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It depends whether you think it is ok for the government: - to ban chewing gum - to publicly cane people (limited to "6 strokes" for women, how nice) - to enfor
by nairteashop 13y ago
It depends whether you think it is ok for the government:
- to ban chewing gum
- to publicly cane people (limited to "6 strokes" for women, how nice)
- to enforce capital punishment (i.e. killing people for allegedly killing people)
- to limit your rights to criticize your government
- etc
...provided that it guarantees you good money.
There is nothing inherently wrong with your point of view, and I have many friends who live in singapore, dubai, etc who do not have issues with rules such as the above.
However, I also know many people who value personal freedom above all, and do not think that being guaranteed money supersedes these freedoms. (FWIW I count myself in this group).
I know I'm stretching this a bit, but if you've watched the Matrix, this is the difference between the protagonists who wish freedom from the machines, and Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) who thinks the illusion of a good life is just fine with him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAsgavFvohI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAsgavFvohI
He does have a point, but most of us identified with the protagonists, right?
- foobarian 13y agoI don't know, I wonder if something like public caning might be a more humane and more effective option than sentencing people to anal rape. (Which is de facto what often happens in the US).
- nairteashop 13y agoYou do raise an interesting point. I think calling jail time what you called it is a bit extreme but yeah, lots and lots of people do get thrown in jail here. I don't have a good answer as to what I would consider "just punishment" by the state for things like robbery, etc. However, throwing someone in jail for littering is certainly extreme.
- yardie 13y agoAnal rape is not a defacto thing in US jails or prisons. Is it an epidemic? Almost certainly since the justice department has turned a blind eye to it and LEOs use the threat of it to coerce confessions in a few cases. But actual rape amongst nonviolent convicts is not higher (2-2.5%, according to Wikipedia [1]). You're more likely to be sexually assaulted, in general, just by being a woman. No one is sentenced to anal rape in the US. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_rape_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_rape_in_the_United_State...
- darklajid 13y agoI'm both curious and a little teasing here: Where do you live? I'm talking from the perspective of a (leftist) German who wanted to relocate to Singapore (Wife said no) and lived in Tel Aviv. I've never been to the States, because quite frankly I feel the trip would cost me more 'freedom' than I'm comfortable to part with. Note that I comment on things I know only online/through the news/from talks with friends. That said, I wonder how many critics of Singapore have actually stayed there for some time..
- nairteashop 13y agoI live in the US (bay area) now, but I've lived for significant periods of time in the middle east and asia in the past. I know the US gets a bad rap as far as personal freedom is concerned (high incarceration rate, capital punishment, etc) and this is indeed an issue in some other places in the US where I've lived, but I love it here in the bay area. You should try it for a bit and see what you think. Interestingly, I'm planning to move to Europe, most likely Germany :) and live there for a bit to see what that's like.
- flyinRyan 13y agoThe bad rap is deserved. But the US is so large you can live there your whole life without running into any issues if you're lucky, so don't imagine loving it where you are means there aren't major issues. Swing over to Oakland and you'll probably see some.