: You are partially right. Yes, there are people that will never change thier ways no matter how much punishment they receive. On the otherhand, it is foolish to think that there are not any people who, after spending time in jail, turn from there life of crime because they don't want to get locked up again. As for the people who punishment will not work on, they should still be in jail anyway because even if it doesn't teach them anything, at least it keeps us safe from them. They cant kill anyone else or rob any more stores while they're locked up.
: I agree with you that prevention would work better that punishment after the fact, and you listed some good examples. Most criminals come from families that are criminals. Then thier kids and thier kids' kids etc... become criminals. It's a cycle. Most people born into a family like that are taught from a young age that drugs are ok, and to get money for drugs you rob somebody. These poor innocent kids turn out exactly like thier parents. The best way to prevent this is to go after the criminal parents of young kids. Kids learn more from thier family than anyone else in the world combined. Of course stricter gun laws, peer mediation, sports programs, DARE etc... will help, but all these things are almost useless if the parents are free to commit crimes and not be punished for it.
Our system as it stands has a lot of room for improvement. These are individuals we are talking about. Currently the categories are too broad and the punishment often does not fit the crime, either too much or too little.
: I didn't say alcoholocis are scumbags. I didn't say drug addicts are scumbags (although most of them are, and I am saying that now) I said the scumbags are the people who are alcoholics and druggies and child abusers etc...
I find that offensive and mis informed. Many of these people are good people with bad behavior and can achieve far greater things than the average joe. In my adult children of alcoholics meetings (which I highly recommend for those interested) and in group therapy which I attended for severe depression, I exchanged 'life stories' and got to know many alcoholics and drug addicts on a very personal and heart to heart level. Most of them had above average intelligence and were far more empathetic, understanding, intuitive, giving, good judges of character than any other people I have known among many other good qualities, because they had to be. And many of them pulled themselves out of trenches most of you are fortunate enough to never face. You know what this does? It makes you stronger, sharper, quicker than those who never had to deal, kind of like war.
: You are jumping to conclusions. I never stereotyped welfare recipients or spoke out against them. I spoke out against people who abuse the welfare system, and there are many. Welfare is supposed to be only a temporary tool used to give people a leg up. The whole point of it is to keep a roof over thier heads and food on the table while they are looking for a job or go to college. When they find a job then they get off welfare. That's the way it is supposed to be. However, there are people who use welfare and food stamps to buy drugs and alcohol. I have nothing at all against alcohol, but there is something wrong when
: people are buying liquor with welfare and food stamps when they have starving children at home. If you disagree with me there then you are nothing less than a cold hearted monster. I'm sorry if thats harsh, but there is no reason why impoverished kids have to suffer further because the crack addict parents need just "one more high" or one more drink. Another form of welfare abuse is when the recipient fails to even try to get a job. Even if it's only a $6 or $7 an hour job at Burger King or a gas station, they would be taking home a check bigger probably than what welfare gives them, plus they have a chance to go from there to a higher position in the company or to a better job completely. Many people do this; this is the point of welfare. But again, some of them are lazy and don't want to work.
In some cases this is the truth. Speaking from experience, having been on general assistance, food stamps and medical assistance at one point It's not as simple as that. Being poor usually doesn't do much for your self esteem. If you are an addict of some form, likely this is a result of severe internal pain. So basicly you don't have a lot of confidence or motivation to be a real go getter. Snapping out of this is much easier said than done. I hope you never have to learn this the hard way. Once again welfare only puts a bandaid on, not reaching the ROOT of the problem, like Kevin mentioned of the jail system. Treat the depression, addiction, etc. along with welfare, to get people by while they recover, and reap the rewards when they come out nice tax paying citizens like me! Also a lot more of our tax $ probably lines a rich pocket than a crack pipe. Welfare is not a large chunk of the budget when compared to some things.
: You are probably right about that. Welfare cheating and income tax cheating are both wrong and punishments for both should be harsh. They cost you and I billions. All that wasted money could be put to better use.
: Read above. I'm not suspicious of the whole lot of welfare recipients. Some of them are legit. And for the cheating on taxes, that too should be dealt with, after all it is costing me and you money.
: I'm not judging others. I am just telling it the way it is. People who break the law should be punished, that's all I'm saying.
: Thats right. If you had kids, would you be happy about having a crackhouse or a child molestor next door? I don't and probably no one else does either. And I don't think that a welfare abuser ( I never ever once said welfare user, so I don't know where your getting this idea I'm against welfare recipients) should be allowed to get away with there crime either.
: I don't hate anyone. I just believe that people who knowingly break the law (murderers, rapists, thieves, drug addicts, child abusers etc...)should be put in jail because it will cure some of them and it will keep them off the streets, keeping us safe. If anyone here hates, it's you. You are the one who thinks criminals should run free. Do you hate the 99% of regular citizens who are at risk of the criminals because you believe no one should be in jail? You have so much compassion for the poor criminals but you really don't care about thier victims, do you? I believe in forgiveness for a couple reasons, one being that there is always hope that one day a criminal will change thier ways and become a productive member of society. I believe everyone deserves that chance. But really, how many chances should one person get before we all realize they will not change? By saying criminals belong in jail is not hate- it's just showing a little concern for innocent people on the streets.
: It's not harsh. Criminals should not be allowed to roam freely on the streets untill they decide they don't want to kill, rape, steal etc... anymore
: No, the reason why they commit crimes is not because they were born that way. We were all the same way. They learn from example. They see mom and dad running from the cops, robbing stores and they think its a good idea so they drop out of school and do the same thing. I'm not saying they are victims though. When they are children, they're victims. But when they are all grown up and make there own decisions, I don't feel sorry for them anymore. I just feel sorry for thier victims. They all know they can do what's right. But maybe they are lazy and don't want to go to school, have a job or whatever.
It's more likely they saw all the nice things you have and wanted a peice of the pie, but knew they would have to work far harder than you to get them, because in a majority of the cases they are minorities,(assumiong of course thaT YOU ARE NOT) who ARE discriminated against all their lives even if some people don't want to hear about it! So it might seem easier sometimes just to steal. There is not a lot of incentive. In a lot of ways slavery still exists in subtler ways. And until that changes expect high crime rates!
: No, I don't believe people are born evil. We all start out with a clean slate, but we all do wrong (some more than others) and we need forgiveness and we need to right our wrongs for the slate to be wiped clean.
It sounds like the world in your head is very ideal. If it were that simple than these problems would not exist. If you are as concerned as you seem to be than volunteer for a crisis line, a food shelf, a shelter, find ways to change things and make a difference. Spend time hearing these peoples stories,THEN reassess your judgement of them. I bet my last penny it will change greatly. Mine did.
: Why is there an over representation of black americans in prison than whites? I don't have a clue. I think the most obvious guess is that, unfortunately there is too much racism in the system. Some cops (certainly not most) are harsher on blacks than whites or latinos. Even more so, jury's may be harsher on blacks than whites. Who knows what kind of people are on any jury? The problem with the jury system is that for all you know, any or all members of that jury could be some idiot racist resulting in an automatic guilty verdict.
Think about it, I don't know about you, but people I know get much more suspicious of a person of color hanging around, then they would of a white person, even though there may be no just cause. Why is this? I lived and worked right in the heart of crackville, and also in suburban yuppieville and racism exists in every corner.We can either be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. Until we are part of the solution we are hypocrites.
None.
