Punishing people the way they deserve

by **mrswdk** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:25 am

As Duk (and Donald Trump) has pointed out, many societies are currently very soft on wrong doers. Some would say, too soft.

Now we can all agree that on balance, even with all the good sides taken into account, it is probably a Good Thing that relatively trivial crimes are no longer punished with boiling oil in this day and age.

That said, there are clearly some ways in which some societies (such as pussy socialist European ones) could do with dusting off their old rule books and administering some old school justice. It's just the only way some people will ever learn.

See, for example, this story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ma ... r-36883174

Child being cocky, disrespectful etc. Clearly nearly had any proper discipline at home. This old man came along and showed him who's boss. Child will probably never do that again.

Should publicly disruptive children be given a good old spanking by passers by?

by **muy_thaiguy** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:02 am

So, you advocate random strangers coming up to, and wailing on someone else's kid?

Why am I surprised with you? You advocate (worship) a government that kidnaps people that do deep breathing and stretches, and harvests their organs.

by **Dukasaur** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:22 am

It used to be that if a kid was misbehaving and the parents weren't around to deal with it, the nearest adult would step up to the plate and take care of it. "It takes a village to raise a child" was the saying, I believe. This business of "nobody can discipline my kid except me" is something that just began recently. I think 1980 was the first time I heard that line, and I was gobsmacked that anyone would say something so stupid. But then, it became a fashion, and now it's become a norm, with terrible results for society. The behaviour I see from children nowadays is outrageous.

by **mrswdk** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:23 am

muy_thaiguy wrote:So, you advocate random strangers coming up to, and wailing on someone else's kid?

Not at all. I presented the story and asked whether it was okay.

Dukasaur wrote:This business of "nobody can discipline my kid except me" is something that just began recently. I think 1980 was the first time I heard that line, and I was gobsmacked that anyone would say something so stupid. But then, it became a fashion, and now it's become a norm, with terrible results for society. The behaviour I see from children nowadays is outrageous.

So you support the man in the BBC story who put the kid in an arm lock after he persistently misbehaved?

by **Dukasaur** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:29 am

mrswdk wrote:
Dukasaur wrote:This business of "nobody can discipline my kid except me" is something that just began recently. I think 1980 was the first time I heard that line, and I was gobsmacked that anyone would say something so stupid. But then, it became a fashion, and now it's become a norm, with terrible results for society. The behaviour I see from children nowadays is outrageous.

So you support the man in the BBC story who put the kid in an arm lock after he persistently misbehaved?

There's not enough detail in the story to know if I support him in that particular instance. That may be all that happened, or there may have been a lot more to the story that we don't know. In the theoretical case, though, yes I do. If the kid is being a disrespectful little hooligan and the parents aren't dealing with it, I think other members of the community have a right to step in.

by **mrswdk** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:44 am

Wonder what meaty guy will make of that statement, given he just drew a parallel between strangers punishing other people's kids and the state-sponsored harvesting of prisoner's organs on the down low.

by **mrswdk** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:51 am

On another note, stuff like this is a good example of why people making a distinction between the 'individualist West' and 'collectivist East' is total baloney.

Someone stepping in to tell off/physically prevent someone behaving anti-socially is generally cheered in countries such as the UK or US, whereas in China (and as far as I am aware countries such as Singapore, Japan and Korea) it would generally be unthinkable to interfere in someone else's business in that way.

Personally, I prefer the latter approach. If the other person's a stranger then you have no real idea of what's happening or the implications of your intervention. Getting involved is pointless and will probably be detrimental, even cause more conflict.

by **DoomYoshi** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:07 pm

They shouldn't be a stranger. Isolationist societies is what creates all of our social ailments from schizophrenia to mass shootings to internet forums to the welfare state. People who aren't a member of a church, knitting circle or service club are totally not even human. When's the last time someone left a "Stitch-n-Bitch" to go shoot up a school?

As for the actual topic... there really should be a "Justice Wheel" to randomly dole out punishments. One could argue that a parking violation hardly warrants decapitation, but I don't trust the judiciary to make that judgement call. Are you ever been in a court of law that wasn't a total Gong Show?

by **Dukasaur** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:37 pm

mrswdk wrote:On another note, stuff like this is a good example of why people making a distinction between the 'individualist West' and 'collectivist East' is total baloney.

Someone stepping in to tell off/physically prevent someone behaving anti-socially is generally cheered in countries such as the UK or US, whereas in China (and as far as I am aware countries such as Singapore, Japan and Korea) it would generally be unthinkable to interfere in someone else's business in that way.

I get your point, but I don't think it proves what you think it proves.

I think another possible interpretation is that people in the individualist societies still have hope (rightly or wrongly) that by taking responsibility they will influence the world around them. The people in the more collectivist societies have given up hope. They don't think they have any chance of changing the world around them, so they don't even bother, and just focus on their own survival.

by **mrswdk** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:32 pm

It proves that when people claim Eastern societies are all about everyone running everything as one big all-encompassing community while Western societies believe everyone should leave everyone else be, they are talking rubbish.

Asian families have much stronger family structures while in public everyone leaves everyone else alone. Western have weaker family bonds but in public everyone's stepping into everyone else's business all the time. Swings and roundabouts.

by **Symmetry** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:10 pm

Dukasaur wrote:It used to be that if a kid was misbehaving and the parents weren't around to deal with it, the nearest adult would step up to the plate and take care of it. "It takes a village to raise a child" was the saying, I believe. This business of "nobody can discipline my kid except me" is something that just began recently. I think 1980 was the first time I heard that line, and I was gobsmacked that anyone would say something so stupid. But then, it became a fashion, and now it's become a norm, with terrible results for society. The behaviour I see from children nowadays is outrageous.

You got old mate, that's the difference.

by **Beast Of Burson** on Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:30 pm

DoomYoshi wrote:"Stitch-n-Bitch".

Dude, that definitely is a great way to say it! My grandmother used to do that with my great aunts back in the day. They would knit and bitch about shit.

Thanks for posting that! I WILL use it. :lol: