FUCK THE POLICE
911 EVERY DAY
American society is the most brutal, apathetic, and impersonal society on the Earth right now. It's nearing the level of being a propsperous version of the middle ages.
There was an author, who was a favorite of Jefferson, can't recall his name, but one of his primary arguments for leniency was that harsh punishment represented a brutalization of society. America has by far the harshest punishments out of any society in history, for it's violent and non-violent crimes. And the members of our society still call for higher punishments and call their laws lenient.
We also have a high crime rate. The harshness in our punishment does not cause this, very much the opposite, if our punishments weren't so harsh we would have higher crime, more or less. But our high crime rate and our societies complacency with harsh punishment both come from the same source, the brutality of our society. Our decadence.
Like the Furies of old in the Greek system, our mandatory minimum sentences and three strikes laws come down and punish certain taboos blindly. The third part of the great trilogy Oriestia, for instance, talks about how the furies hunt and kill a man for avenging his father, agaememnon, and freeing his city state from the dictatorship of his mother. The furies, however, were soley concerned with the fact that he killed his mother, and so they swept down and tormented him. By mandatory minimum sentencing, we reduce our justice system to a senseless vengeance system, that of the furies.
Incapacitation is the most ancient of punishments. A thief steals something, cuts off his hand. Most civilized societies balk at such logic, but our decadent one only in the 90's became brutal enough to openly accept the concept, in a more modern sterile form, that of the three strikes laws.
You see, I am in a conundrum. I hate our criminals for being so brutal and I hate our society for being so brutal to them. But it's both one in the same and everyone is brutal to one another, never taking a walk in the others shoes, but just metering out taxation and punishment to those "others" they feel deserve.
There is an interesting story here. In the European Union, a prerequisite for joining is that the country in question abolish the death penalty. So, countries like Poland have grudgingly abolished it, while the death penalty still enjoys widespread political support among the populace. The interesting thing, however, is that the countries in western Europe who don't believe in the death penalty have some of the lowest crime rates in the world. The countries that were forced to abolish it, however, have the highest crime rates in Europe (although not comparable to America's).
I am constantly critiscized for not recongnizing mere retribution as a useful reason to meter out punishment. The only two pragmatic reasons for a society to even have a punishment system are for reform and deterrence. Yet, society has it's greatest support the retribution system, which is pointless.
We shouldn't act shocked whenever our president justifies the torture of individuals whenever it's just what our brutalized, bloodthirsty society demands. We ask for it. And indeed, many layman find no qualm at all with torturing a man. They are sitting at home comfortably. It is happening to someone else. Therefore it does not matter. They deserve it, whether or not it has practical use.
Our society is hopelessly brutalized. It's pointless to reason with the ignorant.
I shall come back with you next week with a rant against people who dislike national healthcare.
There was an author, who was a favorite of Jefferson, can't recall his name, but one of his primary arguments for leniency was that harsh punishment represented a brutalization of society. America has by far the harshest punishments out of any society in history, for it's violent and non-violent crimes. And the members of our society still call for higher punishments and call their laws lenient.
We also have a high crime rate. The harshness in our punishment does not cause this, very much the opposite, if our punishments weren't so harsh we would have higher crime, more or less. But our high crime rate and our societies complacency with harsh punishment both come from the same source, the brutality of our society. Our decadence.
Like the Furies of old in the Greek system, our mandatory minimum sentences and three strikes laws come down and punish certain taboos blindly. The third part of the great trilogy Oriestia, for instance, talks about how the furies hunt and kill a man for avenging his father, agaememnon, and freeing his city state from the dictatorship of his mother. The furies, however, were soley concerned with the fact that he killed his mother, and so they swept down and tormented him. By mandatory minimum sentencing, we reduce our justice system to a senseless vengeance system, that of the furies.
Incapacitation is the most ancient of punishments. A thief steals something, cuts off his hand. Most civilized societies balk at such logic, but our decadent one only in the 90's became brutal enough to openly accept the concept, in a more modern sterile form, that of the three strikes laws.
You see, I am in a conundrum. I hate our criminals for being so brutal and I hate our society for being so brutal to them. But it's both one in the same and everyone is brutal to one another, never taking a walk in the others shoes, but just metering out taxation and punishment to those "others" they feel deserve.
There is an interesting story here. In the European Union, a prerequisite for joining is that the country in question abolish the death penalty. So, countries like Poland have grudgingly abolished it, while the death penalty still enjoys widespread political support among the populace. The interesting thing, however, is that the countries in western Europe who don't believe in the death penalty have some of the lowest crime rates in the world. The countries that were forced to abolish it, however, have the highest crime rates in Europe (although not comparable to America's).
I am constantly critiscized for not recongnizing mere retribution as a useful reason to meter out punishment. The only two pragmatic reasons for a society to even have a punishment system are for reform and deterrence. Yet, society has it's greatest support the retribution system, which is pointless.
We shouldn't act shocked whenever our president justifies the torture of individuals whenever it's just what our brutalized, bloodthirsty society demands. We ask for it. And indeed, many layman find no qualm at all with torturing a man. They are sitting at home comfortably. It is happening to someone else. Therefore it does not matter. They deserve it, whether or not it has practical use.
Our society is hopelessly brutalized. It's pointless to reason with the ignorant.
I shall come back with you next week with a rant against people who dislike national healthcare.
