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> I don't know but having lived in all three countries, I don't see that many differences in term of people's character that could explain the difference in murder rate.

No offense, but could this be selection bias? You have certainly only talked to a selected subset of people..

I think if 80% of the U.S. population would want a thorough reform of their justice system, it would happen.

What exactly would an 'external' factor be for you?

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Sure, it might be a selection bias, I was a student in all three cases and, by definition, students tend to be more educated.

What I mean by external factor is the laws, the way the criminal system is setup, the lack or not of reinsertion opportunities for ex-cons and so on. You might say that in a democracy all of this is decided by the people, but there's a certain inertia that sets in that mean that people have very little influence in changing things and there are powerful forces that try to keep things as they are (for profit or different reasons).

Ah ok, I see. Well for a while I was looking at those factors to be external rather than internal as well - but I am more and more convinced that people get exactly the government they want, all the time.

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