From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Mon Jul 29 2002 - 23:25:20 MDT
John K Clark wrote:
> "Harvey Newstrom" <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com> Wrote:
>
> > I what way do you think prisoners are *not*
> > basically the same as the people everywhere else?
>
> As I said before many people in prison should not be there,
> counterproductive drug laws being the most notorious example, however I do
> not think I am basically the same as your average child killer or mass
> murderer.
Sure. But as you yourself have admitted, the child killer and
mass murderer types are far and away the minority. So why do
you make statements about people in prisons generally that would
only be appropriate for this small minority?
> Could I have ended up a monster if there had been a single point
> mutation in my DNA when I was in my mother's womb? Possibly. Could I have
> ended up a monster if I had grown up in a bad enough environment? Possibly.
> However neither of those things happened so I'm not
>
> > Are you implying that criminals are genetically disposed to be
> > criminals?
>
> I'm sure some are, most probably are not. What difference does it make?
A great deal actually. Those who are genetically predisposed
should not be treated the same as those who simply chose to do
some very vile things. How they should be treated is a
different issue. The larger point is that it makes a very large
difference how you see people in prisons if you allow your views
to be so colored by the small minority that you miss the nature
of the majority and treat all of them as the utter dregs of society.
- samantha
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