(no subject)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/27/ncrime327.xml
This article actually made me feel physically sick.
What the fuck is wrong with this Government? You simply can't create a database of every living human in the country, then use it, along with some rule set that you believe (because someone has told you some generalisation they propose) to be true, to impose on people's rights and make an assumption of guilt. It's sick and insane!
Of course, it will "work" because:
Let me explain, in simple terms, why this system is a huge threat to a person's rights. This system allows me to say: "Your parents are Black. I've heard that 18.3% of criminals are Black. There is a higher probability you will become a criminal. I will monitor your movements." and to wholeheartedly believe that I am right in doing so.
I hope you have a problem with this. I deliberately picked a racist example to prove a point, but is it an infeasible example? No. The statistic I used was correct for 2001 incarcerations in the U.S.A. and it is precisely the sort of sick logic which the Telegraph article implies.
It's a shame, because I really like it here.
This article actually made me feel physically sick.
What the fuck is wrong with this Government? You simply can't create a database of every living human in the country, then use it, along with some rule set that you believe (because someone has told you some generalisation they propose) to be true, to impose on people's rights and make an assumption of guilt. It's sick and insane!
Of course, it will "work" because:
- Stereotypes are based on truth - some of the people identified will probably become criminals
- If you tell someone they're going to become a criminal, and you're in a position of power (how about in control of a country), then that person is going to become a criminal. Even more so if they're an impressionable child.
Let me explain, in simple terms, why this system is a huge threat to a person's rights. This system allows me to say: "Your parents are Black. I've heard that 18.3% of criminals are Black. There is a higher probability you will become a criminal. I will monitor your movements." and to wholeheartedly believe that I am right in doing so.
I hope you have a problem with this. I deliberately picked a racist example to prove a point, but is it an infeasible example? No. The statistic I used was correct for 2001 incarcerations in the U.S.A. and it is precisely the sort of sick logic which the Telegraph article implies.
It's a shame, because I really like it here.