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Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

asiancorrespondent.com

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Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#41

Post by blowski »

akerro wrote: post #31

Wow, think about it. On one side we have Elon Musk, who wants to build a city on Mars, make interplanetary travels quick and cheap and he's doing it, there are people who want to kill you for your skin or hair colour. There is PM of Portugal who decriminalised drugs (saying: "drugs break families and relations, and so is facebook. We're not going to ban facebook") and there is a president who kills drug addicts, peop…

Such extremes have existed since the beginning of civilisation. Compare the life of a medieval king to that of his subjects.

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#42

Post by simplemath »

feklar wrote: post #34

This extreme policy also comes with an amnesty program if you surrender to police, with rehab, work and welfare. It's how he cleaned up Davao by disappearing gangsters and offering the ones left this olive branch program. China and Indonesia dissappear thousands of addicts and criminals every year too the only difference is it's not advertised in the media as a killing free for all. This guy also gave Indonesia the g…

Oh, China and Indonesia are doing it, and he's offering an amnesty program??

Well you've sold me! Line 'em up!

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#43

Post by OoTheNigerian »

As usual, mostly western commentators sitting on their high horses pointing and pontificating with no idea of local context or understanding.

First of all, Duterte was elected overwhelmingly with a clear mandate of using brute violence to clear out drug dealers. He was clear about it and he is delivering on that mandate. I have to accept, he has made a PR error by not calling them terrorists. At which point, he will be sold drones that can also wipe out families in addition to the druggies.

The fact is, you do not get radical progress pandering to western styled hypocritical democracy or "human rights". It's the reality. A harsh one. Of course, I will not be so "logical" if I happen to be at the receiving end of such needed reform. But hey.. it's what life is.

At least, no set of drug dealers are at greater risk because of the colour of their skin.

PS: I am speaking like a man living in a country where some not so nice things will be needed to be done if we are going to ever progress.

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#44

Post by simplemath »

Bakary wrote: post #36
libeclipse wrote: post #2

Is this a joke? Surely something so utterly stupid can't be real. This man just gave the public free rein to murder and get away with it. Jesus this planet is insane.

It's actually not that insane from the perspective of a local voter who has nothing to lose and has a miserable crime-ridden existence. It's not qualitatively different from disenfranchised workers voting for Trump. It's the nuclear option for people who have no way to profit from the existing system. It just so happens that life is much, much easier in the US so there is no need to consider actual violence when thin…

No, it's still insane.

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#45

Post by pluma »

jmspring wrote: post #11

Not directly related to Phillipines, but an actual Bay Area addict case question...And honestly, I'm not sure of individuals current state (no arrest records)... Young female from out of area (some state) comes (homeless) to a town known for downward spirals. Arrested 20+ times over 2 years, mainly around meth addiction, but seriously mental. Local people reach out to family/friends of said individual via social medi…

Addiction is not a crime, it's a symptom of a mental health issue or a social problem. Treat it as such to fix it.

> many people in this community and similar are tired of people throwing their life away and expecting a safety net.

That's a really disgusting approach to treating human life. These people aren't "throwing their life away", they're broken and in need of help. Why is it unreasonable to expect a society to look out for its weak and vulnerable?

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#46

Post by briandear »

smarks wrote: post #30

How long until Trump says something like, "He's a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed drug dealers. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were pushers. Over."

Are we making the leap that Trump supports killing drug addicts? We could invoke Hillary if we want with her famous statement, "What difference does it make?"

This has nothing to do with Trump or American politics. Not a single candidate in the US has called for the extra-judicial execution of drug dealers or users. Trying to draw an equivalence to Trump is absurd.

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#47

Post by prawn »

faklco wrote: post #8

Even more frightening is how widely supported Duterte and his death squads are in the Philippines. He has strong ties to the Davao Death Squad which operated whilst he was mayor of Davao City, and the Philippino public largely supports the executions.

I think that's the most concerning part of this (and other concerning but slightly less insane potential leaders around the world) - that the public can be so easily convinced that this is a reasonable choice.

Is it that the craziest plans standout against the two regular options? Or that the regular options hedge their bets and don't appear to adequately address issues concerning the masses?

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#48

Post by rhaps0dy »

rimantas wrote: post #13
cyberferret wrote: post #5

Truly, we live in a world gone mad... Where will this end? In a few years, shooting jay walkers will be the norm...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2...

The "democracy vs autocracy" graph seems disingenuous, as it shows the _sum_ of scores and not the mean. If the number of democracies has been increasing, the graph may show the same trend it shows without the democracies actually being better. And the biggest shift in the graph happens, unsurprisingly, when the USSR falls, which switches the score of all its countries from one side to the other.

Re: Body count rises as Philippines president calls for drug addicts to be killed

#50

Post by atemerev »

deanCommie wrote: post #29
jmspring wrote: post #11

Not directly related to Phillipines, but an actual Bay Area addict case question...And honestly, I'm not sure of individuals current state (no arrest records)... Young female from out of area (some state) comes (homeless) to a town known for downward spirals. Arrested 20+ times over 2 years, mainly around meth addiction, but seriously mental. Local people reach out to family/friends of said individual via social medi…

Society. Society is responsible. The fact that people in the richest country in the world are still having this debate is appalling to Canadians and Western Europeans. Americans will be the last on this ship, but part of living in a prosperous 21st century society means giving up some liberty (in the form of taxes, limited access to guns, suffering additional government bureaucracy) for the knowledge that getting sic…

UBI will not happen. Not because free money are not good for the people — they are. Not because everyone will suddenly get lazy and stop working — they won't.

Because UBI is unsustainable and won't last more than a year. There is not enough money for any plausible scenario. That's why.

And yes, let's give people "free" money and do nothing about hugely overpriced and corrupt healthcare system, education and things. In fact, let's introduce new obligatory payments for everyone!

Who, do you think, might be the most interested in lobbying for _that_?

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