Friday, January 19, 2007

something nagging at my core

something has been bugging me for a while now and i don't really know what or if i can do anything about it. it isn't all that easy to explain- as feelings aren't- but i will give it a go anyway. why is it that america- as a country- have no problem 1) ignoring international laws which we don't agree with or that are inconvenient- even if we have signed them? 2) setting ourselves above every other nation on the planet in terms of doing whatever we feel like when we feel like it. 3) stifling dissenting points of view on a variety of topics and labelling those folks traitors or bigots? i just read an interesting post over at the peace train covering capital punishment. that got me thinking because the author of the post brought up america flouting international law against executing folks with mental illness, as well as, juveniles (until 2005). which of course got me thinking about us cavalierly ignoring the geneva convention and the anti nuclear proliferation treaties and the kyoto summit and what not-- as well as american laws that are on the books. oh- the fisa flout comes to mind what with all of the illegal information gathering.

here in new york- and i am sure elsewhere- there is a push to get something going where convicted sex offenders-- upon serving their time and being released from jail-- will be promptly remanded to a mental health facility. yeah. i have a bit of a problem with that. they have already paid their debt to society. if you want to keep them off of the streets, change the sentencing laws. it is unconstitutional and illegal to detain someone without charges- oh wait.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post. Of course, don't get me started on the real problem of the fact that merely seeing someone naked could get you set up as a sex offender in some corners. Are we really willing to transform a healthy young man with a foolish libido (peering into his girlfriends room before being busted by her ultra-conservative Dobsian parents) into a worthless eater just because he has been labeled as a sex offender? I can go on and on about the punishment fitting the crime, plus what you mentioned about already paying one's dues. This blanket issuance of the sex offender label is enough to make one question the veracity of forcing "sex offenders" into mental hell.

Anonymous said...

I think there's got to be a distinction between the individuals that comprise a nation, and the nation itself.

Ultimately, a nation is an amoeba. It is concerned only with feeding itself and reproducing, and getting itself into a position where it can better feed itself and reproduce.

That said, moves towards securing oil (ahem, Iraq), ignoring treaties, and other such atrocities make sense. Anything that gets in the way of food and reproduction are "bad," so they have to be removed.

It sucks... but it makes sense, really. The national organism doesn't care about you, and doesn't care about other nations. We are just cells in the larger being.

shawn (aka blogstud) said...

Yeah, it's crazy. I have friends from all over the world, and I am constantly apologizing for Bush--You go Dixie Chicks. The conservatives whined about Clinton being an embarrassment and all he did was have sex and lie about it.

Bush lied to start a war that has killed tens of thousands and hurt even more. They need to get their priorities straight.

Whew, was getting a little steamed myself.