[PRengin]

Probably. Switzerland mandates gun ownership - and, until very recently, fully-automatic weapons - and is the safest industrialized country.

You just can't tell this truthfully, can you?

[lrtoinbert]

You just can't tell this truthfully, can you?

You are really the last person who should be talking about truthfulness. Because you don't know WTF you are talking about.

I am aware of the effect of the Schengen Accord, which is why I pointed out "until very recently." You didn't even know what Schengen was till I told you.

P.S. They can still own "assault weapons." Let's see what happens with their crime rate.

[zzbust]

I don't really care where they get the guns anymore. The real problem is the overarching failure of the "war on drugs".

These cartels are now almost as powerful as the government. It's time for Mexico, and the US-to at least consider a legalization program.

Wow for once I am in agreement with Bulworth...



Our government continues to throw money at the problem.....we could have easily taken that money and built a moat between the US and Mexico.....then filled it with sharks.....with laser beams of course!


Im still for landmines....how do you say landmine in spanish?

[lrtoinbert]

Wow for once I am in agreement with Bulworth...

Include guns in that too.

[steevyjeors]

On a handful of occasions I've talked with guys who feel that the Swiss have the best method of controlling crime: mandate universal gun ownership and education so that any potential criminal is discouraged from the get-go. At least that's my take on how we Americans look at the Swiss situation. On the other hand, I've never really read about how the Swiss themselves view gun ownership and education. Is it that there are pockets of Swiss people itching to do something illegal, yet wary of their neighbors? Or is there something else in the Swiss history/culture that might also account for their low level of crime? I wonder how a substantial cross section of Swiss would explain this.

[lrtoinbert]

They sure do. I know a fair number of Swiss people. They are educated and don't generally expect handouts. I find the standard of living is better to a large degree too: Like many Europeans, they don't take a week's vacation a year, they take six. Even the blue-collar Swiss seem to be pretty well-educated too. The Swiss government (right now, kock on wood, never will) doesn't seem to have decided it has a need to micromanage people's lives.

Oddly enough, having heavily involved in the gun control thing for the better part of two decades, mostly gun control advocates have also pointed out to me that Switzerland's "advantage" is due to the virtual racial uniformity.

[zzbust]

Oddly enough, having heavily involved in the gun control thing for the better part of two decades, mostly gun control advocates have also pointed out to me that Switzerland's "advantage" is due to the virtual racial uniformity.

Having a homogeneous society has its benefits.

[Zwnkkvle]

I'm not sure what a "deficient culture" means-how do you quantify something like culture? Sounds awfully elitist to me.

It's elitist in that some things are better than other things.
If you want to quantify it, look what it produces: In mexico's case, it's a barely literate population incapable of producing virtually anything, and is limited to mining oil and harvesting crops.
It's a country wracked with corruption, crime, poverty, gangs and virtually every other social pathology.

[duribass]

It's elitist in that some things are better than other things.
If you want to quantify it, look what it produces: In mexico's case, it's a barely literate population incapable of producing virtually anything, and is limited to mining oil and harvesting crops.
It's a country wracked with corruption, crime, poverty, gangs and virtually every other social pathology.

I guess the problem is with your definition of culture.

[Zwnkkvle]

You just can't tell this truthfully, can you?

Is this the same Melrose who claimed to have seen an OBL videos that were, in fact audio tapes?

You don't have a lot of room to question other's truthfulness.

[Zwnkkvle]

I guess the problem is with your definition of culture.

Since I haven't yet defined culture, what do you think my definition is?

[Ervins Dervish]

On a handful of occasions I've talked with guys who feel that the Swiss have the best method of controlling crime: mandate universal gun ownership and education so that any potential criminal is discouraged from the get-go. At least that's my take on how we Americans look at the Swiss situation. On the other hand, I've never really read about how the Swiss themselves view gun ownership and education. Is it that there are pockets of Swiss people itching to do something illegal, yet wary of their neighbors? Or is there something else in the Swiss history/culture that might also account for their low level of crime? I wonder how a substantial cross section of Swiss would explain this.

A compelling factoid about the Swiss is that they have stayed nuetral in every war in at least the last 100 years. A feat in and of itself.

They clearly are not a warlike nation-unlike their European neighbors and the US. Might have something to do with the lack of crime.

[Zwnkkvle]

I guess you pass a law and try your best to implement and enforce it. I agree it's a tall order. But certainly the source of these cartels is the money derived from the drug trade. Cut that funding off.

I don't see how that's any different than what we have today.

Unless you're going to make all (or virtually all) drugs legal and at low prices, there will still be cartels running drugs into the U.S. And, if we did make drugs legal at low prices (by not taxing them), do you think drug use would go up, or go down? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing.

[Zwnkkvle]

A compelling factoid about the Swiss is that they have stayed nuetral in every war in at least the last 100 years. A feat in and of itself.

A feat indeed, however not necessarily a laudable one. To stand on the side lines while the Allies take on the Nazis and Tojo's Japan is hardly a virtue.

[duribass]

Since I haven't yet defined culture, what do you think my definition is?

I can only go by what you've said:
a barely literate population incapable of producing virtually anything, and is limited to mining oil and harvesting crops.
It's a country wracked with corruption, crime, poverty, gangs and virtually every other social pathology. Maybe you want to take a stab at defining Mexico's deficient culture again if that's not what you mean.

[Zwnkkvle]

I can only go by what you've said:


Maybe you want to take a stab at defining Mexico's deficient culture again if that's not what you mean.

What I said was if you want to quantify a culture, look at what it produces.
The conclusion you've drawn is akin to saying that the Ford Plant in Detroit IS a car, rather than it produces cars.
Culture is a shared set of values, practices/traditions, societal norms, goals, and related factors.

[duribass]

What I said was if you want to quantify a culture, look at what it produces.
The conclusion you've drawn is akin to saying that the Ford Plant in Detroit IS a car, rather than it produces cars.
Culture is a shared set of values, practices/traditions, societal norms, goals, and related factors.

Right. So Mexico's culture is deficient. Thanks for clarifying.

[Zwnkkvle]

Right. So Mexico's culture is deficient. Thanks for clarifying.

And why do you think mexico, despite the fact that it's blessed with every advantage geographically the U.S. has, as well as natural resources that are the envy of 90% of the nations on this planet, is a third world country on the verge of societal collapse?

[duribass]

And why do you think mexico, despite the fact that it's blessed with every advantage geographically the U.S. has, as well as natural resources that are the envy of 90% of the nations on this planet, is a third world country on the verge of societal collapse?

Because of their deficient culture.

[enlinnyGoob]

The Swiss do have a good idea. It's called a "Well Regulated Militia". Every owner of an automatic weapon is in the MILITIA.

As to homogeneous, Switzerland is a mix ethnically. They have 4 official languages. However, everything is published in the Helvetica font.