4 ms·

Having a corrupt public servant (if this is the case here) does not make a country a "repressive state". It's highly unlikely this guy will actually go to pris

Having a corrupt public servant (if this is the case here) does not make a country a "repressive state". It's highly unlikely this guy will actually go to prison. weev, on the other hand, did go to prison. Is the US a "repressive state"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weev#AT&T_data_breach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weev#AT&T_data_breach

coldtea 8y ago
>Is the US a "repressive state"? Well, it has the biggest incarceration rates per capita, and the biggest death penalty rates, of the whole world, and a horrible legal system (three strikes, for example, or the tons of people that went to jail for BS like marijuana). It has the top incidents of cops killing people in the western world. Heck, until the 70s it even have segregation laws. Then there's the circus that are internal politics (the same two parties alternating in power for a century, following a bizarro multi-step process as remote from the actual people's vote as possible, with gerrymandering on top, and fat pockets with millions in promotion needed to have any chance as a candidate). Oh, and legal lobbying. That said, they do have a decent rule of law, a legacy of respect for freedom of speech, and quite good representation at the state level. [Edit: added some counter-items for balance]
- sacado2 8y ago
  > the biggest death penalty rates, of the whole world, aren't they beaten by Singapour on the execution per citizen ratio? They certainly were, a few years ago.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    When I last read about it it wasn't mentioned, but could have happened meanwhile. In general the competition was places like China (and even then, the numbers were unfavorable).
    - gtirloni 8y ago
      Respect for the law is paramount and it's taken very seriously in death penalty cases in the US. You can't say the same for all the people that die anonymously in certain countries that don't respect (or even have) laws that much.
- StavrosK 8y ago
  It ranks only slightly above Hungary on this freedom index: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2018-table-country-scores https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2018-table-cou...

coldtea 8y ago

>Is the US a "repressive state"? Well, it has the biggest incarceration rates per capita, and the biggest death penalty rates, of the whole world, and a horrible legal system (three strikes, for example, or the tons of people that went to jail for BS like marijuana). It has the top incidents of cops killing people in the western world. Heck, until the 70s it even have segregation laws. Then there's the circus that are internal politics (the same two parties alternating in power for a century, following a bizarro multi-step process as remote from the actual people's vote as possible, with gerrymandering on top, and fat pockets with millions in promotion needed to have any chance as a candidate). Oh, and legal lobbying. That said, they do have a decent rule of law, a legacy of respect for freedom of speech, and quite good representation at the state level. [Edit: added some counter-items for balance]

sacado2 8y ago
> the biggest death penalty rates, of the whole world, aren't they beaten by Singapour on the execution per citizen ratio? They certainly were, a few years ago.
- coldtea 8y ago
  When I last read about it it wasn't mentioned, but could have happened meanwhile. In general the competition was places like China (and even then, the numbers were unfavorable).
  - gtirloni 8y ago
    Respect for the law is paramount and it's taken very seriously in death penalty cases in the US. You can't say the same for all the people that die anonymously in certain countries that don't respect (or even have) laws that much.
StavrosK 8y ago
It ranks only slightly above Hungary on this freedom index: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2018-table-country-scores https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-2018-table-cou...