In this episode, we look at indigenous incarceration in Australian and the recent protests.
Our Spiked Discussion
OK, Trevor was wrong to say Spiked is funded by the Koch brothers and should have said Spiked has received donations from the Koch brothers.
Prepare to be challenged
Dear Left leaning friends. Are you prepared to have some ideas challenged?
This is not easy. It is uncomfortable. A voice inside says don’t go there.
But so much has been said that does not make sense.
Last week we compared cultures. Obedient community spirited Asian cultures Vs individual freedom loving Western cultures.
Did you think it was wrong to examine and compare cultures in the context of examining human behaviour in response to the Corona virus?
Some cultures were better suited to controlling the virus than others.
That wasn’t racist was it?
This past week with the BLM protests in Australia. Some of that focused on incarceration rates and the plight of indigenous Australians. Did you stop to consider cultural differences and the role that might be playing?
Last week we looked at statistics. How they could be manipulated. How correlation is not causation. How statistics are sometimes a shadow of the real information. When hearing statistics this past week about Aboriginal deaths in custody, did you stop and consider if they had been presented without distortion?
Two weeks ago we spoke about Chinese history, the cultural revolution and the Red Guard. Do you remember we spoke about “Struggle Sessions”. In general, the victim of a struggle session was forced to admit various crimes before a crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse the victim until he or she confessed. Struggle sessions … were sometimes conducted in sports stadiums where large crowds would gather if the target was well-known.
If you watched QandA last night, did you get the uncomfortable feeling you were witnessing a modern day “Struggle Session”?
Previously we did episode 213 and 160. Look em up. If we skip over an idea or miss on entirely, we may have covered it previously.
Facts
I don’t know about you but after the shutdown debate I’m wary about statistics.
Lies, damned lies
Torture/confess
Anecdote/plural
People who think the numbers don’t lie have never massaged the numbers on a model.
 
February 2019 – Indigenous deaths in custody: 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
An Australian Government bulletin from the Australian Institute of Criminology by Alexandra Gannoni and Samantha Bricknell

Since 2003–04, the proportion of Indigenous deaths in prison custody has been smaller than the relative proportion of prisoners.

The majority of Indigenous prison deaths from 1991–92 to 2015–16 were due to natural causes (58%; n=140), followed by hanging (32%; n=78; Table A1). Twelve deaths (5%) were due to drugs and/or alcohol and nine (4%) were due to external trauma.
… This pattern was similar for non-Indigenous prison deaths.
 
Conclusion – In 1991, the RCIADIC concluded Indigenous people were no more likely to die in custody than non-Indigenous people but were significantly more likely to be arrested and imprisoned. The same remains true today.
How does Australia rate on police brutality?