Once I got used to the safety of these places I never feel safe in the USA anymore. I used just take it for granted there were bad parts of town and that even in the good parts of town I should be leery of people, avoid dark alleys etc. Don't walk alone at night, etc. Then I lived in these other places where that concept mostly doesn't exist. As a concrete example it's common sense in the USA if I get a 3rd party car stereo I should get a removable car stereo and always take it out or hide it. I had 5 of them stolen and my car once and just took it all as "sucks but that's that way life is, my fault for forgetting to take the stereo out or not buying a lojack". But it's not the way life is. It's the way we've let it become. There's lots of other examples and AFAIK most of it is cultural. An example, find a dropped wallet. In USA/Europe a large percentage of people have the attitude "score for me! found free money!" Not sure if that percentage is 20% or 80% but in Japan (and I think Singapore) the more common response is "OMG, someone is really going to be in a tough spot. I'd better try to get this back to them if possible". In the USA even if people had that attitude they might rationalize that the police won't care and it might be true the police don't care which is just another symptom of the same problem. I have no clues how to spread the nicer culture to the West. It seems the opposite "me me me" culture is impossible to fight. PS: these kinds of posts always illicit irrelevant responses of the problems in Japan and Singapore. I'm not saying Japan and Singapore are perfection. I'm only pointing out this one area where they do better.

dang 8y ago
> Get out of your bubble? Swipes like that break the HN guidelines. Can you please edit them out of what you post here? Your comment would be better without that sentence, and maybe also the patronizing bit at the end ("these kinds of posts always illicit irrelevant responses"). https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- drharby 8y ago
  Guidelines != rules Foster diversity of thought through enabling diversity in style, and watch the community grow healthy
- iamdave 8y ago
  I'm going to disagree with this being a "swipe" because at the root of it is a critical cautionary tale that I think we should be sharing more of on HN: What you (the global "you") experience in the world and the results of your interaction are not a template, and other people's experiences may sometimes preclude them from truly realizing, appreciating and unpacking why people in other social groups might see interactions with the constabulary (keeping in context with this comment thread) or other systems of society a bit differently. As a matter of personal perspective, the suggestion to break one's bubble isn't a swipe, but a request to entertain the thought that one's preconceived notions about a given affair might change with the knowledge that their experiences are not universal and exposure to a different angle. Maybe the curt nature of the suggestion doesn't meet some arbitrary ideal of discussion, but that doesn't invalidate the root point of the suggestion.
  - dang 8y ago
    That all makes sense. I called it a swipe because it was a personal ("your") pejorative ("bubble"). It's not necessary to do that—posts get better without it—and it routinely has negative side effects.
    - iamdave 8y ago

r00fus 8y ago

Well it’s like we even have a tinpot dictator whose primary goal is to line his own pockets.

tomcam 8y ago
Can you explain how that plan works?
- xapata 8y ago
  Is it not obvious?
  - iamroot 8y ago
    It's flagged. What was it?
    - xapata 8y ago
      A sarcastic comment suggesting that President Trump is a kleptocrat similar to ones from other countries. BTW, you can enable the "show dead" preference if you're curious about flagged or heavily downvoted comments.

kamaal 8y ago

You have no idea how 3rd world countries work. In India. Police supplies thieves with information. Guards the scene while the theft is ongoing. Shares the spoils, and then harasses the complainer. And to put it mildly this is like a low key operation I just described. They do a lot lot more. It's like an extended branch of the mafia. Most sought after jobs in India after civil services. Recently in Bangalore a police guy was caught on cam stealing a journalists scooter.

sneak 8y ago

A lot of people who have not had occasion to interact with the criminal justice system (myself included until recently) harbor a lot of common sense misconceptions of the police or DAs willingness to tackle simple, well-documented crimes. “Just get the video and throw them in jail, duh” accurately summarized my inaccurate understanding of the system for a long time. Turns out, police exist in US society for the express purpose of oppressing minorities and protecting property interests of large landholders (they began as slave and rebellion patrols) - historical fact, not my opinion. Their priorities and values now, a couple hundred years later, still markedly reflect this heritage. It confused me until I learned their history.