Posted by ron1953 on July 1, 2010, at 10:40:26
American legislators and "mainstream" society have, unfortunately, done too much to marginalize and penalize individuals who don't adhere to so-called norms. We have the largest prison population in the world, a war on drugs, legalized racial profiling in places like Arizona, wars against peoples who are not like "us", ad nauseam. All based on fear, mostly irrational fear. The crime and punishment mentality doesn't improve a damn thing, yet continues unabated, despite the historical evidence of the harm it does. The answer has typically been to throw even more laws and more money at the "problems", as opposed to rethinking the failed approach.
I see Babble's crime and punishment mentality much the same way - doesn't work, but beat it to death anyway.
poster:ron1953
thread:952787
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20100321/msgs/952787.html