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They've also mentioned the removal of lead from paint and gasoline: http://www.freakonomics.com/2007/07/09/lead-and-crime/
Makes you wonder what harmful things we are being unknowingly exposed to now, that in 20 years will be correlated with serious negative effects on individuals or societies.
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I am. Vaguely threatening to label another commenter a racist for citing an argument by Steve Sailer that had nothing to do with race was far less civil than anything I said.
Yes I agree, his point that there are better sources could have been made without the ad hominem implication. I also think profanity doesn't help civility.
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Yes I agree, his point that there are better sources could have been made without the ad hominem implication. I also think profanity doesn't help civility.
"Fuck all" is just a slightly course way of saying "nothing." It's not an insult directed at a person. pg himself has used the word "fuck" on this board [1], so I assume it's not necessarily proscribed. We're all adults here - at least I proceed on that assumption. [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1766387
The reason I try not to do it online though (or in person with strangers) is because I have marked that when you use profanity with strangers (especially online) it tends to make the discussion more rancorous because people focus on the profanity instead of the content. It does not seem to matter whether it was meant as an insult, or simply as an "emotional multiplier".
I have certainly realized that I used do it, so may be it's just a bad data point, weighted heavily!
So that's my perspective.
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Well, yes. The article is talking about the drop in violent crime, not total crime. On the other hand, I doubt that financial crimes made up for the 5.5% drop in violent crime. There are probably no conclusive figures for non-prosecuted white-collar crimes, though, so all we have is speculation.
In terms of victims or perpetrators? Unlike finance, rapists only have one victim at a time.