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I still harbor a desire to eliminate "the worst of the worst". I don't know if its vengeance or what, but given that i don't harbor any particular allusions about the "sanctity of human life" vs that of animals, plants, and the ecosystem as a whole, i look at it as a pragmatic solution to the need to "cull" the worst. Sure, locking them up forever is an option, but what's the point of that?
We euthanize nearly 10,000 unwanted pets a day and think nothing of it. I think it is stupid and somehow lacks finality that we continue to house and feed John Gacy and the like. But if the majority are willing to foot the bill vs just jabbing him with a needle and being done with it, so be it. Just don't tell me it is somehow "morally superior."
Anyway, for argument's sake, if you stipulate that you are going to kill some, then the big deal over "humane" ways to do it is much ado about nothing. There is nothing "humane" about killing someone. It should not be messy and disgusting in my opinion, should not be a spectacle, because that can and will have negative influence on the observers. The lethal injection approach seems better than most, in that the subject is rendered unconscious (when done right) and then the actual death is without overt physical violence. If it is a pragmatic decision by a society to kill rather than warehouse, then the euthanasia approach seems preferable. You cannot prevent them knowing it is coming, and "suffering" with anticipation. And once they are dead, whatever negative experience they had is gone, just like with those drugs that make you forget the experience of surgery. If you don't remember it, then you didn't suffer, or so the conventional wisdom goes. Well the dead guy doesn't remember that he felt something and grimaced, does he?
So the whole thing about being "humane" is really a matter of minimizing the disgust and general angst of the observers and participants. In our sanitized western world, we are disgusted by such spectacles as dragging bodies through the streets, putting heads on pikes, etc. The Iraqis have a tradition of abusing the body of a slain enemy. They aren't disgusted by it - it is satisfying to them. Some Native Americans took scalps of their enemies.
Our efforts to impose our views of whether/how to execute people are as stupid as our efforts to impose our form of government. 'tain't gonna work, folks. get over it. might as well try to convince a crocodile to be a vegetarian.
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