U.S. Exceptionalism in Being a Police/Prison State

[Saz]

[Indy]

Well I guess my point in posting all this is: what is it about our national psyche that we simply sit by and let this go on but when asked will absolutely puff out our chests about how we're against "tyranny" and for liberty, yada, yada...

I have a short answer, of course, which will be new to none of you: panem et circenses, but I'm curious to hear everybody's thoughts here. Unless that's really just it: it's just that simple.

[Indy]

[Professor]

Here's the problem. What has worked to reduce the total amount of crime in the past may not work anymore.

In the 90's, four factors accounted for the reduction in crime:
- More police
- More prisoners
- Crash of the crack/cocaine market
- Abortions made legal 20 years earlier

Fast forward to today.
- Are more police going to help? Probably not much. We've reached some kind of critical mass, where more of something doesn't translate into the same outcome.
- Are more people in prison going to help? Doubtful, for the same critical mass reason.
- Should we expect a crash of any kind of drug market? I doubt it, as the the VAST majority of drug arrests come from pot (9871 out of 18,840 for sale/distribute arrests, and 90,927 out of 111,477 for possession arrests - https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab ... 2s0328.pdf). And, pot simply doesn't lead to the same kind of crime as did crack/cocaine.
- Should we look for a massive reduction in the types of people predisposed to crime that resulted from Roe v Wade? Nope, as abortion has been legal for a while, that effect has already been realized.

So, what's the answer? Hell if I know. If I did, you could expect to see me installed as the next Chicago or NYC Police Commissioner. But, I can say that it won't be what led to the crime reductions seen in the 90s.

[Saz]

You forgot unleaded gas bro

[eynon81]

[eynon81]

[eynon81]

[Indy]

[Professor]