So our legal system is a joke? That's news to me. I'd actually argue that it's been pretty damn effective in keeping our society from devolving into complete bedlam.
Your comments reflect all the certitude of someone who has never seen real evil up close. To suggest that a system that functions properly 90% of the time is a worthless endeavor isn't a realistic position I'm willing to argue with.
And I don't agree with your assertions. Statements like "Many people have no faith in it's ability to be just or balanced" doesn't jibe with the reality of our political economy. Every single day, hundred of millions of Americans go to work and get on with their lives. If the system was as broken as you claim, I seriously doubt we'd have the strength and standing among nations that you seem to ready to dismiss.
If you're getting all your information from magazines and wikipedia, you're bound to be misinformed about the reality of the task at hand.
And finally, statements like "The criminals are (for the most part) not the ones we should be worrying about" is simply indefensible. The justice system exists because people demand that it exist to protect them. They have agreed either explicitly or implicitly to the arrangement that we have today.
I know many members of law enforcement. They are by and large good people trying to do a hard job. A very hard job. Ask yourself if you have the courage to confront dangerous situations every single day, deal with persistent mendacity from nearly everyone you meet, and still maintain a level of professionalism and respect for individual liberty. That's an awfully high bar to set for a person and part of the miracle of our system is that it happens with such a level of regularity that we take it for granted. That's NOT the case in other countries.
> Your comments reflect all the certitude of someone who has never seen real evil up close
Real evil? Like Santa Clause and Heaven and God and Angels and Fairies?
I did not say that this system is worse than previous ones and I do not see how that ties into my argument at all. I was making a judgement on what currently exists - and it sucks.
> If the system was as broken as you claim, I seriously doubt we'd have the strength and standing among nations that you seem to ready to dismiss.
> And finally, statements like "The criminals are (for the most part) not the ones we should be worrying about" is simply indefensible. The justice system exists because people demand that it exist to protect them.
People also demand iPhones, junk food, drugs and violence. This is another logical fallacy (argumentum ad populum).
> I know many members of law enforcement.
I did not make a judgement on these people. In WW2, perfectly normal people committed atrocities because their culture and leadership dictated it. Normal people are capable of thoroughly horrible acts.
> I seriously doubt we'd have the strength and standing among nations that you seem to ready to dismiss.
You have your strength and standing because you are an empire with fingers in everyone's pie. The US has overthrown countless democractically elected leaders over the last century for profit. The world does not speak because it will be beaten for it. Why do you think the UN condems Israels actions but does nothing? This is not respect, it is fear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_United_States_foreign_re...
Disagree all you want but the facts speak for themselves.
The US isn't perfect, but there is no other place in the world I'd rather live. For all our faults, people still bang on the doors to get in.
I'd put our record up against that of any other nation in the world. ANY nation. Look hard enough at everyone else and you'll find all the reason you need to hate their countries too.
Everybody is trying to get citizenship in the west because the west has destroyed half of the world. Read about why your country (and the west in general) is so rich in the first place. Read about why places like the DRC and Latin American countries are so poor and conflicted. All of this prosperity is built on the blood, sweat and tears of countless people. All empires are the same - rotten at the core. So it was with Stalin's Russia and Britain's empire and Hitler's Germany and Spain's empire and France's empire and I could go on and on.
So, sure, everything's peachy if you just keep your eyes on your house. As soon as you start to look around you'll find that your smile will drop through the floor.
You're talking to someone who has parents from Central America and Germany. Believe me when I say that there is so much blame to go around, it's unlikely that any unbiased reading of history would place it SOLELY at the hands of the west.
I'm well acquainted with the history of the world and my point still stands: the oppression of the "other" is a HUMAN problem, not a USA/West problem. As long as there are people, there will be these kinds of problems.
Tell me what country you live in and I'll list all the reasons why you are not the USA.
> it's unlikely that any unbiased reading of history would place it SOLELY at the hands of the west.
You are responding to a point that I did not argue. I asserted that in the context of recent history and current events, the west, and the US in particular, has done inordinate amounts of damage. I did not claim anything more than that. I did not state that they are the only ones causing damage, just that they are currently the most effective at it. This was in response to:
> I'd put our record up against that of any other nation in the world. ANY nation. Look hard enough at everyone else and you'll find all the reason you need to hate their countries too.
Really? China has a pretty good run going so far. How many Chinese people were imprisoned/starved during the cultural revolution? Have you taken a look at Central/South America lately? Don't even get me started on Africa.
I'd challenge you to consider the following thought experiment: if any other nation in the world was currently the sole military and economic superpower in the world, which one would you choose and why? Whose record would you suggest makes them a better candidate for that role?
Your comments reflect all the certitude of someone who has never seen real evil up close. To suggest that a system that functions properly 90% of the time is a worthless endeavor isn't a realistic position I'm willing to argue with.
And I don't agree with your assertions. Statements like "Many people have no faith in it's ability to be just or balanced" doesn't jibe with the reality of our political economy. Every single day, hundred of millions of Americans go to work and get on with their lives. If the system was as broken as you claim, I seriously doubt we'd have the strength and standing among nations that you seem to ready to dismiss.
If you're getting all your information from magazines and wikipedia, you're bound to be misinformed about the reality of the task at hand.
And finally, statements like "The criminals are (for the most part) not the ones we should be worrying about" is simply indefensible. The justice system exists because people demand that it exist to protect them. They have agreed either explicitly or implicitly to the arrangement that we have today.
I know many members of law enforcement. They are by and large good people trying to do a hard job. A very hard job. Ask yourself if you have the courage to confront dangerous situations every single day, deal with persistent mendacity from nearly everyone you meet, and still maintain a level of professionalism and respect for individual liberty. That's an awfully high bar to set for a person and part of the miracle of our system is that it happens with such a level of regularity that we take it for granted. That's NOT the case in other countries.