USA home of the free; land of the imprisoned

[WriterDom]

-- Nations whose combined prison population could fit inside California penal institutions with space left over: France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the Netherlands. [Eric Schlosser in the Atlantic Monthly]

 

[Ambrosious]

I blame the criminal.

In this day and age, that is extreme talk, I know, but I blame the criminal.

 

[R Nitelight]

WriterDom

If I lived in any of those countries, I'd prefer moving to a California prison.

 

[WriterDom]

I've been to Singapore. It's pretty nice. Not much graffiti though. Spare the cane and spoil the punk I guess.

 

[Slick66]

The idea occurs to me

That corporations like Whackenhut(sp) have not done nearly so good a marketing job in France and England. That name kills me.

 

[Closet Desire]

Was I surprised...

...you might have a point. When I moved here I was surprised to find how short the prison sentences are for some offenses. In some cases, they got off with a warning for things like burglary, assault with injury, rape. Even when incarcerated the punishment sometimes seems a bit light. I'm not in a position to judge if it's right or if it works better or not. It's just an observation.

On the other hand, some people in the US get serious time for what really doesn't seem like a very serious offense. Things like recreational drugs (no I don't use them) can get you a worse sentence than rape (ie. Missouri a few years ago...maybe hasn't changed yet...I dunno).

Would I rather live in a California prison or here in England. Hmmmm...it depends. Would I get to go out in the sun each day? Conjugal visits? No...I 'spose not...I'll just turn on my sun lamp.

 

[CRaZy]

France - such a complex legal system that even the lawyers and judges don't understand it - in the end everyone just gives up. Also has the foreign legion for misfits to escape to.

Great Britain - no need for jail. They just publish your name in the tabloids and let them loose.

Germany - tries to get misfits to join the french foreign legion or at least ensure they are arrested in another country.

Japan - family shame is far more powerful than a myriad of laws. Besides, the Yakuza, the organised crime lords, own the government. No-one is going to arrest them.

Singapore - family shame same as Japan. Triads work the same as Yakuza. Plus, as has already been noted, they use a big stick.

Netherlands - well nothing is illegal is it???

 

[CelestialBody]

Out of curiousity...

 

[WriterDom]

roughly 33,000,000 in ca
343,000,000 in the countries mentioned

 

[OUTSIDER]

Here's an odd one... Switzerland has 90% gun ownership and those with a firearm are obliged to take lessons on how to use them and yet they have one of the lowest murder rates in europe..?

 

[R Nitelight]

OUTSIDER

Here's an odd one... Switzerland has 90% gun ownership and those with a firearm are obliged to take lessons on how to use them and yet they have one of the lowest murder rates in europe..?

That's because in Switzerland, the criminals are all neutral.

 

[OUTSIDER]

they probably just stick all their prisoners in the same secret vault where they keep all that stolen nazi gold their hiding from holocaust survivors.

 

[Siren]

That is so fucking funny...and sadly a bit too true.

 

[BlondGirl]

A bit off topic here....

I had a patient last week that came in to be examined--had the flu or whatever. When I saw his x-rays, I could have cried--his lungs were covered in little while "snowballs" --sort of like someone had taken a pencil eraser to his films and just pushed the eraser up against the nylon and twisted to remove some of the black area (black on x-ray represents air filled areas--yes, we can see a burp or fart-to-be on x-ray!)
I turned to my patient and asked him what kind of work he did. He immediately answered with, "Yes, I know I have histoplasmosis. It was caused from spending a few years in prison in my younger days. My job was working the chicken house and breathing in all that damned bird shit."
So, this particular man, who did his time and is now a very productive member of society, will have lung problems all his life as a reminder.
It hurts to see.
(Oh, and for a bit more FYI--NEVER EVER EVER have multiple birds living in your house--aersolized bird shit is toxic. If you have a pair of finches in the house, no big deal. If you breed pigeons or whatever, please keep them in a seperate room that is not connected to your central air and under no circumstances do you ever make it a habit to sleep where you are breathing bird shit. Smoking is much much much better for you and we all know what the risks of that are!)
Oh yeah--the guy--he was in his forties.

 

[Laurel]

A bit off topic here....

I had a patient last week that came in to be examined--had the flu or whatever. When I saw his x-rays, I could have cried--his lungs were covered in little while "snowballs" --sort of like someone had taken a pencil eraser to his films and just pushed the eraser up against the nylon and twisted to remove some of the black area (black on x-ray represents air filled areas--yes, we can see a burp or fart-to-be on x-ray!)
I turned to my patient and asked him what kind of work he did. He immediately answered with, "Yes, I know I have histoplasmosis. It was caused from spending a few years in prison in my younger days. My job was working the chicken house and breathing in all that damned bird shit."
So, this particular man, who did his time and is now a very productive member of society, will have lung problems all his life as a reminder.
It hurts to see.
(Oh, and for a bit more FYI--NEVER EVER EVER have multiple birds living in your house--aersolized bird shit is toxic. If you have a pair of finches in the house, no big deal. If you breed pigeons or whatever, please keep them in a seperate room that is not connected to your central air and under no circumstances do you ever make it a habit to sleep where you are breathing bird shit. Smoking is much much much better for you and we all know what the risks of that are!)
Oh yeah--the guy--he was in his forties.

Aerolized bird shit, toxic? Who knew? Wow, the stuff I learn on porn sites...

On topic, I think that comparing prison numbers and murder rates country to country is comparing apples and oranges. The whole "Country X has a 99.9% armed citizenry and zero crime rate, so the US should arm its citizens so we'd have no crime" argument is a freaky leap in logic, and it's scary that so many rational people will spout it off. Every country has its own culture, its own history, its own ethnic/age/gender/class mix. There's no easy answers.

I do think that the 'drug war' is a waste of time, as are anti-prostitution laws and anti-porn laws (with the obvious exception of child porn). Laws should increase our freedoms, not inhibit them. Laws against murder and rape deter these activities and thus make it so we can walk in our neighborhood in relative safety. Laws created strictly to inflict 'morality' - 'drugs are bad' 'sex is bad' - constrict freedom unnecessarily. What consenting adults do is their business. These laws are bad for society and go against everything our founding fathers fought for. IMHO.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

Yes, ditto!
Too many personal choices have been criminalized. We no longer defend differences in others, but instead seek to create a uniformity upon everyone. "I know not what course others may take..."

 

[OUTSIDER]

What I was trying to say about Switzerland is that they have more guns per person than the US but they have a lower murder rate because they have a different culture, I've never liked guns and have never understood people who do, I do not therefore avocate gun ownership and never will, I think maybe I didn't make that clear and I'm sorry I didn't.