4 ms·

Perhaps all Boston residents should carry GPS? For public safety of course. Of course, to disallow people from removing such device and defeating the public sa

Perhaps all Boston residents should carry GPS? For public safety of course. Of course, to disallow people from removing such device and defeating the public safety effectiveness of this measure, the device would be implanted surgically. And to allow for the identification of bodies, there should be several, just in case a limb gets lost, or a bullet destroy one... The procedure should be painless (relatively) and should be covered by the Affordable Care Act (we think, we haven't really read the law), so residents that resist such measures could be deemed troublemakers and put into a government database such as the no-fly list, and other such lists, for possible rounding up at the first sign of trouble. All in the name of public safety, of course. Of course.

bruceb 13y ago
I as an individual don't have the power to stop, detain, and imprison someone. I don't have a "license to kill". Putting GPS on cars that are paid for by the taxpayer and are used by people with more power than a regular citizen is hardly some far reaching nanny state, it is just good practice.
- function_seven 13y ago
  > Putting GPS on cars that are paid for by the taxpayer and are used by people with more power than a regular citizen is hardly some far reaching nanny state, it is just good practice. I'd go further and say that it's quite the opposite of a nanny state (or really, a surveillance state). I don't understand where chris_mahan is coming from, as this policy seems to allow the citizenry oversight over the government, instead of the other way around.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago
    My argument is that first the police, then firefighters. Then teachers, then schoolchildren, then all government vehicles, then all government administrators, then all government workers, then a few major corporations, then all major corporations, then small businesses, then all businesses, then students in college, then library patrons, buss-pass holders, then ex-convicts, then children, then people collecting unemployment, then people who are receiving disability payments, then retirees, then... Did I miss anyone? The slippery slope is called slippery _because_ it is slippery...
    - anonyHN 13y ago
      None of your other examples have the power to stop, search, imprison other citizens based solely on their word. They are not even functional as counter-examples. How many 'corrupt firefighters' send people to jail for life or shoot someone to death and then get off scott free?
    - HCIdivision17 13y ago
      My confusion is that you think there's a slope here to slip down. As mentioned in another comment, the police really are exceptional in both power and responsibility. As stated in a (far) above comment, this actually is a protection for the officer as well. Remember that they are first responders for evidence, and if they do their job well the video evidence will only bolster their credibility. And if not, it will only empower victims of abuse. None of the other groups have so much responsibility and power where trust is so critical to their functioning. I've is slippery, too, and it can take you in any direction you fall: how far are you willing to compromise a lack of oversight?
      - HCIdivision17 13y ago
        Where "I've" is an example of the sloppiness led from excessive trust in auto-correct. Should be "Ice", a word I clearly slipped up on.
    - vacri 13y ago
      Your slippery slope has a very weird angle, given that schoolchildren are hit so early and ex-cons so late. Mind you, I'm not sure what abuses of power schoolchildren go for, so I'm open to being educated on the matter.
      - chris_mahan 13y ago
        abuse of power? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about "Society feels it's important to monitor the whereabout of these individuals for reason X".
    - PeterisP 13y ago

bruceb 13y ago

I as an individual don't have the power to stop, detain, and imprison someone. I don't have a "license to kill". Putting GPS on cars that are paid for by the taxpayer and are used by people with more power than a regular citizen is hardly some far reaching nanny state, it is just good practice.

function_seven 13y ago
> Putting GPS on cars that are paid for by the taxpayer and are used by people with more power than a regular citizen is hardly some far reaching nanny state, it is just good practice. I'd go further and say that it's quite the opposite of a nanny state (or really, a surveillance state). I don't understand where chris_mahan is coming from, as this policy seems to allow the citizenry oversight over the government, instead of the other way around.
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  My argument is that first the police, then firefighters. Then teachers, then schoolchildren, then all government vehicles, then all government administrators, then all government workers, then a few major corporations, then all major corporations, then small businesses, then all businesses, then students in college, then library patrons, buss-pass holders, then ex-convicts, then children, then people collecting unemployment, then people who are receiving disability payments, then retirees, then... Did I miss anyone? The slippery slope is called slippery _because_ it is slippery...
  - anonyHN 13y ago
    None of your other examples have the power to stop, search, imprison other citizens based solely on their word. They are not even functional as counter-examples. How many 'corrupt firefighters' send people to jail for life or shoot someone to death and then get off scott free?
  - HCIdivision17 13y ago
    My confusion is that you think there's a slope here to slip down. As mentioned in another comment, the police really are exceptional in both power and responsibility. As stated in a (far) above comment, this actually is a protection for the officer as well. Remember that they are first responders for evidence, and if they do their job well the video evidence will only bolster their credibility. And if not, it will only empower victims of abuse. None of the other groups have so much responsibility and power where trust is so critical to their functioning. I've is slippery, too, and it can take you in any direction you fall: how far are you willing to compromise a lack of oversight?
    - HCIdivision17 13y ago
      Where "I've" is an example of the sloppiness led from excessive trust in auto-correct. Should be "Ice", a word I clearly slipped up on.
  - vacri 13y ago
    Your slippery slope has a very weird angle, given that schoolchildren are hit so early and ex-cons so late. Mind you, I'm not sure what abuses of power schoolchildren go for, so I'm open to being educated on the matter.
    - chris_mahan 13y ago
      abuse of power? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about "Society feels it's important to monitor the whereabout of these individuals for reason X".
  - PeterisP 13y ago