I want to make them pay! The punitive side of America today.

[Burgman]

The R's want to punish the Muslims, Gays, pot smokers and non-arians of America today. Here on this board, we want to be assured that the drunks, smokers and a passel of others are punished for their sins.

A very large paper could be written on this but I'm just a geek who's typing in front of his TV right now and don't want to invest the time. I'm too lazy. But the premise seems to be true. America, of all political ilk, has become abnormally punitive.

Our leaders have pretty much said that anyone can be held in custody for-fucking-ever without charge. We put pot smokers in jail for scores of years. We put the guy who had a glass of wine at dinner behind bars because he later went through a roadblock.

So many on both sides of the aisle want those who offend them personally to be held in prison. We already have the largest per capita prison population in the world and now that the private sector has become involved, I only see the numbers increasing.

Today, we punish the 18 year old guy who got making whoopie with his seventeen year old girlfriend in the same manner as if he had been fifty. We take the dumb-ass kid who experiments with drugs for the first time and throw them behind bars to learn god knows what. Not learning how to be a good part of society for sure.

Yes, there are behaviours that each and every one of us disdain. And as powerless as we all oft feel do we really want to punish those that have done little in the grand scheme of things?

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!! n/t

[think]

2. The ones I want to see punished are the bankers that knew what they did would harm America..

[Burgman]

3. Agreed. But I feel that a lot of it comes

from the many that feel so powerless today and revel in the punishment of those they disagree with.

[think]

6. You make great points. Sorry to be a distraction. I agree that people have become as you say

and yea I am one of them when it comes to the bankers and politicians.

[Burgman]

11. Plus one!

[Newest Reality]

4. Somehow,

doling out punishment and judgment, tends to reflect back on the practitioners when you look at it carefully.

In a game of superiority, the storyline usually goes that way. So, the idea is that I am superior in my values, behaviors or situations. Therefore, ________ is not and deserve the punishment that I don't.

We have some bloated egotism running rampant and yet, there are folks who do not tend to live entirely or exclusively in that realm of game play with the filters and prejudices that about supporting, inflating and continuing a collection of thoughts and feelings based on a notion about who one actually is. Those people have a sense of compassion and love that is natural and lived.

[grasswire]

5. follow the dollar

That maxim will explain each of the ills you cite above.

The love of money is indeed the root of all evil.

[Burgman]

7. A lot of validity in your post

But I think it goes beyond that and into the very psyche of america today.

I think we may have been driven to this mindset by dollars but the prevailing need to see others "put to the screws" is more than interesting and deserves serious attention in my simple opinion.

[Taverner]

8. As a Social Anarchist, I agree

[KT2000]

9. Good post

Yes - being punitive is the American way. It started here with the Puritans. They wanted freedom from religious persecution so they could practice their own.
As a rule though, punitive people are lacking in humor, creativity, and big picture thinking and heavy into fear. They are not fun to be around.
Whatever happened to live and let live?

[Burgman]

10. I keep looking for a "like" tab for posts.

[grasswire]

12. someone wise said to beware those who have a strong urge to punish.

IOW, authoritarians.

[Burgman]

13. I have always had the urge to run the other way.