You are making a logical argument, but change doesn't come from logic. What you should change should come from logic, but the impetus -- the will -- comes from emotion. People need to be stirred up in order to act. That is human nature. And when the cause of that is a tragedy it breaks our hearts, but that is why we must work to make it so that this does not happen again.
So argue that we should help Bradley Manning, or the inner city victims of the drug war, or children starving in Africa. But argue it somewhere else at some other time. Right now we have a cause. There are a large number of good people who want to fix this now. Let them. Help them. Because this needs to be fixed, and having a singular cause gives us focus. It puts success in reach, more than it is at any other time. You are not helping by distracting people with other serious problems -- all you are doing is making it less likely that anything gets done, by disheartening everyone with the scope of the problems we face.
We do not have to fix every problem in the world at the same time. Now is the time to fix this one.
I think this is describing exactly why I feel like a grumpy cynical jerk about this right now. The internet loves it causes. It loves to pontificate on forums and sign petitions to change things, just as long as these changes don't involve anything more than clicking buttons and typing things from laptops while sitting on the couch.
I'd rather people calmly review the facts about the people and things involved with the situation rather than do the standard internet mob thing and call for heads to roll and people to be fired. Wait to learn the details rather than rely on emotions before you get angry.
I think people pretty well understand the facts here. We have understood them for a long time. Current law makes everyone a criminal. Prosecutors threaten young people with excessive sentences to coerce them into plea bargains. None of this is new information. What we have lacked before is the will to do what is necessary to fix it.
And if you have an idea how to do that, let's hear it. Because "heads will roll" is not wholly without merit in these situations, but neither is it inherently the best possible solution. So if you can suggest something better then let's hear it.
Better suggestion: Find out first if the 30 year sentence was actually chosen to be handed down, or had to be put in place due to the way the law is currently written. If it is the latter demand the law be fixed, not the person who's job it is to enforce the law.
The trouble is that it's both. The law should never have allowed a sentence that ridiculous for the act Swartz allegedly committed, but prosecutors also choose what to charge. So we do need to fix the laws to prevent excessively aggressive prosecutors from having anything that outrageous to charge minor offenders with. I would even admit that that is the more important achievement.
But we still need to do something about excessively aggressive prosecutors too, because they can still do plenty of damage with knives and guns even after we take away their nuclear weapons.
So argue that we should help Bradley Manning, or the inner city victims of the drug war, or children starving in Africa. But argue it somewhere else at some other time. Right now we have a cause. There are a large number of good people who want to fix this now. Let them. Help them. Because this needs to be fixed, and having a singular cause gives us focus. It puts success in reach, more than it is at any other time. You are not helping by distracting people with other serious problems -- all you are doing is making it less likely that anything gets done, by disheartening everyone with the scope of the problems we face.
We do not have to fix every problem in the world at the same time. Now is the time to fix this one.