Just thought I’d mention that, next week, I will be leading the discussion with Jonathan Simon, author of “Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear.” The premise is that the War on Crime wasn’t solely an effort to respond to the problem of crime. It enhances government power, gets politicians elected, and allows social control beyond simply protecting citizens from one another. Perceived risk from crime has risen faster than the actual risk. Democracy has suffered as a result.
I’m a member of the Well, more or less a bulletin board system/ “online community”. It features an “open to the public” conference where various authors and people of interest are “interviewed” and members of the Well and non-members are encouraged to participate in the discussion. The conference is called “inkwell.vue” and can be accessed here.
Prof. Simon also has a blog called Governing through Crime.
Update: Someone kindly referred me to this story in the U.K.’s Daily Mail back in June. The increase in perceived risk is having a deleterious effect on our kids as well. The article takes a look at 4 generations from a family. The kids’ range of freedom has steadily declined. When great-grandpa was eight, it was no big deal for him to walk 6 miles to a fishing hole. Now, his great-grandson is only allowed to go about 300 yards from home unsupervised.
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