I agree completely. Honestly, I was kind of surprised this story lasted as long as it did in the modern news cycle, until I realized that affluenza makes for a handy hashtag.

Also agree. If anything the real issue should be that poverty isn't necessarily applied in the same way as a condition that would be better dealt with through rehabilitation.

The point is not only are the privileged able to be sociopaths, they're often forgiven because they're "suffering" from being sociopaths. If you lack empathy because you're rich and white, no problem. If you lack it because you were raised in poverty, neglect, and/or violence, tough shit.

50 million Republicans would go drunkslaughter a pedestrian at the very thought of paying for a poor black person to get this kind of mental health treatment.

The irony is that the kid will probably get beaten and harassed more in the facility he's going to than he would in state juvenile.

SPK: There's not much evidence to be had that Ethan Couch is in fact a sociopath, is there? Other than the usual "He doesn't LOOK or SOUND remorseful" fluff featured heavily on such paragons of journalistic integrity as Dateline: NBC and ABC: 20/20? If he cried and begged for forgiveness, it would be just as easy to deride him for being a pandering little twit. The fact is that his stupid, irresponsible actions led to four deaths; that is not at all in dispute here. To imply that a person hasn't displayed the proper emotional display as befits such a horrible situation is (I think) just petty.

Anywho, I was just coming back to add this to my statement; I am fully aware of the disparity between how this kid was treated and how poor, minority, disadvantaged persons would be treated. If I had my druthers, ALL people in this sort of situation would be treated with the same sort of understanding. Looking back on my sixteen year-old self, and having attempted conversations with a few of them eleven years on from sixteen, I've come to realize that a lot of people (like me) don't have a properly functioning mind at that point, and quite possibly forever after.

Now, if he goes through this fancy, expensive rehab treatment and continues to be a dangerous fuck-up....hanging's too good for him, burning's too good for him, etc.

You mean is he using the Mel Gibson defense?

No he's just from Texas.

His face is

Justice is wearing the blindfold out of shame.

Is it really that systemic down there? It's hard for me to believe that a lot of what I hear about the Southern states of your republic isn't just hyperbole.

By systemic I guess what I'm asking is; is it solely Texas' judicial system that's inherently racist?

I don't know if 'inherently' is the right word, exactly.

The difference between an expensive court defense and an overworked, burnt out public defender, multiplied by the unconscious biases of some or all of the people involved in a given trial is enough to have years of results that look like a racist conspiracy. Now sprinkle with actual racists and you have a pretty awful doughnut of injustice.

I pointed this out above - I think you're right about the judge only thinking about money, but I don't think he was thinking about letting this kid's family off, in as much as he was thinking about trying to set the victim's families up for life.

That_Guy: So you're saying it's more class-driven than race-driven? Seems about right.

Change: Yeah, judges can be pretty awesomely sneaky sometimes.

Yeah, more class than race I'm guessing, but not by much.
But I was also taking a guess about the ratio between

unconscious bias : willful racists

somewhere like Texas in 2013, and I think that ratio is high. From what I've read about studies on the matter, unconscious biases are something awful and everyone has them.

Oh for sure; by 9 months old most children have an automatic preference for humans that most closely match the appearance of their social group.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/racist-babies-nine- month-olds-bias-faces_n_1477937.html (mind the gap). Of course, one theory on the matter is that most social groupings are fairly homogenous, colour-wise, so what's being expressed -is- preference, and not prejudice. I have reservations about labelling this racism.

What makes this awful for me is the fact that people aren't educated to be aware of their own innate mental shortcuts, which makes it oh-so-easy to cling to their rationalizations on the matter. It's much easier to back away from bigotry (or stupidity in general) when you're aware of your own unconscious biases.

^ this times 10 different issues ^

Tonight; A man who claims to be me, FROM THE FUTURE!