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by loeg 733 days ago
The whole thing is great and worth reading, but I wanted to highlight this anecdote:

> I asked about the criminal justice system and I was told there wasn’t much of a formal one. My companion explained that most matters were handled internally by families. For instance, if a 20-something got in a fight with another 20-something and the cops got involved, the police would most likely contact the families and let the parents and brothers sort that shit out with a warning not to cause trouble again. The families would enforce order through shaming, threats of social ostracization, and possibly physical violence.
2 comments
BurningFrog 732 days ago
This is how clan based societies work.

They're probably the most common way of organizing societies throughout history. The western individual citizen based society is an anomaly.

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dyauspitr 733 days ago
Honestly that’s kind of nice compared to our “one mistake and your life is ruined forever” system but I guess it all comes down to how violent their country is and if those tactics actually work.
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kergonath 733 days ago
No, it is not “kind of nice”. That’s how you get blood feuds and honour killings. It might be better than a thoroughly corrupt police force, but it is not the rule of law.
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dyauspitr 733 days ago
That’s not a given. Some cultures have worked out not to involve the law all that much without devolving into blood feuds and outright violence. The first ones that come to mind are Southern India and SE Asia that don’t have a lot of police presence and their societies have low levels of violence. I just don’t know if Tajikistan is one of them.
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kergonath 732 days ago
> The first ones that come to mind are Southern India and SE Asia that don’t have a lot of police presence and their societies have low levels of violence.

As long as you behave, are not of the wrong minority, do not end up as scapegoats, do not get close to the wrong social group, and do not cross anyone who’s a bit charismatic.

Also, I am not sure which SE Asia you speak of. Myanmar is a genocidal military dictatorship, Thailand is a totalitarian police state, Singapore is a quasi-dictatorship, the Philippines are rife with violence, and I could go on. Sure, some countries of the lot are better but “SE Asia” overall is not really an example to emulate.

And every time I went there, southern India did not look that different from central India, or particularly pleasant if you are in the wrong family or social group.

Anyway. Yes, I’ll take a half competent police and a decent legal system any day.

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admissionsguy 733 days ago
It depends on what your family is like. For many people it means having no chance at life no matter what they do.
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