Quote:
Originally posted by unregistered
and so we (will) return to your capital punishment question Ben
a strange society that can 'afford' the luxury of letting thieves do their thing
(because they have rights under the law per SCompRacer - which indicates the ethical bankruptcy of such)
and at the same time deny medical services to the have-nots
-> and we will ignore the 10s of millions of children worldwide without education
Heinlen had some good thoughts
a moderate public flogging for the first offense (the wakeup call)
death for the second (can you say goodbye ?)
and Ben
I really do not care what the 'needs' of a thief are,
NOR do I accept supporting them while in prison
(mind you, these comments are related to theft and violence - only)
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Glad to see you're feeling better!
Right now, every society has its flaws. Is it fair that a prisoner gets to watch TV, while forty thousand children die each day? Of course not, but you need to isolate the world for what it is: a collection of 180+ countries, each separate and with their own problems. (Sad but true).
I did read some of Heinlein's work. Very well written. The social models that he advances in his stories are definitely interesting. This 1 offense/flog 2/death idea though, you have to admit, is rather barbaric.
Back to capital punishment.
In my opinion, there is no justification for a society to kill its own people. It's a very old concept, and I can only qualify it as barbaric. That being said, I will give you that using lethal force can be acceptable, but only from a personal/individual perspective, under the right circumstances (present threat of death), but not that of a society.
The only reason a society would/should get involved, is for the purpose of applying a solution to try to remedy the cause that started it all. Why did the robber rob? As an individual, we don't care, and rightfully so, but as a member of a society, we must care. To ignore the issue is to deny being part of a society, and any way you look at it, it's a delusion. Denying our social membership is exactly what causes the thieves to keep thieving.