Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
I still refuse to believe that Gandalf/Magneto is gay. It's just not possible.
Doesn't matter to me if he likes cock or not. I mean, hell, look at Faunus. Faunus might be a fat, miserable bastard who enjoys the company of other men, but we don't hate him, do we? No. Anyways, Ian McKellen is the shit.
Originally posted by Gideon
Doesn't matter to me if he likes cock or not. I mean, hell, look at Faunus. Faunus might be a fat, miserable bastard who enjoys the company of other men, but we don't hate him, do we? No. Anyways, Ian McKellen is the shit.
Yea I don't care if he's gay or not. As long as he makes badass movies he's cool with me.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
Except there's no indication that we can rid ourselves of crimes. NO indication. You're full of hope and use that as an argument, while I use reality.
There is no 'indication' we can't get rid of it if we truly ascend beyond conceptions of how mankind always was and move on to thinking how mankind can be. Stop living the past.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
And I gave the example of cheating on taxes, which I have yet to receive a rebuttal for. External factors only do so much, it comes down to personal choice.
Actually I did. Societal glorification of money, wealth and 'power'; if people are raised and are largely exposed to that value, then greed is a possible ramification.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
Oh so the person that committed the crime is fine, but the system that punishes that criminal is not fine. That makes a lot of sense MC seriously. This country must be just before it can be compassionate. Compassion breeds more crime. And stop blaming crime on survival instinct since there's no basis for it.
The individual who committed the crime is NOT fine. However, by stooping to his standards and thriving on aggression and inhumanity, the system that punishes him is NOT fine, either.
Compassion and justice are not mutually exclusive. An 'eye for an eye' is not justice; it's moral degeneration. Maintaining our values and ethical standards as a society is a far better method of justice.
What? Do you think the working class commits more crimes just because they're naturally assholes? Crime paves the way for people to do desperate things in order to attain money or some other method of reward or escapism; in other words, the biological survival instinct. This is simple logic.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
I am for legalizing marijuana. I am completely against legalizing hard drugs that will cause more overdoses and deaths.
That's the equivalent of legalizing beer and illegalizing 'hardcore' alcoholic beverages. It's moronic. The fact that the vast majority of smokes and drinkers aren't life-threatening addicts, despite indulging in dangerous and addicting activities, proves that the majority of people are capable of responsibly utilizing potentially harmful substances. There is no indication that casual, restrained usage of hard drugs like heroin causes death. Addiction is an anomaly, and even that anomaly should not be punished; rather, if an individual wants to make up for his past mistakes and faults, then we should create more effective drug rehabilitation center to control dangerous drug addictions.
And even if people don't choose to be rehabilitated, then let them die. It's their life. They own themselves. It's their choice; we have no right to tell another person how to lead their life.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
2. The individual's values and traditions+America's values and traditions.
The individual's values and traditions are highly influences by societal values and traditions. Excessive, rampant capitalism and materialism leads to greed and corruption.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
3. And white collar crimes destroy economies. Majority of white collar crimes are caused by the wealthy. Do you have an excuse for them also?
... what the ****? I've explained the psychology of white collar crime. Most of the wealthy do not do so because they interpret traditional values in a different manner and are capable of employing restraint, both because of their personal choices and their psychology.
The fact that anomalies exist does not mean we should not analyze why they do so.
Crime will always exist. What are you going to "alter"? People will continue to make personal choices, easy choices. This will never change. Your idea is hopeful at best.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
Absolutely not. Justice is a VITAL part of society. One of the MOST important parts. Strictness is absolutely essential in either deterring crimes, or at the very least, getting justice for the victims. There's NO proof that strictness causes more crimes.
Except for the fact that states with the death penalty often have a higher crime rate than states that don't. If you perceive the institution as being authoritarian and violent, then this paves the way for urges of rebellion and 'counter-violence'. See?
Violence does not end violence.
Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
No, it's not always possible. Again if you keep saying "socioeconomic factors" then you're saying people are good, because if they do wrong there MUST be some reason that ISNT personal choice. That argument just doesn't work. People that commit crimes might have external factors, but the decision is ultimately, almost ALWAYS, theirs.
Except people are not fundamentally good. However, it's irrelevant and pointless to understand why some people are good; the bad should be focused at, in order to deter it.
I agree that people choose what they do, but what they choose is based upon socioeconomic factors. One is the alter-able factor and the other is not. What should we focus upon?