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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 8, 2024

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I saw a homeless beggar in China once. Two cops were standing over him asking him to go away. Their tone was kind and they didn't put a hand on him. But, when a beggar bothers people police show up and put a stop to it.

I suppose I live in a high trust part of the US then because aggressive panhandling generally got a stern talk as well.

I once saw a crazed homeless guy getting madder and madder. He was enraged in some sort of psychotic fit and was wildly gesturing and lunging at people but then pulling back. A woman ran over to a cop in his car and said that homeless guy was going to attack someone. The cop said he was going to circle around a bit and would check back later. He then drove away. I don't suppose he really intended to come back to check on the situation.

So let's say I live in a less high trust sort of region. It was a real novelty to go to China and see two cops block some guy's attempt to beg.