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Posted: 03 Apr 2005, 17:32
by Debaser
andymackem wrote:Debaser wrote:andymackem wrote:
You can't impose a more tolerant, thoughtful society on the world however much you might wish it.
But we can impose a more intolerant one? I for one will never agree to the 'lynch mob' mentality and if the general consensus is that we should bring back the death penalty, I'd seriously have to consider moving.
As a matter of interest, to where would you consider going?
Which nation, society or culture do you believe is a bastion of enlightened thought and attitude?
The reason the lynch mob exists (and it exists within every one of us somewhere, if the buttons are pressed in a certain sequence) is because we are human beings.
Vengeance, rightly or wrongly, is a fundamental part of what we are. We remain tribal, fiercely loyal to those we perceive as 'our own' and basically hostile to those we perceive as a threat to 'our way'.
I don't believe you can find a human society where this issue won't recur in some form ... but I'd love to hear of the Shangri-La you're seeking. Good luck!
After hearing that schools in Ireland get an extra four weeks holiday a year...I might pop there
Now lemme think, where could I go where everything is just sweetness and light, insipid and bland.
What about Iceland, what attrocities and human rights abuses would I have to put up with there?
Posted: 03 Apr 2005, 18:01
by James Blast
d'ye want chips with your seal steak Ma'am?
Posted: 03 Apr 2005, 18:03
by Debaser
James Blast wrote:d'ye want chips with your seal steak Ma'am?
'Least I'd be able to find a use for me red jacket ...
Posted: 03 Apr 2005, 21:31
by andymackem
High levels of drunken-ness and suicide? Just a guess.
Animal rights.
Complicit in the exploitation of the indigenous Greenlandic population, by virtue of being an outpost of the Danish suppression of Inuit culture (read Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow if you really care).
Awful sweaters.
Brennivin.
Of course, since Iceland has no significant ethnic minorities you could view it as a homogenous paradise, or as the last place on earth capable of accepting outsiders. I wouldn't know.
Good answer, though. I hadn't thought of that one.
Posted: 04 Apr 2005, 12:32
by markfiend
I'd just move to the Netherlands. At least there, one could just get stoned and ignore everything wrong with the place. (There must be something wrong with the place? Surely?)
Posted: 04 Apr 2005, 14:06
by Dark
markfiend wrote:I'd just move to the Netherlands. At least there, one could just get stoned and ignore everything wrong with the place. (There must be something wrong with the place? Surely?)
If sea levels rise drastically, they'll be the first lot to know.
Posted: 04 Apr 2005, 14:12
by markfiend
I can swim
Posted: 04 Apr 2005, 14:29
by andymackem
Didn't they come quite close to electing a fascist until someone shot him about three years ago? Pim Fortyne?
Amsterdam always strikes me as a hugely smug conservative city, bizarrely colonised by low-life backbackers desperately trying to live the dream of free drugs and sex on tap.
Can you swim while stoned?
Posted: 04 Apr 2005, 14:42
by markfiend
Yes I'd remembered that Pim Fortyne bloke
I agree that there is something of the tourist-trap about Amsterdam; but it's not the only city in the country
Swimming while stoned? I don't know. Never tried. Probably not an altogether good idea methinks.
Posted: 05 Apr 2005, 10:49
by Debaser
andymackem wrote:High levels of drunken-ness and suicide? Just a guess.
Haven't got the money to get that drunk there (rather 'spensive by all accounts) and suicide? I'm too darned selfish to let 'em get away with not having to put up with me
Animal rights.
ahem, I can hardly play that card
Complicit in the exploitation of the indigenous Greenlandic population, by virtue of being an outpost of the Danish suppression of Inuit culture (read Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow if you really care).
if it means 'pastries, butter and lean back bacon' ...
Awful sweaters.
flip flops, cardies and orange...need I say more?
Brennivin.
got me stumped on that one
Of course, since Iceland has no significant ethnic minorities you could view it as a homogenous paradise, or as the last place on earth capable of accepting outsiders. I wouldn't know.
it's got hot bubbly mud and springs, I hadn't looked further than those I'm afraid
Good answer, though. I hadn't thought of that one.
Posted: 05 Apr 2005, 11:04
by markfiend
nodubmanshouts wrote:Also, in the US hardly anyone on death row actually gets executed...
Sorry to drag this back to somewhere reminiscent of the original topic, but I dug up some figures prompted by seeing an article in the Metro newspaper in the loo in work:
According to
Amnesty International, 59 people were executed in the USA in 2004, down from 65 in 2003. Not exactly "hardly anyone"
The 2003 figure; of the 65 executed in the US, 24 of them were executed in Texas. That well-known pro-lifer President G W Bush, as the previous Texas Governor, personally signed 152 death-warrants.
*Edit: Check facts first
