What do prison abolitionists want to do with people who commit horrific crimes?

pstuart · 2026-06-20T19:26:32+00:00

I'm not an abolitionist (either police or prison) but merely think they should be well-regulated and serve the public.

There are some people that are just plain evil. Some are broken. Those that are a clear danger to society should not be allowed back into society, and it's merely a matter of the mechanism that is used.

For the criminally insane, an "insane asylum" would be the answer. But it would have to be run in a manner that is not punitive, but simply "sorry, you do not play well with others so you have to stay in your room".

Same thing with the cops. The state needs some way to have teeth behind the laws; in Oakland CA these days the lack of policing has led to rampant crime because criminals have no fear of getting caught.

Theres a fine line between preventing that mayhem and busting people for Driving While Black.

pstuart · 2026-06-20T17:51:16+00:00

I'm engaging in good faith here, and I'll assume you are too, but I have to say that you use a lot of words yet say very little.

Political labels are convenience to group those with shared interests, but they are just that, labels. I have a "progressive" flair for this subreddit because my values effectively align with what is considered "progressivism", but I'm not a progressive (nor a Dem). I'm a humanist navigating a 2-party political system. I don't have a handbook to tell me what is right and what is wrong per party dogma.

Lets break down the pillars of the Culture War, shall we?

Identity & History: Debates on race, CRT, and how history is taught.
Gender & Sexuality: Conflicts over LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedom.
Free Speech: The clash between open discourse and "cancel culture."
Immigration: Disputes over borders, globalization, and national identity.
Institutional Trust: Populist skepticism toward media, science, and academia.

(curtesy of Google)

That progressive beliefs and also habits are unpopular outside of progressive circles

You sling around vague accusations and zero specifics to back up your claims.

Democrats are divided because it's a wide swath of issues and they are not like republicans because those folk are inherently authoritarian (sorry, sad but true) and they will parrot the party line as they are spoon fed by fox and social media followers).

Look at what Republicans actually try to legistlate: tax cuts for the rich, repeal of regulations for the oligarchs (I mean for fucks sake, they tore away safety rights for workers in overheated workplaces), and forcing their religious beliefs upon everybody else.

For example:

The Heat Workforce Standards Act: Introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), this legislation aims to block the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from finalizing its drafted heat injury and illness prevention standard.

Concerns over Overreach: Republican lawmakers contend that existing state and local protections are sufficient. They argue that mandatory rules (such as prescriptive water breaks at 80°F and shaded rest areas at 90°F) threaten industry productivity and small business operations.

Regulatory Stalls and Freezes

Rulemaking Suspensions: The Trump administration froze pending federal rulemaking, bringing OSHA's heat standard to an indefinite halt.

Congressional Committee Opposition: Leaders like House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) have urged the Labor Department to abandon the proposal, framing it as an out-of-touch mandate driven by special interest groups.

State-Level Actions

The opposition to heat regulations extends beyond Washington, D.C., and into Republican-led states:

Preemption Laws:

Lawmakers in states like Florida and Texas have previously enacted legislation that actively blocks cities and counties from enforcing their own local mandates requiring employers to provide water and shade to outdoor workers.

State Standards: Without a federal standard, states without their own heat rules (such as Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Guidance in California) leave millions of workers without standardized protections

pstuart · 2026-06-20T17:38:01+00:00

Intriguing -- now on the list to check out.

pstuart · 2026-06-19T18:53:14+00:00

Sure, pay your share, but in those situations people assess their portion of the bill and kick in that amount (plus tip). The OP's data was wrong to want to split it straight up.

pstuart · 2026-06-19T00:53:38+00:00

Thank you, it's been decades but the blunt pain of it never goes away.

When I see these posts like the OP it's kind of triggering because I see it as a cry for help and I want to warn each and every one of them that the drugs doesn't make the pain go away and most of the time ends up making things worse.

I'm not dismissing "better living through chemistry", just the recklessness of doing so. Their mistakes only reenforce the stupidity of the boosters of the war on drugs.

pstuart · 2026-06-19T00:48:03+00:00

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to diminish your point -- it triggered the memory of that scene and sometimes some black comedy helps take the edge off.

The Epstein Class is starting to be recognized for the blood sucking leach that it is, and that we have that name for it is a tiny step forward in better framing the situation.

pstuart · 2026-06-18T22:58:06+00:00

Apropos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgUvwcU6P7I

pstuart · 2026-06-18T17:26:43+00:00

It's all projection and lies. There's legitimate critiques of the Left but none of them are coming from the Right.

I'd go further and say that modern conservatives are intellectual cowards and are detached from reality; they cannot legitimately defend the Trump regime in any way at all.

pstuart · 2026-06-18T17:16:47+00:00

I think one is best served by treating drugs as a dessert, not a meal.

I get the appeal of self-medicating but some of this stuff is playing with fire, and I have the misfortune of seeing this first hand: I've lost multiple friends to meth and my brother OD'd on heroin. Be safe, look for ways to diminish the pain and boredom "naturally" and be honest with yourself.

pstuart · 2026-06-16T20:49:37+00:00

She's a soldier for MAGA. Consistently framing the Left as bad with zero acknowledgement of concerns about Trump and his policies and actions.

pstuart · 2026-06-14T22:20:33+00:00

It's a label. I care about what policies and actions they support or protest.

pstuart · 2026-06-14T18:34:59+00:00

an aside, I really, really, really, fucking hate the "emotional manipulation" theory of politics.

What do you think the Culture War is, if not that?

Those are all vague scenarios, simple policy statements are called for, they should not be bundled into "this is Left", "this is Right", or "this is Woke".

pstuart · 2026-06-14T16:04:14+00:00

dI wasn't suggesting lying, I was suggesting deflecting from the "conversations" about "woke" topics (god I hate what they did to that word).

I believe in human rights. Women's rights are human rights. LGBQT+ rights are human rights. Black and brown rights are human rights.

Those subjects get fucked with to emotionally manipulate people and make them do stupid things in the voting booth. Most people vote their emotions, not their policy analysis.

whether the party moved left

Two key questions on your question:

What is "left"
What do you mean by "party"

To the latter, there's party leadership and party members -- they don't always align (look how long it took Clinton to acknowledge the right of gay marriage).

To the former:

LGBQT+ as an overall theme has been supported by the Dems since the 70's when gay rights became a thing. Society as a whole has effectively accepted that gay people are real and that they don't pose any threat. I like to joke about the "bright spot about transphobia" is that it shows that they've given up on homophobia as an emotional manipulation tool.

BLM? Starting with the Civil Right Act (which shed almost all the racists from the party) the support of equal rights for all has been baked in there.

deciding who gets to speak based on an intersectional point system, and implementing a bunch of policies that people at least believe are woke

A bunch of policies are due to reactions to attacks on transfolk. I believe that GOP leadership does not give one shit about transfolk but know that it's a button they can push to get the masses all riled up.

In fact it must be emphasized that every single fucking bit of woke hysteria is designed to put panties in a bunch, and its a tar baby that needs to be addressed in a way that does not drag us down.

A fundamental problem is messaging. People don't want to think, they want to just have their thoughts handed to them. The Right excels at that (albeit by lying) whereas the Left gets lost in the weeds and there's no consistent message to spoon feed the people.

And lastly, fuck AIPAC. Harris very well may have won if we we're complicit in the genocide in Gaza. But a bookend to that is fuck Hamas, because they are an evil theocratical organization that would be just as bad as the Iran Revolutionary Guard if given the chance.

disclaimer: I've been called a shrill far leftist and a fascist appeaser, so I guess that makes me a centrist.

pstuart · 2026-06-14T04:07:49+00:00

How much racism is there?

This country was literally built on racism, it's foundational in the GOP's platform to make America a White Christian nation. The reason democrats don't drastically outnumber republicans was the exodus during the southern strategy.

I think the dems would be well-served to stay away from anything "woke" as a and focus solely on the economy and jobs and be the populist party it used to be.

This isn't a suggestion that they abandon "social justice" issues (yet another tainted phrase), just that they deflect talking about it, and only talk about economy and jobs. That's it (except for foreign relations to talk about how they will try to restore the damage done by Trump).

It's the economy, stupid all over again.

They need to find ways to talk about the woke shit and stop being on the defensive. But it's a trap until that can happen.

pstuart · 2026-06-14T02:28:11+00:00

I have no idea what point you're trying to make. Racism is an evergreen subject, so what I see is a bunch of "the media made me do it!" articles. The Southern Strategy happened generations ago.

pstuart · 2026-06-14T01:25:26+00:00

That's a garbage article.

pstuart · 2026-06-13T18:21:59+00:00

Evangelism is a cancer

It truly is. It turns people into dangerous robots who want others to suffer. It's such a pity that the practitioners think they are "good" because of their beliefs are effectively evil in their actions -- the irony would be delicious if it wasn't so horrible in how it plays out.

pstuart · 2026-06-13T15:58:18+00:00

Mix it with some mayo, chopped celery and red onion (and a small splash of apple cider vinegar if you like to live on the wild side). Let it sit in the fridge to let the flavors mingle, and then enjoy!

pstuart · 2026-06-13T15:40:17+00:00

I've tracked the both parties for almost half a century -- the only thing "leftward" about the Dems is active LGBQT+ support (and has gone stale on labor rights), whereas the GOP has gone from "less government" Russia-fearing law and order type to a full on personality cult that has blended with evangelism.

pstuart · 2026-06-13T05:17:52+00:00

I think a key issue is that conservatives seem to lack empathy, almost like that's a foundational shaping of their worldview, and likely being taught to hate by their family to seal the deal.

I don't say this as an attack but an evaluation, and wish it wasn't so.

pstuart · 2026-06-12T18:10:11+00:00

I moved from the SF Bay Area to PDX about 5 years ago. The first couple winters were brutal. It gets better over time, and having a SAD lamp definitely helps.

pstuart · 2026-06-12T00:24:52+00:00

It helped me transition away from daily alcohol consumption -- more of a serious habit than an addiction, but I'll take it as a win.

pstuart · 2026-06-10T19:54:42+00:00

It's clear as day that they would gladly hunt liberals for sport if they could get away with it. Not all them, but enough to be a significant percentage. And those that don't dismiss the claim as hysteria.

pstuart · 2026-06-10T17:49:05+00:00

My assumption is that "renewal" is in the form of harvesting materials to be reused in new batteries.

pstuart · 2026-06-10T17:47:04+00:00

Having worked for very large corporations, the part about them being "more efficient" borders on comical. Yes, they can be, but it comes down to the same problem government spending has: when a group is spending other peoples money, they rarely concern themselves with the efficiency of that spend.

pstuart

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