> Can this really be true?
>
> Is the fascist tendency in US civil society on the retreat, even in Texas,
> under the presidency of G.W. Bush??
>
> http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,548903,00.html
>
> Chris Burford
>
>
As bad as we are there are some limits. The Guardian touches on some of what's going on. Partly this is happening because violent crime is way down, mostly because of a proportional decline in the young adult (and most actively, aggressively pre-disposed) age group. Also because of the fading of the crack epidemic.
Another reason for this change in attitude is that even Americans wise up eventually to blatant pandering by politicians, and the zero tolerance, get tough attitude to crime was nothing more. The costs are another persuasive factor.
I think there is a more basic factor, and hope it is more, rather than less decisive -- the extinction of an age group with a more traditionally punitive religious outlook This issue is very complex. Only time will tell with this one.
Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema