Max, I'm guessing you find some things to admire in the social
democratic/welfare state tradition of Western Europe. None of these
countries execute people. Do you think there's any connection between
the violence of capital punishment and the violence of American
social policy?
Doug
>>>>>>>>
Could be, but I don't know. You tell me.
In principle we could have much more dough for soc-dem programs focused on poverty and crime prevention (which I'm for), without foregoing CP. I've never interrupted a discussion about such programs by saying, hey we need to punish people more instead. I do think liberals & the left have a confusion about assigning personal responsibility for evil doings, both to individual nobodies and to putative revolutionaries. Too much environment, not enough individual guilt, IMO. Underlying this is an implicit paternalism, and potentially racism too. Re; this last, I am NOT referring to any specific conversations or persons here on LBO.
mbs