The Death Penalty
This has always been a topic of controversy between left and right extremests. Those in the middle tend to think about it less, but we do think about it, and these are some of my thoughts on the subject.
I've heard some people say that rather then killing people we should banish them from the nation, but this is just a cop-out. The only thing that would accomplish is to hand the problem over to another land for someone else to deal with. As you can see, not only does this solve the problem, but it could potentially create a whole new set of them in the foriegn relations department. Not only that, but the USA has, until recently been easier to get in and out of then a whore's nickers, and even now, it's not all that difficult if you know how to approach it.
I however, believe that the death penalty should be saved for very rare occurances, when one has the kind of sociopathic monster who feels no remorse for killing a room full of children, who happened to be in the way when he blew up the building they were in. In fact, anyone who commits multiple pre-meditated murders should probably recieve the death penalty. However, that begs the question, how many lives does it take? It also begs the question, what about rehabilitation?
To answer the last question first, rehabilitation is a heavy risk that often yields little reward when it comes to people who have killed more then once. By reward, I mean that the killer becomes a productive member of society again, and never intentionally harms another human. One must also remember that it's pretty easy to "fake", ie, put on a show for a parole board, to let them see that "you've changed your ways".
The second question is a little more difficult, the answer should probably be two. There are a lot of people who would say that this cheapens lives, by putting something similar to a "cost" on it, but I don't think so. It's more reaslistic to think that someone might be rehabilitated after one murder, rather then multiple ones. In most people, the act of killing the first time is enough of a shock to thier minds that the thrill that comes with it could be overcome with proper mental care (read:brain washing). However the more that one kills, the more the thrill of breaking the highest of all "taboos" (*I use this word here as a look at how someone who has become callous to the act might view it*) overcomes his/her morality.
Perhaps you think I take a rather cold view of things where the lives of people are concerned? You are probably right. The way I see things, when the physical body dies so do the things which make up the personality, but everything else remains, and continues on in some other aspect. I don't see this as a problem, because the personality is just a temporary aspect of you, not who you really are. So when I hear of most death, I don't think of it as a terrible tragedy, because I know that part of them continues on. I might feel sad because I wasn't a good enough friend to that person, or I didn't really get a chance to know them, or something similar, but I'm not sad about the death per se. It happens because we live, that's also why I think people should live it up to the best of thier abilities, and spread the love in thier hearts without abandon. Most of all enjoy the life you have, because it's the only one you'll have as you.
As always these are only my opinions and viewpoints, and I could easily be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
~Matt Magus
