It’s unfortunate that Otto Warmbier is facing fifteen years in a North Korea prison at hard labor, however, it is hard to feel much sympathy for this foolish individual. He made two poor choices – a) going to NK and b) petty theft, and is now discovering that choices have consequences. He will also discover that not every country has the same system of due process as guaranteed under our constitution and nor the same standards of punishment.
These two concepts seem to escape so many westerners these days. The steady indoctrination of multi-culturalism, the litany of U.S. oppression and PC speech codes have created a generation incapable of realizing that not everyone in the world shares western values.
Singapore consistently scores very well on indices of corruption and transparency. The legal system in Singapore is based on the British system and would be considered very fair by any standard. First time visitors to Singapore are always impressed with the cleanliness of the country. Crime is low and graffiti is virtually non-existent. This is not an accident or serendipity. Singapore takes their laws seriously and rigorously enforce them. Prosecutors in the U.S. ignore serious offenses, as in Ferguson and Baltimore for just two recent examples, sending a message the U.S. is inconsistent at best enforcing laws. So assuming that all countries behave as the U.S. or other western countries is a bad assumption. Westerners have learned this the hard way. Why would anyone assume that North Korea, not as transparent as Singapore, nor with a legal system based on any recognizable western standard have the same standards of due process or be as lenient as the U.S.?
Life is hard; its harder if you’re stupid.
