http://www.guardian.co.uk/prisons/story/0,,1999062,00.html
Where are the Australian penal colonies when you need them?
ID:26270
 Jan 25 2007, 10:30 pm
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Nope. Right link.
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Currently beating them in Cricket.
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See this is why they should bring back hanging. =(
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Get a bigger island?
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Can the British Military really trust drafted prisoners??
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Sure. Penal legions are not new- they know if they do well, they go free. Mess up, and they are executed on site. Pretty simple.
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There's a simple solution to prison overcrowding, and all you need is a rope, a tree, and a horse...
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You don't even need the horse or the tree... or the rope. The simple solution, is a pillow.
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From what you read in the newspapers about soldiers killing innocents in Iraq, seems most soldiers act like criminals anyway. What's the difference?
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Here's a simple solution:
Get a bunch of desolate islands. And I mean a LOT. And REALLY far out there. Extremely far away from any human help. Preferably around sharks, where no one'll go. Dump one prisoner on each island. Keep them there, with house-building wood and basic supplies. Make them sell their own stuff for their supplies, so they won't ruin it and waste the government's money. Come back every seven or eight weeks with more supplies. In one or two years, see if they've changed. | |
That's not really a solution though, is it? It's an experiment. =P
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No, it was used in a book, and might be a good way to get offenders to interact with nature and see what they did wrong. A jail sentence won't say "You should be good.", it'll say "No one cares about you, so we're sending you in a small box so we don't have to deal with you."
Anyway, if they don't seem to have changed, Hell, leave 'em there for another year. | |
"Human rights". Heard of it?
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Jp's post would have been that little bit sweeter if he had added "bitch?" to the end of his sentence.
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To be slightly serious for a second, the solution to crime problems is NOT harsher punishment. This is fairly clear - Indonesia, for example, has the death penalty for most drug-related offences, and despite this, is one of the drug capitals of the world. Catching criminals won't stop crime - despite all the high-profile drug busts, in any major city in, for example, America, you could get whatever you want within a half-hour walk of where you live.
Crime is a societal problem that arises primarily from poverty. Fix poverty, you severely reduce crime. Evidence of this is fairly prevalent - in general, countries with a small divide between rich and poor have lower crime rates then countries with a larger divide between rich and poor. For example, compare Sweden and Australia with the US. The best way to get rid of poverty is to instigate a few policies: - Free (or at least extremely heavily subsidised) education from primary to tertiary level. Everybody should conceivably be able to get a degree if they can put the effort into it and have at least average intelligence. Education is the key to getting out of the poverty spiral. - Free (or at least extremely heavily subsidised) healthcare. Medical problems can ruin a family on the brink of poverty, and impoverished families find it difficult to get out of the trap. This doesn't cover medical-related stuff that isn't for the purposes of improving someone's health, of course - breast implants, for example, don't need this. - Effective industrial relations policies. Workers have rights, companies need to respect that. Especially because those on the lowest salaries are the most open for exploitation and the least able to combat it. - A decent minimum wage. It shouldn't be a king's ransom, of course, but it should at least be over the poverty line. I'm looking at you, America. - Effective educational programs on sexual health and drugs. That doesn't mean "Abstinence is the only 100% effective solution!" and "Don't do drugs, drugs are bad". That means things like "This is a condom, this is how you use it. This is information about various kinds of STIs. Incidentally, condoms prevent most STIs" and "This is what various drugs do to your body and mind (In a non-hyperbolic fashion. Not 'drugs are bad', more 'this is why we think drugs are bad'". Programs like this demonstrably work far better at preventing teen pregnancy and teen drug use. - Effective welfare programs. Effective welfare doesn't mean giving heaps of money to impoverished people - it's about giving them enough that they can stay alive without resorting to crime and without massive hardship. There should be substantial levels of educational benefits and incentives to find work, however. Additionally, welfare programs for the elderly, the disabled, and, especially, single parents are important. That's my two cents, bitch. | |
Jp wrote:
"Abstinence is the only 100% effective solution!" Statements like this one are the main reason why I detest organised religion. They do more harm than good. People are going to have sex regardless of how loudly you shout at them not to. It's hardwired into the human brain. At least teach them how to do it safely, instead of actively promoting the spread of HIV and other STIs. How stupid do you have to be to equate condoms with evil?! If it wasn't for fundamentalist Christians, we'd actually have a decent chance of stamping out AIDS. Unfortunately, the actions of said Bible-thumpers have marked them as active supporters of HIV - even if they don't realise it. | |
- A decent minimum wage. It shouldn't be a king's ransom, of course, but it should at least be over the poverty line. I'm looking at you, America. and america is laughing at you. the minimum wage promotes laziness by giving people more than what they really deserve. while a higher minimum wage may give people more opportunities, it also robs people of motivation. if you can support a family on the minimum wage, why bother with education? some of the people working minimum wage jobs may be more qualified and deserve more money, but many of those workers don't even deserve minimum wage. while it would be nice to give poor people money and starving people food, our world isn't perfect and giving people free rides isn't going to make it perfect. the poverty line is a function of family size. if you're trying to support a family on a low-paying job, that's your problem. not everyone is fit to have a family. what came first, the hungry children or the parent's minimum wage job? | |
OFD, guess where lack of education and inability to get a better job comes from? I know! Poor parents! Ever heard of the poverty spiral?
It is NOT the fault of the poor that they are poor, on the whole. It doesn't 'promote laziness' at all. If someone works a minimum wage job, they're working, and should be paid enough to keep themselves and a family alive. It's absolutely ridiculous that you could possibly think it okay that someone should have to work three jobs just to keep their families heads above water. Especially since most minimum wage jobs are things that have to be done. Someone has to collect the garbage. Surely they should be able to live while doing that? As for robbing people of motivation, that's complete bullpuckey. You think that living above the poverty line automatically means that they'll be able to have a fulfilling life? As if! They just hover above it, trying to keep their heads above water. And the poverty spiral continues. It's not a free ride, and you're full of crap if you continue to claim that. These people are working. That's what 'minimum wage' means. They should at least be able to live - and give their children a life - while that happens. In short, get a social conscience. PS - It's not like you're getting nothing out of it, anyway. You don't want a significant reduction in crime and a more productive populace, practically oozing civilisation, culture, etc? | |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/prisons/story/0,,1997545,00.html