a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
kleinbl00  ·  4278 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Mark Kleiman on why we need to solve our alcohol problem to solve our crime problem

That's not so tough. You can say "you're fighting for vengeance, not for change, or else you'd focus on the hardcore." Then you say "your message has gotten so twisted towards temperance that your founder left twenty years ago." Then you say "how much energy have you spent on rehabilitation vs. punishment?" and then you point out "and what has that shift towards punishment done demographically, anyway?"

When you start out with the assertion that one side is not required to be rational, you'd best be doing something other than debate. Pathos only goes so far.