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The sad truth is that the United States has a severe access to justice problem. Most people don't know which regulator to contact, and the process requires a ce

The sad truth is that the United States has a severe access to justice problem. Most people don't know which regulator to contact, and the process requires a certain amount of time, effort, and knowledge that's out of reach of most people.

sandworm101 6y ago
>> time, effort, and knowledge Time+effort = money. Knowledge = lawyers = also money. The US system is based on the notion that anyone worth listening too will have ready access to lawyers. Those who cannot afford lawyers have little voice. "Let the courts handle" means "rich people only".
- mhh__ 6y ago
  The problem with capital punishment, is that those without the capital get the punishment. Not sure who the quote is due to
kube-system 6y ago
It's a perfect storm of being large, highly federated, and not particularly great at teaching civics.
- smolder 6y ago
  We could teach civics well if we chose to. Public education is purposefully undermined, likely because it has the word "public" in it.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    I went to a well funded school in a highly educated district with a constituency that consistently voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. We had a single required credit for civics. That’s barely enough time to brush the surface of the four levels of independent government we had. Opportunity cost was the driving factor. Much of the constituency voiced a desire for more courses in STEM or arts, not civics.
    - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
      > voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. > We had a single required credit for civics They're not gonna change the latter so long as it keeps working so well.
      - kube-system 6y ago
        Most of the referendums I am referencing were bonds for narrowly defined capital projects... not frivolous raises for themselves, if that's what you're insinuating. It was a well run district.
    - smolder 6y ago
      That makes sense. I can see the push for more/better STEM education, and the arts are always battling for funding as one of the first things cut on tight budgets. I would hazard a guess that the children that attended your well-funded school have managed to assimilate an above-average amount of practical civics knowledge, in spite of minimal coverage in school, perhaps thanks to their families and social network generally. Public education in affluent districts seems to act as more of a starting point than the whole thing. I think a lot of poorer people don't have the outside support to succeed to the same extent when there are gaps in their official curriculum. The demands on the districts they attend are greater, with a smaller tax base. Some folks see expansion of schools power and budgets as ideologically wrong, or just oppose the taxes. Others dispute the material taught. Either way, persistent outside pressures toward austerity (along with testing performance mandates and some other issues) have helped keep our baseline education from being adequate for everyone's needs, or from achieving a standard that compares very well internationally.
  - generj 6y ago
    Just playing West Wing every time would likely be a massive improvement over the current civics classes. The focus is very much on largely irrelevant facts from the 18th and 19th century and not on modern civics. Students understanding don’t care as a result.
azinman2 6y ago
It’s also not something that you want to make as easy as Postmates. There should be a high bar to avoid an even more litigious society.
- gilrain 6y ago
  If the bar were applied evenly, it would at least be worth a discussion. As it stands, it's as easy as Postmates for the rich, a huge struggle for the middle class, and effectively impossible for the poor.
ohazi 6y ago
The US does not have a justice system, it has a legal system. You need to come to grips with this fact before anything else even begins to make sense.

sandworm101 6y ago

>> time, effort, and knowledge Time+effort = money. Knowledge = lawyers = also money. The US system is based on the notion that anyone worth listening too will have ready access to lawyers. Those who cannot afford lawyers have little voice. "Let the courts handle" means "rich people only".

mhh__ 6y ago
The problem with capital punishment, is that those without the capital get the punishment. Not sure who the quote is due to

kube-system 6y ago

It's a perfect storm of being large, highly federated, and not particularly great at teaching civics.

smolder 6y ago
We could teach civics well if we chose to. Public education is purposefully undermined, likely because it has the word "public" in it.
- kube-system 6y ago
  I went to a well funded school in a highly educated district with a constituency that consistently voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. We had a single required credit for civics. That’s barely enough time to brush the surface of the four levels of independent government we had. Opportunity cost was the driving factor. Much of the constituency voiced a desire for more courses in STEM or arts, not civics.
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    > voted for every bill to raise funding for public schools. > We had a single required credit for civics They're not gonna change the latter so long as it keeps working so well.
    - kube-system 6y ago
      Most of the referendums I am referencing were bonds for narrowly defined capital projects... not frivolous raises for themselves, if that's what you're insinuating. It was a well run district.
  - smolder 6y ago
    That makes sense. I can see the push for more/better STEM education, and the arts are always battling for funding as one of the first things cut on tight budgets. I would hazard a guess that the children that attended your well-funded school have managed to assimilate an above-average amount of practical civics knowledge, in spite of minimal coverage in school, perhaps thanks to their families and social network generally. Public education in affluent districts seems to act as more of a starting point than the whole thing. I think a lot of poorer people don't have the outside support to succeed to the same extent when there are gaps in their official curriculum. The demands on the districts they attend are greater, with a smaller tax base. Some folks see expansion of schools power and budgets as ideologically wrong, or just oppose the taxes. Others dispute the material taught. Either way, persistent outside pressures toward austerity (along with testing performance mandates and some other issues) have helped keep our baseline education from being adequate for everyone's needs, or from achieving a standard that compares very well internationally.
- generj 6y ago
  Just playing West Wing every time would likely be a massive improvement over the current civics classes. The focus is very much on largely irrelevant facts from the 18th and 19th century and not on modern civics. Students understanding don’t care as a result.

azinman2 6y ago

It’s also not something that you want to make as easy as Postmates. There should be a high bar to avoid an even more litigious society.

gilrain 6y ago
If the bar were applied evenly, it would at least be worth a discussion. As it stands, it's as easy as Postmates for the rich, a huge struggle for the middle class, and effectively impossible for the poor.

ohazi 6y ago

The US does not have a justice system, it has a legal system. You need to come to grips with this fact before anything else even begins to make sense.