Take 50 minutes to watch a video? Not all of us are at work, you know!
A decline in violent crime. Our legislators have bravely taken up the slack by tightening the screws on a whole range on non-violent offences, though, hence the increased number of inmates in our prisons.
I must say, the number of wounded American nationalists in this thread is rather surprising to me. It’s really quite amusing how many people seem as concerned with the nationality of the film crew as with the story they’re trying to tell.
Just out of interest, if 60 Minutes or Frontline did an expose of violence or corruption in Russia or Venezuela or Iran, would you give any credence to a similarly-parochial defensive response? I doubt it.
Naw, thats not interesting. An interesting question would be…would Russia, Venezuela or Iran give a flying fuck what we said about corruption or violence in their country? Would they be defensive or resentful of US hipocrates throwing stones at their glass house?
I’d say the answer is…they wouldn’t give a flying fuck about our opinion and they would get defensive. On reflection this isn’t very surprising or interesting either…dog bites man, news at 11.
-XT
I thought he was from Greece.
Seems to me that utter indifference and defensiveness are somewhat mutually exclusive. I mean, why would you get defensive if you don’t give a rat’s?
Not sure what the father of medicine has to do with this debate.
Actually, if people really don’t give a flying fuck about an opinion, they tend to ignore it. When people get defensive, it’s often because they recognize the kernel of truth in the argument and/or value the opinion of the person making it.
ETA:
Geez, i’m too slow. Beaten by **Miller **on the Hippocrates reference, and by **elucidator **on the indifference/defensiveness thing.
Not weighing in on either side here, but this reminded me: I saw a show last night on National Geographic channel called Locked Up Abroad (apparently it’s a series) about these two British guys who got caught smuggling cocaine from Venezuela to the UK and did three and a half years in a Venezualan prison. There was about one guard to every 150 inmates, there was a murder rate of something like 3-6 a month, and inmates had knives, guns, and in some instances, hand grenades. :eek:
Did you watch any of the video? I honestly wasn’t sure if it was serious or some sort of parody at first. It just takes itself so bloody seriously, as though it were exposing some deep, dark secret that no one had dared to speak of until now. And the bullshit references to Bush and Abu-Ghraib just reeked of sensationalism.
Again, this is just Recreational Outrage, as there are news stories about prisoner abuse all the time, and (I suspect) in almost every country. What’s so special about that particular news clip, other than it’s attempt to make some kind of link between US prison abuse, Bush and Abu-Ghraib?
Ok…its been a long day. 
YOU try typing stuff in on a phone.
Well, I think its a bit of both actually. I don’t think people really care about what folks in other countries think AND they are usually a bit defensive about their own country because there is usually a kernel. I don’t think those positions are mutually exclusive as you and others seem to think they are.
-XT
I’m pretty sure the thing that’s so special about this, is that your usual RO thread involves a link to a two page article. dnooman conned people into a 50 minute television show. I’m sure as heck not going to not post if I spend that big a chunk of my day watching something. 
Whether the prison system is broken or not (and it likely is), if Diomedes’ account of the content of this doc is accurate, then it proves nothing of the kind. In that case, it would be a grave disservice to the U.S., its viewers, and everyone else, by taking such a shallow look at a serious problem. It makes the real issues easier to ignore or dismiss. THAT is what concerns me.
Oh, and one other thing…
But those countries don’t have a free press, so it might be useful. I would find a 60 minutes expose on prison abuse in the UK or France to be rather odd, since there really isn’t any need of the US press to act as the 4th column in those countries.
If I can con just one jackass… it was all worth it. :rolleyes:
…then your work here is done, ehe?
-XT
Seriously, dude, you don’t need a 50-minute video to realize that prison officials can be and have been sadistic. All you need to do is read about the Stanford Prison Experiment and cross-reference that with the Milgram Experiment. These experiments were done 30-40 years ago. It’s no great surprise.
I’m not known for my sympathy toward prisoners, but I do think that the prison administration has a responsibility to do at least the minimum amount to protect these people, not just because it’s the right thing to do but because that’s how we as a society demonstrate that we are better than they are and that’s why they’re locked up.
I hate John Mace, because he keeps saying what I was gonna say, only he says it first, and better. 
I’m curious as to why you haven’t wanted to contribute more to this discussion. You seemed very interested in talking about this early on. But have been absent ever since, with the exception being this one comment.
I’m not trying to insinuate anything, just wondering.
Duck Duck Goose, that was an AWESOME post you made earlier. Well researched and backed up with many cites.
You blew dnooman’s rabid politicized OP right out of the water, and nobody has had the balls to try to refute anything you said, they are ignoring it.
Well Done!!
I’m flattered, but I tend to agree with Klaatu: