[lbo-talk] it's inevitable

Dennis Claxton ddclaxton at earthlink.net
Sun Apr 30 16:48:12 PDT 2006


Wojtek wrote:


>More people equals more crime.
>
>[WS:] That seems quite obvious, almost tautological, no?

I wouldn't say so. California's population has been steadily growing for about150 years. For most of that time the state got by with two state prisons that everyone has heard of: Folsom and San Quentin. Since the early '80s more than 20 additional prisons have been built. There has to be some other explanation.


>it does not take a PhD to figure out that alarmist statements about
>growing prison population, such as ones to which I
>responded, have more to do with populist demagogy than any serious analysis.

Remove the mote from your own eye. Just in this round on this topic you've used anecdotes from the old country and cherry picked justice statistics to present your points. And I don't think anyone was making alarmist statements or saying no one should be taken off the streets. That's a straw person you create every time this comes up.

I've become more interested in a couple other things you said:


>alarmist statements suggesting that the US criminal justice frames
>walking innocents strikes me like a jail bird song rather than a
>serious discussion.

and


>indeed I feel no sorry for people who victimize other people, and I
>am simply not buying any arguments
>in their defense.

I don't know what you get out of this Mickey Spillane of the Left posturing and I don't see how it contributes to serious discussion anymore than the crocodile tears you complain about.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list