On Wednesday 05 Sep 2007 9:57 pm, Dave Long wrote: > According to this graph, maybe one could recruit maths teachers instead: > > http://www.nationmaster.com/plot/cri_pol_percap/edu_mat_lit/flag > > but then, I suppose they'd be even more expensive than policemen.
It's not either-or. Its BOTH One of the things that intrigued me after I returned to India from the UK was the obvious lack of policemen on the ground. And while this lack of policemen on the ground led to rampant violation of some laws - there were other red lines that were crossed less often. Let me explain, based on my observations in Bangalore. People break the law all the time, by pissing on the roadside, by littering, by illegally occupying areas of pavement for vending, by illegally blocking off a road for some kind of celebration, going the wrong way up a one way street and the like. However the incidence of assault, rape, burglary and even petty theft is not as high as they could be, given that I can see opportunities all the time every day. In many areas you can leave your car unlocked, or window open and it will remain untouched. "Home alone" and in fact a girl child alone on the streets is commonplace. I used to wonder what it was that made the population adhere to some kind of moral code that encouraged some things and discouraged others. I believe that there is a pre-existing moral code among Indians in general that is applied in the presence or absence of policing. That moral code is highly variable, but it certainly discourages theft, rape and murder by quickly meted out local (mob) justice. In general I find that even educated people have no idea of the law or justice. For example, in our local residents association meetings - residents who are angry with pavement vendors who block their driveways ask, "Why can't the police just lock these guys up for a few days?" These residents imagine that the police do not do so because they are taking bribes. They do not understand that a pavement vendor is committing a minor offence for which he cannot be jailed as per the Indian Penal Code. At the most he can charged and fined. The police are not at fault, but the educated elite think they are. On the other hand, you find that the police often themselves mete out summary justice to people who are in the lower rungs of the social pecking order (I have examples, but will not elaborate). This makes a whole lot of people (the junta, proles, hoi-polloi) consider the police to be both useless and harmful, and this reinforces the feeling that mob justice is correct. shiv
