But the inspiration for this blog post came when he told us with a smirk that there was a time when the cops in Philadelphia wore buttons that said "A liberal is just a conservative who hasn't been mugged yet." I can't vouch for the veracity of this story, but it has what Stephen Colbert calls "thruthiness": it feels true, even if it's not strictly true.
The contrast this wants to set up is naive idiots vs. experienced realists--the people who know better. At least I think that's what the author of that button would have wanted us to get out of that. Let's start there.
If we go one level down we'll see that this is about how criminals should be treated. I mean, promoting fear and anger is all very well and good, but what we really want to accomplish is a set of rules for how criminals should be dealt with, right?
Liberals are often said to be "soft on crime." They believe in second chances, humane treatment, and squishy things like rehabilitation rather than merely punishment. Conservatives--just using the parlance of the button here--believe that criminals should be punished harshly, locked up for a reeeeeally long time, and that their stay in prison should be as unpleasant as possible. Hell, they call any prison with a TV a country club.
My father asked me something a long time ago that has stuck with me: If a released prisoner were going to live next to you, what kind of experience would you like for him to have had in prison?
So, the final piece of this is the mindset that's better for deciding what to do about crime and how to treat criminals. That button clearly thinks that people who have been mugged are in a better frame of mind to make those kinds of decisions. If you're already pissed off or scared to death, NOW you're ready to make that call.
Really?
I think the people who should be deciding these things are the people who study these kinds of things--criminal psychologists, behaviorists, etc. You know, the ones conservatives dismiss as eggheads.
In a previous blog post--okay, several blog posts-- I pointed out that conservatism is driven by anger and fear, and in one I even backed it up with a little neuroscience. Here we are again, all thanks to a button.
2 comments:
Boy did you hit that one right! First get whacked on the head, they you will know what kinds of outcomes are best for us all and how best to pursue them. Woohoo!
The political science department at Oregon had, just before I got there, moved from a traditionally liberal department to a really radical department. The impetus for that change came from the experience a number of the members had had at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where they had been mugged by police. The line they brought back with them was "A liberal is just a guy who hasn't been mugged yet."
Thanks, Pop. When I first heard that I took it as standard GOP you're-so-naive rhetoric, but then it struck me what it was saying underneath all of that. There are times that I think I channel you. A less intelligent you, but you nontheless. ;-)
-Doug
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