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but it also sends the message that shooting up heroin is tolerated, even encouraged. it's like the people running the city have completely giving up on expectin
by _dain_ 5y ago
but it also sends the message that shooting up heroin is tolerated, even encouraged. it's like the people running the city have completely giving up on expecting any kind of standards of public decency or even upholding civilization itself. they gave up on collecting trash, they gave up on arresting thieves, they gave up building houses, they're considering whether to give up teaching calculus. nothing we can do! we'll just manage the decline into thirdworldization, be careful not to overdose while you drug yourself into a stupor.
- nkrisc 5y ago> but it also sends the message that shooting up heroin is tolerated, even encouraged So what? An addict is going to shoot up whether it’s tolerated or not, and non-addicts aren’t going to take up heroin because they say a billboard. If you really want to end it, it’s going to need to be a lot more comprehensive, expensive, and expansive than the presence or absence of a billboard.
- _dain_ 5y agookay, how about we put up billboards saying >When you smash a window to rob a store, be careful not to cut yourself on the glass. Wear thick gloves. after all, a billboard is not going to stop a burglar, is it? and if we're going to have burglaries, it's better that the burglars don't injure themselves while committing their crimes, because after all it will reduce the burden on hospitals. it will also protect the store owners from liability! I'm not a nietzchean but I start to sympathize with how zarathustra must have felt when he saw those pathetic last men, bleating about "harm reduction" as they huddled together for warmth.
- tekproxy 5y agoJust move. California doesn't deserve you. People there think you can only use carrots and sticks are immoral.
- _dain_ 5y agooh I don't live in CA, I just know people who do
- minitoar 5y agoIs there an epidemic of burglars injuring themselves I’m not aware of?
- WalterBright 5y agoThe local public library has a sign that says obeying the law is required in the library. I asked the librarian if there really was a problem with the library being a law-free zone. She shrugged saying "what can I say". Personally, I doubt that a sign would dissuade the types who go to the library to commit crimes.
- satvikpendem 5y agoAddiction is a physiological disease. Burglary is not. You cannot compare them just because they are both crimes, as they have different causes. Those that burgle choose to do so (and yes, their circumstances may lead them to do so, such as poverty) but those who are addicted cannot really choose, their body demands that they abuse the substance.
- mensetmanusman 5y agoMany burglers are addicts trying to get resources to satisfy their body’s demand though.
- nkrisc 5y agoWhy would you put up those billboards? What's the intent? Is there an epidemic of burglars bleeding to death in the streets? Sure it makes a good analogy, but it has nothing to do with the reality we live in. We don't live in a hypothetical world, so it's appropriate to consider methods that are specific to the realities of the world we really do live in.
- mbrodersen 5y agoThe heavily funded “Just Say No” campaign never worked. So what makes you think a billboard will somehow be more powerful than that?