Quote:
Originally Posted by Viper Dude
In the US such people are dumpted out on the curb with their worldly possessions in a brown paper bag. That's called "mainstreaming" a bad freaking concept. In civilised countries they are kept in mental institutions and looked after like political prisoners.
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In backwards Arkansas, you can be institutionalized if you are a danger to others, can be proven to be in danger to yourself, or voluntarily if you meet certain criteria.
If you want to wear urine-soaked clothing, eat out of garbage cans, and live in a culvert... it's not a crime to be crazy, and until you can be proven dangerous, you have the same civil rights as anyone else.
Maybe Arkansas isn't so backwards after all.
Once you start locking people up just because they meet your criteria for crazy (not even the DSM has a standard for "sane"), you have a powerful tool, which various regimes have wielded like a hammer. Voted for the wrong party? Obviously crazy; lobotomize and sterilize. Cross someone in the ruling party? Clear mental incapacity there. Run a traffic light? Menace to society, bring out the zombie juice and electrodes...
I've personally seen families have elderly members declared incompetent, have them institutionalized, and gleefully split up their property. It's a fun game anyone can play.