a lot of them for life

Over the last few months I have tried to distinguish the key features of Prot and Cath culture. My purpose was twofold. First, to show that importing in Portugal ideas and institutions from Northern Europe and North America, as Portuguese intellectuals and politicians like to do, is a risky business, as those ideas and institutions are likely to produce in the country several different, unexpected effects. Second, to stress the need for Portuguese intellectuals and politicians to develop a genuine, original thinking that conforms to our own tradition of thought.

To illustrate the first point let me consider the system of justice. We often admire several features of the American system of justice when compared to its Portuguese counterpart: it is fast, efficient, strict, tough.

One interesting question is thus the following: what would happen if Portugal were to adopt the American system of justice? The answer is: half of the Portuguese people would be in jail, a lot of them for life.

Conversely, what would happen if the USA were to adopt the Portuguese system of justice?The answer is: America would become a paradise for criminals and would be destroyed by criminality.