Comment Before the digital age ... (Score 3, Informative) 575
Before the digital age how did the police ever mange to protect the children?
They, however, have such a strong emotional investment (fear, in this case) in their position that they will never be made to see the truth clearly and objectively, no matter what words you say to them.
Its not simply fear. Scapegoating may be a bigger factor. By blaming the "gun" for social problems they don't have to admit that their favorite social policies have utterly failed, possibly even made things worse. They need a scapegoat to maintain their denial of their failure, the "gun" is so convenient in this scapegoat role. It only needs simplistic and superficial logic to accept as the culprit.
In what way is a semi automatic rifle with no serial number consistent with a well regulated militia?
In the context of the time "well regulated" meant practiced to a level to be useful. A private citizen possessing a firearm and being practiced enough would be considered "well regulated". Showing up on the town commons and drilling under the direction of a state appointed officer was not required. Most militiamen of the day did no such thing. They merely showed up armed during an emergency.
"Miltia" means all able bodied males of a certain age range. Matter of fact such a definition exists in federal law today. And even this current definition explicitly indicates that the national guard or other military service is *not* required. Like the military reserves, the militia has an inactive component that is not required to show up anywhere and formally train. This automatically being in the "militia" seems to be the legal basis for conscription since this law allows the President to call the militia to active service under regular military command.
Because in the rest of the world, cops and soldiers are the only ones walking around with weapons, and the only places where people walk around with weapons have generally degraded into a fairly lawless state.
Like Switzerland, where target shooting is a fairly popular sport, as it is in the U.S? I believe in Switzerland hundreds of thousands of civilians even possess what would in certain US jurisdictions be considered "assault weapons", i.e. magazine fed semi-automatic rifles.These numbers do not include actually military weapons in private residences of reservists, the previous refers to actual privately owned firearms.
When things degrade into a lawless state, the private ownership of firearms is the prior state probably had little to nothing to do with the decline.
So whether a state exists as lawful and civilized, or fails and degrades into lawlessness, seems not to be determined by the private ownership of firearms.
Obligatory postscript: Since I compared the US and Switzerland it should be noted that Switzerland does have effective background checks, required training, and required safe storage. Three things that if implemented in the US would probably drastically reduce firearms related deaths. We even have the infrastructure for the training, the hunter safety classes in all states are mostly general firearms safety. Drop the few hunting topics from these classes and we would have general purpose firearms safety training.
I love how these folks think that civilization is created when people are ready to kill each other at a moment's notice.
Rough men willing to do violence don't necessarily create civilization but they certainly maintain it. Pacifists can only exist where there are non-pacifists willing to protect them, or they exist in total isolation. However history shows that when that isolation ends they become victims.
As Chinese economy grows, so does its middle class. As its middle class grows, it demands more democratic reforms and more government responsibility - ultimately, a way to better China, for both its people and its neighbors.
That was the Nixon/Kissinger theory of the 1960s/70s. It was used to cut China all sort of political and economic slack. It was proven wrong by the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
So if you want a better China, you should do the exact opposite of what you're doing.
No. If you want a better China then the US should treat China as China treats the US. Have reciprocal economic and trade policies, punitive measures for egregious behavior,
And before someone starts with all the US debt they own. They need those US bonds to manipulate their currency to create a huge built-in discount for Chinese goods and services. To stop buying US bonds, or to sell their currently held bonds, would cause their currency to rise. Their artificially low currency is the real key to their global success, not low wages. They are as dependent on their US bonds as we are.
All that would do is keep them from using CS or flash bangs.
No, in various jurisdictions they would also not have "assault weapons" and high capacity magazines. Which they basically have nowadays purely for intimidation, not any tactical need. They can have a rifle that looks like an ordinary semi-auto deer rifle, they can have 10-round magazines. Which is basically what they did when they were spending their own department's money pre-911. Pre-911 my local Sheriff's department had a 12-guage Remington 870 shotgun and a Ruger Mini-14 rifle with a 20-round magazine in patrol cars, the county had sizable rural sections so occasionally they needed a little more range than the shotgun provided. They considered M-16/M-4 but they determined the Mini-14 with a high capacity magazine had the exact same performance at half the price. Once the federal money and surplus became available post-911 they switched to M-4 since they were now free/cheaper.
Plus they would be prohibited from full-auto.
At the cost of ensuring any attempt to enforce the law results in a massive and relatively even firefight that is likely to result in a whole lot more blood spilled?
You are woefully misinformed. It won't be even. Tactics, training and skill will give law enforcement the edge.
Plus the semi-auto high powered rifles you see law enforcement carrying on the TV, they are legal for civilians in most jurisdictions. Keep in mind that even in jurisdictions with "assault weapon" bans these are nearly always based on cosmetics, these bans are "placebos" that make some feel good but factually accomplish nothing since functionally equivalent substitutes are still available. Various hunting and target shooting rifles are are semi-auto and fire the exact same ammunition as the M-16/M-4. Before all the post-911 giveaways many police departments would purchase the civilian semi-autos rather than M-16/M-4. Exact same functionality, half the price.
Keep in mind that "assault weapon" and regular civilian rifles are functionally identical. Put a 5-round magazine into the M-16 and it is has the exact same performance as popular deer rifles. Put a 30-round magazine into various deer riles and they have the exact same performance as the M-4 you see police carrying on TV. Many departments did the later before pre-911 giveaways. They only used M-16/M-4 for the SWAT team, and that had more to do with intimidation because of the "look" of the rifle.
No it's not. Inaccurate date is worse than none.
This data offered was not inaccurate. The observations were factually correct.
People who left their country of origin say very little about those of those who stayed behind.
On second thought, no. That is also pure unsubstantiated speculation. The two examples I referred to were in their 20s when they emigrated and their work ethic predated their arrival in the US. It was not something that they adapted to, it was something they brought with them. As immigrants to the US have been doing for centuries. Well, except for a few British gentlemen who had to learn how to work hard at Jamestown several centuries ago.
Your sample, if you can even call it that, is suffering from selection bias.
Even so its better than an opinion based on a sample of zero as the GP offers.
People who left their country of origin say very little about those of those who stayed behind.
Do I really need to mention for a third time my great-grandfather who stayed behind and has the same work ethic as my grandfather who emigrated has?
Germany outproduces the Mediterranean countries. This is a fact. Spin it however you want, with whatever anecdotal examples you choose, you can't change the raw numbers.
Actually you are doing the spinning. The disagreement is not about what country has a more productive economy. The debate is over the reasons, you claimed it was culture and work ethic. You speculation on that matter is wrong.
Really, my born and raised in Italy and emigrated to the US at age 20 grandfather has a work ethic that a very conservative American would consider exemplary.
One of my friends growing up, his father was born and raised in Greece. He emigrated to the US in his early 20s also. He seemed to share a work ethic and some other traits with my grandfather.
You do realize that nothing you said has any bearing on my point, right? Culture is local, not ethnic.
You do realize that my grandfather and my friend's father were born and raised in Italy and Greece, right? That they did not emigrate to the US until they were 20+ years old, right? That they brought their Italian and Greek culture with them to the US, right? That my great-grandfather never left Italy, right?
Well, that's not true either, but you should catch my meaning. It's an entirely different pace of life in the Mediterranean Countries. You can get a similar culture shock if you travel from New York City to New Orleans, and The Big Easy is positively fast paced when compared to Italy, Spain, or Greece.
Yes, but a pace-of-life thing like sitting down for a nice long meal doesn't mean they are incapable of working quite hard when not at the dinner table.
Its a welfare state government not the national culture that screws things up.
Then why isn't Finland broke and begging Germany for bailouts? Finland isn't going to bring the Euro down. The aforementioned countries just may.....
The government is not as corrupt and incompetent as say Greece with respect to finance.
... Of course, it's not Germany's fault they're so much more productive than the rest of Europe. Ever been to Italy, Greece, or Spain? The "work ethic" in those cultures is utterly foreign to an American, never mind a German
Really, my born and raised in Italy and emigrated to the US at age 20 grandfather has a work ethic that a very conservative American would consider exemplary. And Italian culture is not gone from his house as my father and us visiting grandchildren can attest. If you are working hard or studying hard he is kind and generous, slack off and you will hear about it. And the expectation level is not fixed, if you were lucky enough to be stronger or smarter than average then expectation are increased. He runs his house and raised his kids pretty much like his father. When visiting Italy I've seen my 90 year old great-grandfather tending his orchard. When my grandfather says to him, hey your 90 years old, take it easy. My great-grandfather replies that he'll take it easy when he's dead, that working keeps him healthy.
One of my friends growing up, his father was born and raised in Greece. He emigrated to the US in his early 20s also. He seemed to share a work ethic and some other traits with my grandfather. Strict house, exemplary work ethic, generous to family and friends who lived up to his expectations.
Don't confuse culture with the politics of the day. Its a welfare state government not the national culture that screws things up.
Neutrinos have bad breadth.
