I always find threads like this interesting. Both from the assumptions that people make and the opinions that are expressed as fact.
Questions: what is the source of the map in the op? Who made these assessments, based on what criteria and how recent is the data? Why are we automatically accepting it as fact?
Statement: the presence of a large police force and judicial system means that "1st" world countries should have higher incarceration rates...they have the man power and the infrastructure to report, catch, sentence and incarcerate criminals the way many third world countries wouldn't. Does that mean that there is no crime in America? Obviously not, and that's not the point I'm trying to make.
Finally...are there really folks who think that privately owned prisons are the cause? Seriously? Unbelievable.
