"The world is divided into the three super-powers Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. Oceania is alternating at war with one power and allied with the other. The population of Oceania consists of three castes: the Inner Party (1%), the Outer Party (14%) and the Proles (85%). The Inner Party is the ruling caste and its sole desire is to gain power, have power, and keep the power - forever. The Inner Party uses a system of totalitarianism to stay in power, which means the total control over the people's actions and thoughts. "
-- excerpt, Reto Hohener's summary of the book Nineteen Eighty Four, by George Orwell (http://www.warroad.k12.mn.us/moredocs/stdnt_work/rhohener/1984.1.htm)
" Killing people is already illegal" -- The Wizer
Since about the '90's, certain states as well as the federal government have tacked on additional penalties for what is termed "hate crimes". As I understand it, you might get 25 years for killing a gay guy; however if you can prove you didn't know he was gay, maybe you get off in 15? Either way, this guys's dead, so it doesn't seem to protect his rights any.
Is it a hate crime every time a white guy kills a black? Or when a black guy kills a white? How about Jews. Does it become a hate crime if you knew the man you killed was a Jew? Why? Maybe you killed him just because he was an a**hole. The first point is, why would it matter why you killed him? Killing is already illegal. There's no additional protection for the killee, so why is this even bothered with?
Consider that the only difference between the two such crimes is what you were thinking. So, the additional penalty has as it's only legal definition, what the user was thinking, or, in short, "a thought crime". It's difficult to ignore the Orwellian aspects of that; but assuming we can for the moment, how do we establish what the offender was thinking? That would seem to be a job for a mind-reader. Last time I looked, that was not a rational possibility.
So, the only remaining objective of the "Hate Crime" penalty is to create a system whereby thoughts are monitored. It may be a while before Science catches up with the law, and folks, I for one am concerned that they just might be able to do it someday. When the Inner Party starts to fund it, it's time to watch out.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Am I a Democrat or Republican?
"Dad, am I a Democrat or a Republican?" -- Billy, Age 9
"That's an interesting question. The short answer is that you are neither, at least yet. But since you asked, there are a number of things you need to look for before deciding if you are one or the other or something else. You see, Billy, most Democrats think Americans are dumb and can't be trusted to run their own lives. Most Republicans don't have a low opinion of people, but they try to run everybody's lives anyway. The difference is usually in how they spend your money. Both parties will spend everything they can. The political parties that won't spend your money are not in power. I wouldn't be in a hurry to line up with either side if I were you. Billy, there's a lot that will change before you have to decide anything about that. In the meantime learn all you can about it. The most important thing to remember is that you are in charge of your life, and not some politician in DC."
There's so much more I wanted to tell Billy. But we arrived at home, and other necessary routines put the question aside for a day. This morning he asked if we could get the police to stop the politicians from spending all the money. That's Billy. He asks a lot of good questions. I explained how our representative democracy works. Then he asked about voting. I said "You'll like voting", and I answered his questions until we got to the day care center. Billy is an optimist. The kind of kid who could grow up and lead a political party. You heard it here first.
"That's an interesting question. The short answer is that you are neither, at least yet. But since you asked, there are a number of things you need to look for before deciding if you are one or the other or something else. You see, Billy, most Democrats think Americans are dumb and can't be trusted to run their own lives. Most Republicans don't have a low opinion of people, but they try to run everybody's lives anyway. The difference is usually in how they spend your money. Both parties will spend everything they can. The political parties that won't spend your money are not in power. I wouldn't be in a hurry to line up with either side if I were you. Billy, there's a lot that will change before you have to decide anything about that. In the meantime learn all you can about it. The most important thing to remember is that you are in charge of your life, and not some politician in DC."
There's so much more I wanted to tell Billy. But we arrived at home, and other necessary routines put the question aside for a day. This morning he asked if we could get the police to stop the politicians from spending all the money. That's Billy. He asks a lot of good questions. I explained how our representative democracy works. Then he asked about voting. I said "You'll like voting", and I answered his questions until we got to the day care center. Billy is an optimist. The kind of kid who could grow up and lead a political party. You heard it here first.
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