Charlie Stross wrote:
>
> On Sun, Feb 11, 2001 at 12:54:52PM -0600, Chris Russo wrote:
> >
> > Oh, god... do I have to explain about how most people are happy
> > living with mere social constraints, but some push the law? Do I
> > really have to explain that if you take away everyone's right to
> > expect not to be assaulted that you invite assault from people on the
> > fringe who aren't bound by social constraints?
>
> No. I think you're generalizing American political correctness to the rest
> of the world. Seriously, you guys are so up-tight about trivia -- like
> assholes who cop an unwanted feel, or six-year-old's who point their fingers
> at a teacher and say "bang" in school -- that I fear you've lost all sense
> of proportion. There is a *qualitative* difference between minor offenses
> -- such as a pie in the face, or an anonymous grope on a crowded train --
> and major ones -- like armed robbery or rape. Whatever happened to the ability
> of the law to turn a blind eye to minor insults? Is your society so
> automated and inflexible that you can't see this?
Considering that Britain has five times higher rate of property crime
than the US, I suppose that y'all are just totally automated and
inflexible about handing over your wallets to the average
thug-on-the-street.
I like living in a polite high trust society more than an impolite low
trust society.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:40 MDT