Letters to the Editor
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Cosmic Mojo on whatever you call it
Terrorism, arson, dangerous indifference, attempted murder, facism, whatev.
It's wrong, illegal, lethal, arrogant, dangerous and controlling. I don't really care what you call it.
No, apparently you don't. Apparently, for you, anything which is illegal is also conflated with a whole host of other personal failings which warrant a total lack of distinction regarding the crime itself.
The good news is that you're not alone. Reflexive authoritarianism is all the rage these days — zero tolerance, three strikes and you're out, everything that's "arrogant, dangerous and controlling" may as well just be considered terrorism.
But I'm afraid there's also bad news. The tradition of law on which our civilization was founded is going to be a problem here — because it insists, arrogantly you might say, on making distinctions between crimes based on their nature, and varying penalties accordingly.
Yes! It's true. We are sending the message that some crimes are not as bad as others. Can you believe it?