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I am not sure how many HNers have watched The Interview. But at point Kim John Un points that that America has an higher incarnation rate than North Korea - The

by 1971genocide 12y ago

I am not sure how many HNers have watched The Interview. But at point Kim John Un points that that America has an higher incarnation rate than North Korea - They brushed it off in the movie But I still think about it. How can the world's proudest democracy answer the simple question that Kim John Un poised ?

bmmayer1 12y ago
Well to start with, it's a very misleading comparison. Every single person in North Korea is in prison. Just because most of them are not behind bars doesn't mean they are not prisoners. By contrast, Americans only (largely, overwhelmingly) end up in prison if they break laws (false convictions are statistically rare). We have too many laws, to be sure, and that is a problem we need to address, but no one would seriously believe that America's standard for imprisonment is lower than North Korea's.
- AnthonyMouse 12y ago
  > By contrast, Americans only (largely, overwhelmingly) end up in prison if they break laws How is that a productive distinction when the problem (as you admit) is that there are too many laws which are too vague and too broad? "You only go to prison if you break the law" is useless consolation if it's not possible for generally honest people to live their lives without breaking the law. It causes enforcement to be at the whim of the government. You're already a criminal, so whether you go to jail is based on whether they decide to prosecute you. Which is clearly not entirely based on whether you committed a crime. > false convictions are statistically rare How do you even propose to measure that?
- 1971genocide 12y ago
  Of course, USA is far better in every way than North Korea ! I am not confused about that part. The reason why this question is important is because We generally do not recognize North Korea's sovereignty. We have this notion that we are orders of magnitude more advanced then them. What I think Kim-John-Un means is we cannot pass value judgement on him. Yes he kills a lot of people but we can judge him for his actions at killing a lot of people. We can even get rid of him because of that. But we cannot make the argument that our way and implementation of governance is way superior to his.
Houshalter 12y ago
Most of the prisoners in America are there for drug related reasons. North Korea doesn't enforce drugs as much. 40-50% of the population is addicted to meth. America does have far fewer innocents and political prisoners. If you question Obama your whole family won't get thrown in jail for 3 generations.
mseebach 12y ago
North Korea's incarceration rate is not exactly a matter of public record, but don't take fictional Kim's word for it - two attempts to estimate it puts it higher than the US: http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/jan/14/hank-johnson/does-us-have-highest-percentage-people-prison/ http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/jan/14/han...

bmmayer1 12y ago

Well to start with, it's a very misleading comparison. Every single person in North Korea is in prison. Just because most of them are not behind bars doesn't mean they are not prisoners. By contrast, Americans only (largely, overwhelmingly) end up in prison if they break laws (false convictions are statistically rare). We have too many laws, to be sure, and that is a problem we need to address, but no one would seriously believe that America's standard for imprisonment is lower than North Korea's.

AnthonyMouse 12y ago
> By contrast, Americans only (largely, overwhelmingly) end up in prison if they break laws How is that a productive distinction when the problem (as you admit) is that there are too many laws which are too vague and too broad? "You only go to prison if you break the law" is useless consolation if it's not possible for generally honest people to live their lives without breaking the law. It causes enforcement to be at the whim of the government. You're already a criminal, so whether you go to jail is based on whether they decide to prosecute you. Which is clearly not entirely based on whether you committed a crime. > false convictions are statistically rare How do you even propose to measure that?
1971genocide 12y ago
Of course, USA is far better in every way than North Korea ! I am not confused about that part. The reason why this question is important is because We generally do not recognize North Korea's sovereignty. We have this notion that we are orders of magnitude more advanced then them. What I think Kim-John-Un means is we cannot pass value judgement on him. Yes he kills a lot of people but we can judge him for his actions at killing a lot of people. We can even get rid of him because of that. But we cannot make the argument that our way and implementation of governance is way superior to his.

Houshalter 12y ago

Most of the prisoners in America are there for drug related reasons. North Korea doesn't enforce drugs as much. 40-50% of the population is addicted to meth. America does have far fewer innocents and political prisoners. If you question Obama your whole family won't get thrown in jail for 3 generations.

mseebach 12y ago

North Korea's incarceration rate is not exactly a matter of public record, but don't take fictional Kim's word for it - two attempts to estimate it puts it higher than the US: http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/jan/14/hank-johnson/does-us-have-highest-percentage-people-prison/ http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/jan/14/han...