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Your reply is yet another "Tu quoque America!" post that is becoming far too predictable and common on HN. The US is not the subject of the OP's comment. Clar

by jalanco 14y ago

Your reply is yet another "Tu quoque America!" post that is becoming far too predictable and common on HN. The US is not the subject of the OP's comment. Clarification: My comment probably appears to be a knee-jerk defense of America. I'm a libertarian, and, as an example, I'm a huge fan of Radley Balko and his expose of no-knock raids and other many government civil liberty abominations, just so you know where I stand. I also believe the DEA should be shut down, and that many people in the justice department should probably be in prison. But my point is that power corrupts, universally. It is not isolated, obviously, to the US.

mikeash 14y ago
I disagree. He's not saying that this somehow excuses the Indian behavior, or that Americans are worse. He's simply pointing out that this is a widespread problem. I personally found the post interesting and am glad he posted it. It is definitely not a "tu quoque" as you say.
- wisty 14y ago
  The difference being, in the US the police are only likely to give you a hard time if they think you are guilty. In India, they are only likely to do so if someone bribed them to.
  - mikeash 14y ago
    That makes me feel so much better.
  - gasull 14y ago
    If you're detained, it's because they think you're guilty. And many times this means they think you're guilty of things that shouldn't be a crime in the first place, like possessing drugs.
  - Confusion 14y ago
    Which is not any better for the detainee, because he still gets treated badly by someone who thinks he's entitled to doing so. A police officer is not qualified to determine who is guilty. Only to determine who is suspect. All suspects are to be treated alike. And of course, we can all come up with blatantly obvious cases where someone is guilty of some heinous crime. The point is that there are many more cases where the crime is less noteworthy, the guilt is less obvious and someone still gets treated badly before his guilt has been established.

by jalanco 14y ago

mikeash 14y ago

I disagree. He's not saying that this somehow excuses the Indian behavior, or that Americans are worse. He's simply pointing out that this is a widespread problem. I personally found the post interesting and am glad he posted it. It is definitely not a "tu quoque" as you say.

wisty 14y ago
The difference being, in the US the police are only likely to give you a hard time if they think you are guilty. In India, they are only likely to do so if someone bribed them to.
- mikeash 14y ago
  That makes me feel so much better.
- gasull 14y ago
  If you're detained, it's because they think you're guilty. And many times this means they think you're guilty of things that shouldn't be a crime in the first place, like possessing drugs.
- Confusion 14y ago
  Which is not any better for the detainee, because he still gets treated badly by someone who thinks he's entitled to doing so. A police officer is not qualified to determine who is guilty. Only to determine who is suspect. All suspects are to be treated alike. And of course, we can all come up with blatantly obvious cases where someone is guilty of some heinous crime. The point is that there are many more cases where the crime is less noteworthy, the guilt is less obvious and someone still gets treated badly before his guilt has been established.