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Death Penalty | by BuggedEyes | 2006-11-19 12:55:59 |
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The death penalty is indefensible. | by mmell | 2004-12-14 08:00:26 |
| There are an awful lot of us humans. |
by IronPIP |
2004-12-14 12:31:39 |
Living together, in society, makes us stronger as a species than not living together.
There is inherent competition for resources in life. Murder (among other crimes) acts counter to the positive effect of this competition.
We have to punish these crimes; the human societal impulse is not stronger than the impulse for personal aggrandizement (nor should we hope that we humans ever live under conditions wherein evolution is likely to make it so,) and yet many conformances to societal behavior are beneficial both to the individual and to the overall survival of the species.
Of those instances wherein I have chosen whether or not to kill someone, I have consistently chosen against in those instances wherein the incident would have been prosecutable. I'd say the death penalty made a difference in those decisions.
Are the deaths of 53 innocent people per century worth the survival of human society? Absolutely. Fifty three innocent people per day would be worth the cost. I expect every one of them to fight tooth-and-nail to avoid it (which, by the way, they do -- the odds are high that those 53 to which you refer were not the cream of the human crop,) but the alternative to accepting these failures in societal structure is its dissolution, and the ultimate end of humanity's rule. Obviously, this will never happen. There are enough of us willing to accept the yoke of civilization that we will remain dominant until universal conditions shift against us. |
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[ Reply ] |
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"And will you spare them for the sake of one?" (n/t) | by mmell | 2004-12-14 13:16:09 |
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"Human society" or your society? | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 13:17:34 |
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You still put people away for life. | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 13:38:01 |
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The prisoner sentenced to life in prison... | by mmell | 2004-12-14 13:46:00 |
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hahahaha, how far is your head up your butt? | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 13:46:03 |
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Keep it cool, dude. | by mmell | 2004-12-14 13:47:34 |
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Easy, Mike. | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 13:50:13 |
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apologies (n/t) | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 13:51:15 |
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How did we get to the point of having 9x the pop? | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 14:00:31 |
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Are we then unable to improve ourselves? | by mmell | 2004-12-14 14:03:49 |
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uh... | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 14:08:24 |
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Our land's better. | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 14:32:15 |
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uh | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 14:37:03 |
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No question... | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 15:10:58 |
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...and several orders of magnitude richer in | by NOLAWitch | 2004-12-14 15:36:36 |
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Of course we do. | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 13:48:29 |
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s/therefore globally/therefore politically (n/t) | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 13:48:52 |
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When your on death row | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 13:20:26 |
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Lucky (born out of wedlock)... | by mmell | 2004-12-14 13:25:46 |
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The means are justified. They are not the ends. | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 13:48:20 |
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Or you could just make sure there are no mistakes | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 13:50:27 |
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Two counterpoints | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 14:18:57 |
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Can't fix the system - don't bother trying. | by mmell | 2004-12-14 14:22:07 |
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By all means, try to fix the system. | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 17:52:13 |
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Well | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 14:34:30 |
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and continuing... | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 17:27:42 |
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Then why do violent crimes still exist? | by MikeCDN | 2004-12-14 18:24:47 |
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Punishment is not the only factor... | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 20:32:50 |
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Clearly reduced to a matter of values. | by Illiad | 2004-12-14 15:12:39 |
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Last sentence - last "death" -> "wrongful death" (n/t) | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 17:53:55 |
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How many (undesserved) deaths are acceptable? | by mmell | 2004-12-14 13:51:42 |
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Many, but I can't provide a number or an equation. | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 14:26:04 |
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No, it isn't blatantly incorrect. | by mmell | 2004-12-14 14:51:37 |
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Life, Death, and Mathematics | by IronPIP | 2004-12-14 18:19:23 |
