Mutant registration act.

[breadisfunny]

In comics where heroes and the superscience government can counter any evil mutants that go bananas...no.

On out earth where there is nothing to stop them? Yes.

what's to stop us then from creating mutants of our own?

[spanishninja]

But I mean... people can and do randomly blow each other up. The difference here is that the mutant doesn't have any say in the matter to which we demand he submit to the rest of us. You personally have the ability to kill dozens of people every day as you commute to and from work, but you don't. People are marvelous at murdering each other, we've been doing it for millennia, and I have a very hard time imagining that some people are just innately more dangerous than others. If you make somebody feel dangerous and ashamed of who they are, that's a much better way to get them to snap than teaching personal responsibility and respect.

did you not read the scenario that I described in the post prior to the one you quoted? I was describing a dangerous mutant with a lethal power who does not have the ability to control said power, which is actually a pretty major theme in the comics. in a situation like that, it's got nothing to do with hurting people's feelings or being mean.

[GodlyBob]

did you not read the scenario that I described in the post prior to the one you quoted? I was describing a dangerous mutant with a lethal power who does not have the ability to control said power, which is actually a pretty major theme in the comics. in a situation like that, it's got nothing to do with hurting people's feelings or being mean.

But I'm not talking about hurting feels and being mean, I'm advocating for human dignity. There is just the subtlest of differences. Do you do something if random people start exploding? Yes. Do you punish all people who could, under any circumstances, hurt somebody else but has not done anything yet? No.

[Xar226]

Darsithis, your difference is who you are attracted to. Honestly who cares? Do what you want.

I'm pleased you're so enlightened but that's hardly a guarantee everybody else is. (In fact we know they are not.)

The reason you don't do shit like this to begin with is because you have no idea what the consequences are down the road. Maybe it's a perfectly innocent thing now. Maybe a whackjob gets elected 20 years down the road and decides he's got a wonderful list to start culling from. This scenario doesn't even exist and yet we already see plenty of people in this thread like "oh yeah, fuck those guys."

A hypothetical MRA involves situtations like a teenager who could erase their parent's minds if they were grounded, guys who could levitate sports stadiums and drop them on the White House, a man with mind control who could rape tons of women and make them think they wanted to, and so on. That's a bit of a different issue.

It's still punishing a person and abridging their freedom and their privacy based on nothing more than who they are. We've yet to even accuse these hypothetical people of a crime, much less convict them of one. I consider those preeeetty parts of a civil society and I'm not willing to give them away because I'm scared. I know 9/11 proved how many of my countrymen would give up the things we supposedly believe in in a heartbeat if somebody promised them some illusory level of safety, but I'm not among them.

The only parallel I can think of in US law is the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2 and it is not exactly a proud moment in our history.

You don't think a criminal who can walk through walls, a pissed-off teenager who can control minds, or etc just might, maybe constitute a problem? They can't be disarmed like someone with a gun or knife."

They might-maybe could constitute a problem, but until they have they deserve the same dignity and respect as you or I, especially as it relates to the law.

Also, even setting aside that I find such a list to be morally wrong, I've yet to see a compelling benefit to it. What the hell good will knowing where a mutant who can control minds lives do you if they really do start to go bad? (I should say "where a mutant lived, since they would probably also be smart enough not to return there once they turn to a life of crime -- particularly if such a registration exists.)

[schwarzkopf]

At the end of the day, mutants aren't nearly as dangerous as wizards.

Oh really...



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In comics where heroes and the superscience government can counter any evil mutants that go bananas...no.

On out earth where there is nothing to stop them? Yes.

SO - in summary, when we can control them we shouldn't and when we can't control them - we should.

Makes sense

[Aquinan]

That's one of the worst ideas ever. No. Never. AS a member of a regularly discriminated group even without a registration act, I wholeheartedly repudiate any concept of a registry for any attribute of human life.

Would you say that when the pyromacers burn your house down?

[spanishninja]

But I'm not talking about hurting feels and being mean, I'm advocating for human dignity. There is just the subtlest of differences. Do you do something if random people start exploding? Yes. Do you punish all people who could, under any circumstances, hurt somebody else but has not done anything yet? No.

You still haven't answered the question of how you plan to prevent a mutant from involuntarily killing a city of people. We do a bad enough job of preventing ourselves from doing bad things on purpose.

[Darsithis]

Would you say that when the pyromacers burn your house down?

You can't discriminate on the basis of what might happen.

[schwarzkopf]

Would you say that when the pyromacers burn your house down?

The same thing that someone says when the <insert human criminal> burns/kills your house/family down/dead?

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You can't discriminate on the basis of what might happen.

Well - you can at a certain point. We don't let Nuclear weapons wander around the average Joe, I imagine if Pheonix was controllable - we certainly would want her controlled. Even Professor X realised that.

Society makes the judgment as to when the risk to the many outways the rights of the individual.

[apepi]

I don't think there would be a registry, but they the CIA/FBI would defiantly track them, probably more than they already track everyone else.

[schwarzkopf]

I don't think there would be a registry, but they the CIA/FBI would defiantly track them, probably more than they already track everyone else.

Just out of interest - assuming a human had $500,000 to spend on tech/gear (without legal restriction) ... what proportion of mutants would be more powerful than $500k? Cat 4/5 only ?

Without training most of the dangerous ones would self destruct anyway.

[spanishninja]

Just out of interest - assuming a human had $500,000 to spend on tech/gear (without legal restriction) ... what proportion of mutants would be more powerful than $500k? Cat 4/5 only ?

Without training most of the dangerous ones would self destruct anyway.

or they could wipe out a couple of city blocks while self destructing. part of the benefit of monitoring mutants could be so that regular people have time to get out of the way.

[Elim Garak]

They should be hunted down and killed with fire. No good can ever come out of them being alive.

[Aquinan]

You can't discriminate on the basis of what might happen.

For normal people sure, if I can just walk past and set things on fire wit my mind, I'd say that warrants some form of control. The point is moot it wont happen. (FYI not advocating tracking or whatever for people IRL)

[schwarzkopf]

or they could wipe out a couple of city blocks while self destructing. part of the benefit of monitoring mutants could be so that regular people have time to get out of the way.

The problem is - if the first the mutant, or you hear about the power is BANG - then there isn't much point.

Fundamentally the issue of powers is limited to a VERY small proportion of the mutant population, most of them will have powers that the average person could simulate with a bit of cash.

Then you have the issue that the small proportion that are too powerful, can't be controlled anyway.

- - - Updated - - -

They should be hunted down and killed with fire. No good can ever come out of them being alive.

Killed with fire you say...

[GodlyBob]

You still haven't answered the question of how you plan to prevent a mutant from involuntarily killing a city of people. We do a bad enough job of preventing ourselves from doing bad things on purpose.

You can't. That's it at the end of the day. the world is scary, but again, you cannot punish people for what they MIGHT do. I'll say it again, you act AFTER something happens, because with our current understanding of genetics, we wouldn't even be able to identify a mutant until their power manifests, if they manifest. Unless you're advocating registering a pedigree of all people who have ever shown mutation somewhere in their family tree...which doesn't historically hasn't done a whole lot to bring people together.

[Silver Forte]

That's one of the worst ideas ever. No. Never. AS a member of a regularly discriminated group even without a registration act, I wholeheartedly repudiate any concept of a registry for any attribute of human life.

Mutants kill people and cause global destruction. Not even remotely the same thing.

[GodlyBob]

Killed with fire you say...
http://www.screengeek.net/wp-content...Wolverine2.jpg

Australians are immune!

[IIamaKing]

see that's the point. the very same people who would try to ban all guns would argue that dangerous mutants shouldn't be monitored.

I have noticed that counter intuitive trend as well.

[schwarzkopf]

Australians are immune!

Australians are immune to heat, spiders and snakes but rabbits are monsters. I suppose every super power has to have a weakness.