"Hatred does not win over hatred
Only by love is hate defeated.
This is the law which is true for all time."
(Marichiko, you are a genius.)
Eye for an eye? Come on people, this is REACTION not RESPONSE. How can retaliation breed progress? It is as emotional and
irrational in origin as any violent crime.
Would you agree that disorder should be treated with its logical antidote: order? If you have a messy desk do you replace it with more mess or do you tidy it up? Social disorder is no different.
You can fight fire with fire but you'll all end up burning. Treating crime with crime is incredibly futile, and capital punishment? Please tell me how this really benefits anyone. The only bearable argument is that the executed individual will not commit another crime. But this is treating the symptom, not the CAUSE! If you have spots, you can squeeze them, and you will never get a spot in that exact place again. But change your diet, drink water, and you wont get spots in the first place! Can we please start looking a little bit further than our basest human instinct: this ability (so-called intelligence) is what distinguishes us from animals. If you are advocating revenge (an emotional, irrational reaction) you cannot condemn these crimes in the same breath, because you are the same.
Hyperbole and metaphor aside, the satisfaction of revenge is fleeting and, because it is irrational, cannot restore true emotional relief (e.g. in victims' families). Ask anyone who has lost a close one to crime - they will tell you that the brief 'pleasure' of revenge cannot compensate for such a loss. The fact that many then dedicate their lives to making sure the same does not happen to others (by setting up support groups/awareness campaigns etc.) is testament to the transient productiveness of retribution, and the lasting power of criminal research, psycho-sociological study and reintegration.
And if all you can muster up for a response is 'soft on crime', 'letting them get away with it' and 'how would you feel if it was your sister' then you are incapable of objectivity and shouldn't be trying to talk rationally about something so important. Of course I do not advocate in any way the heinous crimes that warrant a death row sentence. Of course it fills me with anguish and many accounts of such crimes make me feel physically ill. And, of course, there is nothing I would value more than for every human to enjoy the basic right to live without fear.
I suggest we work with criminals (no, not sitting comfortably on some psychologists couch) to establish the root of the crime and eliminate the cause, not its product. We don't need to execute to prevent re-offence - this is what prison is for. If non-violent or 'petty' crimes did not warrant a jail sentence (e.g. community service) - this would free up cells and resolve the financial dilemma. I did not want to condemn the death penalty without giving consideration to an alternative.
Hatred does not win over hatred.
I wish the world agreed.
*phew. goes for a
