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by kyllo 3848 days ago
I've seen that movie before, it's called The Minority Report.
1 comments

It's interesting that you mention The Minority Report. I feel that one of the key themes of the movie (and the story it's based on by Phillip K. Dick) is the question of when someone actually becomes a criminal. That is, if someone is thinking about committing a crime, should they be arrested? Let's say at the last minute they change their mind. If you had arrested that person on the basis that they were going to commit a crime, you would have been wrong and arrested an innocent person.

The point is that we should really consider the wisdom of a surveillance state that we're increasingly tolerating in the US. It is not illegal to be an extremist until you've broken laws. It is illegal for the government to deprive people of their constitutionally guaranteed rights. Like it or not, the rights that we enjoy have to apply to everyone or they aren't worth anything.

This scenario plays out all the time with the exception that it involves 2 or more people: conspiracy to commit a crime.