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Aswad -> RE: SLAVE TRADE (8/11/2007 10:22:34 AM)
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Excellent. We all live and learn. Used to piss me off, too, until I put it all in perspective.
I do not think Americans are inherently more criminal than the rest of the world. Which means the discrepancy in crime rates shows that there is a problem with either the culture, the management of the country, or both. It is common to cry out for harsher penalties, but Lex Talionis only goes so far. Society does not have rights over the individual, in the ideal case, even a criminal. Cooperation is enforced by regulating the benefits derived from cooperation that are publicly owned and controlled (e.g. money), and destructive behaviour is prevented by various measures. Protection is obtained via public services targetted at specific threats (e.g. Home Guard, firefighters, police, prisons, hospitals, mental hospitals, bomb shelters, traffic lights, etc.). Government should do nothing more than administrate this, and balance the interests of various minorities against those of the majority. Simple as that.
Lex Talionis is for individuals, not societies. Those have better tools.
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