Re: Justice and Punishment

Warrl kyree Tale'sedrin (warrl@mail.blarg.net)
Mon, 6 Apr 1998 17:15:12 +0000


> From: mark@unicorn.com

> Governments exist primarily because historically centralization has been
> more efficient and required to defeat other invading governments. With
> current weaponry and communications technologies this is no longer the
> case; in fact government centralization is a weakness when the entire
> US government could be wiped out by one fanatic with a van-nuke. Hence
> increasing government paranoia, which serves only to increase the
> probability that the White House will move to the stratosphere.

At least then the politicos would be in touch with *some* part of
this planet...

> Criminal organisations generally exist because of bad laws; remove
> victimless crime laws and most of them would have no way to make money
> other than direct use of force. Sadly, the generation who learnt their
> lesson with prohibition were dying out by the arrival of the 'War on
> Some Drugs'.

Qualifier on that: the "war on some drugs" was initiated partially on
the insistence of the enforcement agents of Prohibition, so that they
would have jobs after Prohibition ended. It has varied in publicity
and emphasis since then, but it has never stopped.


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