Society
Exploring "Why" questions about Society
481 articles
Why do some of the poorest countries in Africa not “get rich” off of their diamond mines the way many Middle Eastern countries “get rich” off of oil? It seems like any country with even a rudimenta…
Diamonds are not as valuable as oil. A country with oil reserves produces a lot of oil- for Saudi Arabia, it's roughly a million tons per day. All the diamond mines in the world produce about twenty-s
Why is primary and secondary education free and considered essential for everyone but not university?
It is free in Denmark. I guess the reason is that everyone need some basic education but many jobs do not require a university degree. And it is of course a political decision so not a surprise that i
Why do freelancers/contractors pay more in taxes (USA)
When you work a regular job, you'll notice that certain taxes come out of your paycheck (state, medicare, SS). What you don't see, is that your employer pays half of some of those taxes and you pay th
Why does it seem like police brutality is on the rise in US cities?
There hasn't been a significant increase in brutality cases recently, and it certainly isn't like more white cops are brutalizing more young black men now than they were before. It is true that young
Why do people who plea guilty in court get time knocked off of their sentence when they still committed the same crime?
Costs the state a whole lot less if they can avoid a trial, guarantees a conviction, etc. It's a form of leniency for admission of guilt and saving resources.
Why is the vatican and the pope in italy? Wouldn’t it be more logical for the head of the church to be in the country jesus was active in?
It's because that's where Simon Peter ("Saint Peter") founded the Christian Church. Peter is seen by Christians as Jesus' primary disciple. When Jesus met Simon, he said ["Blessed are you, Simon son o
why does congress have the power to completely alter a bill, changing the contents and even title, on its way through the house or senate? Why was this power created? Why has its apparent abuse not…
Congress, and only Congress, has the power to choose each and every word of a bill. This includes the power to edit the bill before voting, and the power to vote on the final bill. If Congress couldn'
Why didn’t the big bankers go to jail after the Wallstreet collapse?
Because the government hasn't believed it can prove violations of criminal laws. Simply issuing an investment that drops in value isn't a crime and proving fraud is hard. It's like the difference betw
Why is the Iran Treaty being voted on in a “reverse” fashion?
It's because the agreement isn't a treaty, it's being done entirely with the President's executive authority as an executive agreement. He doesn't need congress to agree to approve the deal. What he d
why lawyers and judges have to wear wigs in court?
It's just a tradition, dating back to when "court" meant an audience before the local sovereign ruler. Back then it was part of the protocol for appearing before someone superior to you, and a token o