Orion

Japan is a highly conformist society with a higher rate of common trust since people's actions tend to fall within a predictable framework. It makes it easier to regulate people and make effective policy. People who are dangerous and show outward instability are noticed more easily because of this.

Also, committing crimes doesn't just affect you, but your family. Depending on the crime, you may not only ruin your life, but the lives of your family members, forever. They won't be able to get jobs, have a normal social life, and their standard of living will decline. A common tactic to escape such a scenario is to commit suicide to spare your family the shame.

People who have never left the Western world will have never experienced a place with such pressure to conform. Tokyo is basically the most orderly human place on Earth.

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"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. Lawrence

Goldenboy219

Great idea....

Starting with doctors who give anyone a prescription to vicodin, valium, and xanax. Poor Rush

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Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the present. For in the present is where we shape our future.

Lopettaa

I read were there is more then 2 million people in US prisons.That's a lot. Perhaps the Government likes to criminalize people.

Agnapostate

Not necessarily. Incorporation of raw data will not produce the most empirically sound results, certainly not to the same extent that isolation of the gun effect will. For example, we have Duggan's More guns, more crime.

That said, I'm happy to at least see attempted consultation of empircal research, even if it's the somewhat discredited data of John Lott, for instance.

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The workmen desire to get as much, the master to give as little as possible...It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. -Adam Smith

Caine

Perhaps people like to break laws?

Why does it always have to be the government's fault?





Oh, thats right... its "blame everyone else" America we live in.

TheDude

I don't think it's a matter of blaming the government for individual acts of deviance. Crime is big buisness in our country and it makes far more finacial sense to our government to just lock people up instead of getting to the root of any contributing factors relating to crime. We pass many many new laws every year while keeping the same old failed ones on the books. Laws that have proven to just not work (or in other words contribute more to criminal deviance-recidivism than to rehibiltaion or prevention).

So, with more laws there will have to be more jobs, because we will then need more inverstigators, policemen, juries, judges, lawyers-prosecutors, prisons, prison corrections officers, prison nurses, prison cooks, probation officers, law enfocment technology and so on. Crime pays alot of salaries in our country. Why would we want to to go and mess that up? Less crime means less jobs are needed in our criminal justice system.

Have you ever seen what happens when the state trys to close a prison institution to save the tax payers a few dollars? People are outraged, and why? Because the major employer in their community is about to go out of buisness and many people are about to lose their jobs.

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Caine

Im sorry, I didn't realize that it was the LAWS BEING MADE that are at fault for people breaking them.

The laws you speak of, you know, the ones that require prison time. They are generally really, I don't know, BAD THINGS. That people shoudn't be doing. To say, "Hey maaan, they don't work" is ridiculous. There are alot of people who will do whatever the hell they want whenever they want, regardless of what the law states. In fact I think that is stated in the rap music listeners guide volume 1.

justabubba

i hear you

those folks out there committing victimless crimes, like smoking weed, consensual sex for money

can't let that get out of hand

lock em up [/s]

Caine

Do you realize the only lock up time "smoking weed" and "consensual sex for money" receive is usually the 1 day or a few more they spend in pre-trial right?

I think you are getting minor possession of user level amounts of marijuana mixed up with possession with intent to sell/distribute and trafficking, which actually get prison time.

Ive also not heard of any prostitute getting prison time.

But then again, maybe my state just does **** right.

TheDude

Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Let's just keep doing the same thing we've been doing for the past 4 decades and hope for better results?


What are you a DA?

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