Well, one original point still stands, which is the ridiculous number of people in prison (Canada is somewhat better, but it is still absurd). That the vast bulk of them are poor, mentally slow if not disturbed, and a substantial fraction black in the US, is strong evidence that the system is not exactly based on the purity of being able to choose right and wrong all the time. There are all kinds of social factors involved, and to dump all these people into prison is nuts. What happened to rehabilitation in supposedly Christian countries? We have moved completely away from the New Testament to the Old (I mean this in the generic sense of the vengeful Jehovah, not the true Jewish faith) -- as far as I can see there are only two things going on -- punishment as a form of brutal social vindication, and putting the problem away so that no one will notice. It is morally bankrupt.

I leave the ridiculous drug war for another rant.

yours, Peter T.