Quote:
Originally Posted by Ltlabner
And what exactly does a person who murders, rapes and reeks havoc on society have to live for? What sort of great things have they aspired to? What sort of great positive imprints have they made on society?
Are the folks who commit crimes worthy of the death penalty generally carving out some great lives for themselves? Are they on some upward path in life? Are they on the verge of "turning it all around"?
Do these kinds of people sit around and pontificate the meaning of freedom? Do they consider the essense of anything worth living for? Do they see innocence and seek to protect it?
No. They kill. They rape. They take away all of these things from innocent people. They destroy things that are good. They can't fathom the concepts we hold dear, because they seek to destroy them. They couldn't begin to relate to "freedom" and "life" and "responsibility" otherwise they'd have made far different choices and wouldn't be killing and raping.
Sure, if you ask the average inmate if they'd rather be free they'll say yes. But I'd suggest that if you can't even understand, relate to, or identify with the concepts of freedom, locking you in a cell doesn't even begin to dent the surface of 'punishment'.
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I think you have a somewhat black & white view of violent crime and the people that commit them. While it may be true that some violent criminals are purely socio-pathic predators, plenty of violent crimes are committed by highly intelligent people who could easily "fathom" the concepts of freedom, life & responsibility. That doesn't mean that they are good people, or that they value the lives of others in the way that most people do, but to suggest that they can't conceive of prison as a punishment, just because they are criminals, is extremely naive.