4 ms·

> Waco, Texas What? If this draconian policy is happening in Texas, the land of the free, can I assume it's even worse in the rest of North America? I hope T

> Waco, Texas What? If this draconian policy is happening in Texas, the land of the free, can I assume it's even worse in the rest of North America? I hope Texans are up-in-arms about this government overreach.

deleted 4y ago
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ElevenLathe 4y ago
It's frustrating because these kinds of overreactions are based on a perception that crime is much worse than it is. At the same time, the perception that these kinds of incidents are common is itself wrong. Both false perceptions are caused by the "man bites dog" effect, where the media reports what is interesting, and media consumers therefore overestimate the frequency with which these unusual events occur. This kind of incident is NOT NORMAL. I have lived in various neighborhoods in Austin and a midsize city in Michigan, and kids walking or riding their bike around the neighborhood are common. The same is true of relatives' neighborhoods in Wisconsin, Arizona, and California.
- lowercased 4y ago
  Won't this incident also be counted as a 'crime' in some statistics?
- jefftk 4y ago
  > the perception that these kinds of incidents are common is itself wrong I also thought this was extremely rare, but then when I posted about it on FB a friend commented that it had happened to them. Not as extreme as in the article, but still very traumatic for the family.
ipv6ipv4 4y ago
No. It’s fine in other places.
WesolyKubeczek 4y ago
Apparently, except when you have to "think of the children", in which case they will go full Kim Jong Un on you...
no_wizard 4y ago
I don't think Texas or any other conservative state that touts "small government" in practice really practice this in any substantial way, especially as you start looking more locally.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  In practice these places have a small administrative state, and really overbearing policing.
- tunap 4y ago
  Smaller county Texas LEOs make their own rules, in direct contradiction to state law(s). They are also wont to lifting bills out of wallets, FYI. Check out Llano's glorious history: https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=llano%20corruption https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=llano%20corruption
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warent 4y ago
I'm an American and my first reaction was "of course this happens in Texas" That state has a lot of distortions and issues. The only "freedom" that exists is around ensuring the NRA keeps making huge profits.
fzeroracer 4y ago
You should generally assume that if something is happening in Texas that the other states are better, not worse. The government here is about as hyper hypocritical as it can get and no one actually cares about government overreach except when it has something vaguely to do with guns. In dark blue WA for example this isn't really a problem nor are there any laws on the books prohibiting it.
- 0xBDB 4y ago
  It happens all over the country, which is why Texas is one of a handful of states that has an (apparently ineffective) law against it. Quite literally 30 seconds of Googling turned up egregious cases in Florida, Massachusetts, California, and Maryland; I haven't found Washington State yet but I feel reasonably confident I could with some more effort. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-kids-and-our-parenting-police-state/2015/04/13/42c30336-e1df-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-kids-and-our...
- minimal-o 4y ago
  Hyper hypocritical is one way to put it I reckon. I'm more inclined to characterize it as an extreme, out-of-control right-wing sh1tsh0w at this point in the state's modern history. Born and raised Texan with very deep historical roots there ...
SighMagi 4y ago
I read it as probably sarcasm, but no, in practice conservative state governments like the one in Texas like to micromanage your life (who to love, what you do with your body etc.)
- deleted 4y ago
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mikestew 4y ago
...is happening in Texas, the land of the free... Meh, you're quoting their own press release at that point. It's like someone telling you they are a genius. If it isn't obvious, such that someone feels a need to tell me, then I'm pretty skeptical about the truth of it.

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ElevenLathe 4y ago

It's frustrating because these kinds of overreactions are based on a perception that crime is much worse than it is. At the same time, the perception that these kinds of incidents are common is itself wrong. Both false perceptions are caused by the "man bites dog" effect, where the media reports what is interesting, and media consumers therefore overestimate the frequency with which these unusual events occur. This kind of incident is NOT NORMAL. I have lived in various neighborhoods in Austin and a midsize city in Michigan, and kids walking or riding their bike around the neighborhood are common. The same is true of relatives' neighborhoods in Wisconsin, Arizona, and California.

lowercased 4y ago
Won't this incident also be counted as a 'crime' in some statistics?
jefftk 4y ago
> the perception that these kinds of incidents are common is itself wrong I also thought this was extremely rare, but then when I posted about it on FB a friend commented that it had happened to them. Not as extreme as in the article, but still very traumatic for the family.

ipv6ipv4 4y ago

No. It’s fine in other places.

WesolyKubeczek 4y ago

Apparently, except when you have to "think of the children", in which case they will go full Kim Jong Un on you...

no_wizard 4y ago

I don't think Texas or any other conservative state that touts "small government" in practice really practice this in any substantial way, especially as you start looking more locally.

ch4s3 4y ago
In practice these places have a small administrative state, and really overbearing policing.
tunap 4y ago
Smaller county Texas LEOs make their own rules, in direct contradiction to state law(s). They are also wont to lifting bills out of wallets, FYI. Check out Llano's glorious history: https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=llano%20corruption https://html.duckduckgo.com/html?q=llano%20corruption

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

warent 4y ago

I'm an American and my first reaction was "of course this happens in Texas" That state has a lot of distortions and issues. The only "freedom" that exists is around ensuring the NRA keeps making huge profits.

fzeroracer 4y ago

You should generally assume that if something is happening in Texas that the other states are better, not worse. The government here is about as hyper hypocritical as it can get and no one actually cares about government overreach except when it has something vaguely to do with guns. In dark blue WA for example this isn't really a problem nor are there any laws on the books prohibiting it.

0xBDB 4y ago
It happens all over the country, which is why Texas is one of a handful of states that has an (apparently ineffective) law against it. Quite literally 30 seconds of Googling turned up egregious cases in Florida, Massachusetts, California, and Maryland; I haven't found Washington State yet but I feel reasonably confident I could with some more effort. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-kids-and-our-parenting-police-state/2015/04/13/42c30336-e1df-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-kids-and-our...
minimal-o 4y ago
Hyper hypocritical is one way to put it I reckon. I'm more inclined to characterize it as an extreme, out-of-control right-wing sh1tsh0w at this point in the state's modern history. Born and raised Texan with very deep historical roots there ...

SighMagi 4y ago

I read it as probably sarcasm, but no, in practice conservative state governments like the one in Texas like to micromanage your life (who to love, what you do with your body etc.)

deleted 4y ago
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mikestew 4y ago

...is happening in Texas, the land of the free... Meh, you're quoting their own press release at that point. It's like someone telling you they are a genius. If it isn't obvious, such that someone feels a need to tell me, then I'm pretty skeptical about the truth of it.