From: Barbara Lamar (altamiratexas@earthlink.net)
Date: Thu Feb 01 2001 - 11:24:24 MST
> What's the difference between this system and being in a small town,
> where the local police officers know who the typical "trouble makers"
> are?
The difference is that in a small town people KNOW each other. They pass
each other on the street and say hi several times a week. They risk their
lives together when there's an emergency such as a flood or major fire. And
so forth. There's a HUGE difference between being arrested by someone to
whom you're just a generic criminal and being arrested by someone whose kid
you took to the hospital the time he fell from a tree and broke his arm.
>
> What's the difference between this system and having a large team of
> police officers, who have thoroughly studied hundreds of photos of
> felons and wanted criminals, watching near the gate?
Not much difference here. And not much difference from situations where
people are encouraged (or frightened) into spying on their neighbors and
reporting them to the cops. But there's something wrong with all those
pictures. A society that needs that sort of observation of its members in
order to enforce its rules must have some structural flaws.
Barbara Lamar
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