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Originally Posted by Eric
You seem to be missing the point again ... the question is not about homicidal lunatics, it's about how they are dealt with by criminal justice systems. All "civilized" countries have their lunatic killers;
What can't be denied is that those countries which have no death penalty, which treat the incarcerated humanely, and which, in general, have in place government funded health care and education, old age security, welfare, disability pensions, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, etc, and a strong tradition of democratic government all tend to have low incarceration and recidivism rates, and low crime rates. Like it or not, and I know a lot of you don't like it, the punishment for major crimes in Norway (and Canada; and the UK) is a period of incarceration ... that's it; you lose your freedom.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
Ok ... if you don't like Norway as an example; how about The Netherlands with its dense population (like you guys in the UK; living on top of one another  ).
And let's look at the "fry'em" capital of the world: the US. Admittedly it has a population of 300 million +; but, it is spread over a huge area. It is prosperous, thanks originally to oil. It now has Obamacare. Free schooling, among other social benefits ... however, when you are there you don't feel safe. I think I'd rather walk thru Damascus at nite than take a nice stroll through downtown Detroit.  And yet, many on this forum often look benignly on the US criminal punishment system. They see it as an answer to violent crime. And, at the same time, they ignore the facts: the country with the highest incarceration rate, some of the most dangerous prisons in the civilzed world, and the death penalty in many states still has a crime rate that is through the roof. More than 10,000 people in the states were murdered by hand guns alone last year  |
Very eloquently put , Eric.
It's strange how civilisation and enlightenment go hand in hand with progress and the well-being of the population. Throughout history it has been seen and yet it is not recognised as being ideal because at some point a greedy few manage to spoil things for everyone else.
The majority benefit from sharing the fruits of the country and yet in every major civilisation the world has seen so far, the "few" manage to put the frighteners on and convince the masses that they are in danger from something other than the power crazy themselves.
There will always be some insane and dangerous people around but they are fewer and far between than films and TV series about serial killers would have us believe...the real problem lies elsewhere.