Thread by @rcbregman

This is such a great conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and @ezraklein. Coates: ‘The notion that man is naturally in a state of war (…) is deep in Western philosophy. (...) Is that true? Or is that just an assumption that we made?’
vox.com/2020/6/5/21279…
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I had the honour of being interviewed by Ezra a week earlier about my new book HUMANKIND: A HOPEFUL HISTORY. The timing wasn’t great, to put it mildly. Talking about the fundamental decency of people after the death of George Floyd… /2
podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the…

But as Ezra says: ‘Now I think it wasn’t [ill-timed].' Big part of the book is about how we humans mirror each other. Someone gives you a compliment, you’re quick to return the favour. Somebody says something unpleasant, and you feel the urge to make a snide comeback. /3

The alternative is what psychologists call ‘non-complementary behaviour.’ It’s easy to treat those who are nice to you with kindness. But what if we do the same with strangers, criminals, enemies etc.? /4

Case in point: the amazing courage and self-control of millions of protesters who march peacefully (despite the horrible police violence). Especially hopeful because we know nonviolent resistance is more effective than violent resistance news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/… /5

But in the podcast with Coates, Klein asks: ‘Instead of nonviolence being the ethic demanded of protesters, what if it was the ethic demanded of the state? (…) If nonviolence is such a beautiful way of living, I think we should imagine that for the state.’ /6

Can’t agree more. And there are great examples of prisons, police departments and even counter-terrorism units actually trying to do that. /7

Let’s start with prisons. While prisons in the US are hugely expensive, tax-payer funded institutions that turn citizens into criminals, Norway has the opposite. Prisons that turn criminals into law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. /8

Norway has the lowest recidivism rate in the world (chance that someone will commit another crime), US has one of the highest recidivism rates. /9

And the Norwegian system is also cheaper. Pays for itself more than two times over - huge return on investment because you have to spend less on policing, welfare etc /10

Can we use the same approach with policing? Yes we can. This is called 'community policing'. It's more effective, more humane and less expensive. /11

And what about counter-terrorism? Again, a non-complementary approach works better (as a Dutchman I can't resist adding that this is known as 'The Dutch Approach' in the literature ;) ) /12

Turning the other cheek may sound naive and sentimental. But it's actually a more realistic, effective, and financially responsible approach to prisons, policing, and counter-terrorism. Not easy though /13

Or as North Dakota prisons chief Leann Bertsch said after she had visited a couple of Norwegian prisons and had become a convert: 'I’m not a liberal, I’m just practical.' motherjones.com/crime-justice/… /14

For those interested, here's a link to my book. US: littlebrown.com/titles/rutger-…
UK: bloomsbury.com/uk/humankind-9…
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