Death Penalty

[High Lord November]

Oh, as far as the whole zombie thing...yes, I hear all you're saying...but the conversation wasn't about all the measures that could be taken were that situation to arise..it was about the morality of blowing their brains out vs finding the cure if they were to come after you.

The conversation's about how we treat people who have done 'bad' things after they have done them, not as they're coming towards you with a gun. That is what the death penalty is. The death penalty is how we/the government judges people who do bad things after we have them confined. That is the topic of the thread. Not when someone is coming towards you with a gun. That is self-defense, not the death penalty. It isn't relevant to this thread.

 

That whole scenario was because you were ecstatic at the thought of murderers killing each other in prison. If you don't want to have any more murderers, and you don't want more people to turn to worse crimes, you have to help them, not kill them. You don't put them in with other people and expect them to get better and stop committing crimes right now. That is purely asinine, and what you've heavily implied that you want to happen.

 

Anyway, who cares?  You think as you please.  I will, too.  And to each their own.

It's a discussion thread.

 

 

Maybe you did this, maybe you did that, maybe if you'd worn a red shirt instead of a black one you wouldn't have gotten backhanded across the room today. What's your point? That the 'maybe's' make it alright? That the 'grey areas' justify the behavior? Makes it good? Tolerable? Deserving of sympathy? Deserving of understanding? Maybe, maybe, maybe....And? Come up with 100 different 'maybe's' and it's not good enough for me. It doesn't excuse it, make it right, make it tolerable, make it good in any way. What are you saying? To me, none of those 'maybe's' matters a damn, not one little, tiny microscopic whit. And that makes it real black and white and real easy.

 

Honestly, just seeing right there the endless excuses you just made for that non existent person hitting you is scary as hell to me. It really is.

Yep, because most people don't come out of the blue and hit someone for no reason. If a random stranger comes up to me, punches me in the face, and leaves, I'm not going to run after them. Why? Because I didn't to anything to them, so the intent and reason could not be me. So it has to do with a situation completely unrelated to me. The fact that you're completely willing to assume everything and not bother to feel compassion or consider other elements other than what yourself and the other person are feeling or going through right at that exact moment only terrifies me. That's a complete lack of empathy.

 

Tell me, Mystic, if a friend breaks down and starts screaming at you, do you scream insults back at them? Are they yelling at you because they hate your guts? If they tell you you're incompetent, are you going to take that as a personal attack and attack them back? What if you're serving at a store, and a customer just gives it to you? Are you going to scream back at them? It must be because they hate you, right, and are immediately attacking you just because they hate your guts, someone you've never met? What if your neighbour gives you a dirty look? Is it because

Or, you know, since that isn't normal human behaviour, they could have had a bad day. They most likely had a bad day. They could be struggling to deal with some sort of mental disorder. They are most likely are under some sort of stress, and because we are human beings who think and are mostly empathetic, we won't try to make their day worse by being completely oblivious to whatever other factors could be going on.

 

And unlike your "shirt" example, these are all plausible and very likely.

Edited September 26, 2014 by High Lord November

[MedievalMystic]

I'm supposed to feel 'compassion' for someone that just punched me in the face. I'm supposed to think of them, before I think of myself. Really. God, with thinking like that, no wonder the world seems ass backward to me.

 

As far as the friend screaming in my face and hurling insults...well, let's just say that nobody comes at me like that unless they want to be told just how stupid, out of line, ridiculous and utterly inappropriate they're being toward me and how no, it really isn't ok and I don't care what their problem is. I would make that very clear. I have bad days, too. That doesn't mean I'm justified in treating people like . I don't care why someone is screaming in my face, they best back up and check themselves. I don't tolerate bs and that's flat out bs to me.

 

And I have told a couple of customers in my day that I was real sorry they were having a bad day, but that I wasn't their personal punching bag, thanks. And their 'bad day'...anybody's bad day... excuses them from bad behavior? Not in my world. If someone is snappy or irritable, fine, that's understandable. People get that way. It's called emotion.

 

But screaming at me, hurling insults, and using me as your personal door mat? Like hell. Not for any reason will I ever accept that as ok.

Edited September 26, 2014 by MedievalMystic

[sparkle10184]

There are no black and white situations in life. Not for people, anyway. Robots deal with black and white situations because they see the world as black and white. They are programed to know what to do. Pick up the block or don't pick up the block. Turn off the light or don't turn off the light. But humans are not robots. Our morals, ethics, and beliefs interfere with our ability to see the world in black and white. That's not a bad thing, it can actually come in handy sometimes.

If a robot is programmed to punch in self-defense, when a man comes up and punches the robot the robot will punch back. That is because it has been programmed to do so. Unless it is malfunctioning, it will do what it is programmed to do. But people are not robots and we are not programmed to do things. We have complicated thought processes and the ability to look at situations from many different viewpoints. We form our own beliefs and ideas and from there we can make decisions. It is not just punch or don't punch; it is what else can I do? Why did the person punch me? Will they listen to me if I try to communicate? Did I do something wrong? Are they going to leave me alone now? Are they just having a bad day? Do they hate me? And so on, and so forth.

No matter how much you try to deny that and insist that that situation is black and white and you only have one option, you're wrong. Unless you're a robot or someone has programmed you to do something specific, you can make other decisions. You can think other thoughts. It is not just do or do not.

[Kestra15]

Having now treated quite a few of the ladies and gentlemen held at Her Majesty's Pleasure, I've found it is in fact really easy to treat them as just another patient, complete with all the respect and dignity that comes with it. They are, after all, ill, and it is my job to care for them and nurse them to good health.

 

Though I do chuckle at the sight of two prison officers cuffing themselves to an intubated, comatosed prisoner in the ICU. Trust me, that man isn't going to go anywhere.

[Koroshiya-Ichi]

Kestra, that's seriously great to hear. Thank you for being a true professional and treating people equally. I truly wish there were more people like you working with inmates in every capacity. A little compassion and respect can go a long way.

[High Lord November]

I'm supposed to feel 'compassion' for someone that just punched me in the face.  I'm supposed to think of them, before I think of myself.  Really.  God, with thinking like that, no wonder the world seems ass backward to me.  

 

As far as the friend screaming in my face and hurling insults...well, let's just say that nobody comes at me like that unless they want to be told just how stupid, out of line, ridiculous and utterly inappropriate they're being toward me and how no, it really isn't ok and I don't care what their problem is.  I would make that very clear.  I have bad days, too.  That doesn't mean I'm justified in treating people like .   I don't care why someone is screaming in my face, they best back up and check themselves.  I don't tolerate bs and that's flat out bs to me. 

 

And I have told a couple of customers in my day that I was real sorry they were having a bad day, but that I wasn't their personal punching bag, thanks.  And their 'bad day'...anybody's bad day... excuses them from bad behavior?  Not in my world.   If someone is snappy or irritable, fine, that's understandable.  People get that way.  It's called emotion. 

 

But screaming at me, hurling insults, and using me as your personal door mat?  Like hell.  Not for any reason will I ever accept that as ok.

An eye for an eye only makes us blind. You can do that, but it results in no one being the better. Sometimes it can be required, but you have to consider other elements. It's human empathy. You know, asking if someone's ok if they lash out at you instead of lashing back at them. You might be a bit bruised, but there might be something much worse that they're dealing with and it's just manifesting itself this way. You know, not being shortsighted and taking everything personally.

This is the thinking process: They are my friend. Normally they wouldn't do this. So there must be something out of the ordinary. For them to do something of this magnitude, it must be very bad. I could be the source of the anger, but it's most likely not, since I haven't done anything obvious. Since they aren't out to purposefully get me or insult me, they must be dealing with something else, and it's probably pretty bad. So I need to find out what is wrong and help them fix that. This is probably just an expression of that bad thing, so I shouldn't take it personally.

 

In general: is there intent behind what they're doing? Are they purposefully out to get you? No? Are they being a spoiled brat or ridiculously unreasonable? No? Then don't take it personally. Live and let live.

 

 

This is getting offtopic.

Edited September 26, 2014 by High Lord November

[Fuzzbucket]

Kestra, that's seriously great to hear. Thank you for being a true professional and treating people equally. I truly wish there were more people like you working with inmates in every capacity. A little compassion and respect can go a long way.

Ditto. Thanks, Kestra.

[Fightandspawn]

I only support death penalty after multiple rehabilitation attempts, and even then only murderers and repeat rapists should even be considered when multiple rehab attempts fail.

 

EDIT: they would also only be considered for death penalty if they were a danger to other prisoners and guards. And they would have to be repeat offenders for both the crime and being a danger to others in jail.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Fightandspawn

[sparkle10184]

I only support death penalty after multiple rehab attempts.

But why not just throw them in jail?

[Fuzzbucket]

But why not just throw them in jail?

No- why not REHABILITATE them in jail (cheaper than the death penalty, too, not that that makes a difference to me...)

 

"Throwing" them in there suggests except the kind to treatment that leads to their knowing they may as well carry on offending because nobody gives a bleep.

[sparkle10184]

No- why not REHABILITATE them in jail (cheaper than the death penalty, too, not that that makes a difference to me...)

 

"Throwing" them in there suggests except the kind to treatment that leads to their knowing they may as well carry on offending because nobody gives a bleep.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that! Of course we should care and we need to change our jail system.