Interesting. While the circumstances for why you’re able to explain this viewpoint are terrible, I still appreciate reading this from someone who’s actually had to go through it.
I suppose don’t see why I would end up supporting the death penalty if a loved one of mine was murdered. It wouldn’t change anything. It would only reinforce this absurd idea that murder/killing is only acceptable depending on who is doing it and why. It greatly lowers the value of life, in my opinion.
Agreed about the American prison system. Although I’ve heard the whole “rape” thing is greatly sensationalized within the media and isn’t as common as people think.
Also, there’s too many people locked up over drugs charges and other petty and non-violent things. I always thought imprisonment was supposed to be the last resort and not option #1. And though I’ve read articles that state that we live in a much less violent world today, I can’t help but wonder if that lack of violence is in small part (not solely because of) because of the current prison system. I don’t know.
EDIT: Pretty much what prologue_67 said minus the dousing in gasoline part. Didn’t see his post while I was typing this up and doing other things.
[reply]Oh! Oh! What about… more dangerous than Hitler riding a great white shark and throwing buckets of AIDS at everybody while dressed as one of the Trench Coat Mafia and listening to AC/DC’s Highway To Hell?!?
That’s too awesome to be negative. Change him listening to AC/DC to something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgpT5rEKIU and it would be pure terror.[/reply]
by ‘rape culture’ i mean a sadosexual cruelty infused cultural background which allows foe debasement and degradation, not necessarily actual ‘prison rape’ as it were.
that said though, having worked in prisons, yes, sexual violence VERY MUCH SO exists, and is inaccurately reflected in a lot of media, but there IS a lot of rape, and it IS inhuman.
that all aside, to respond to Prologue, see, the inherent problem i have with what you said is that you are whitewashing bigger issues with knee-jerk reductionism. sexual predators who pray on children are not the same as murderers, who are not the same as drug traffickers, who are not the same as gang members who are not the same as sexual predators, who are not the same as murderers, who are not the same as drug users, who are not the same as the person in the cell next to them. so on an so forth. each individual case is soaked through (supersaturated even) with different issues and circumstances which means that to say ‘child rapists deserve nothing’ is an egregiously flippant and unfair statement. people do horrible things, sometimes, abhorrent things, but there isnt a single switch that makes people good or bad, useful or useless. retribution/retaliation/revenge is a HORRIBLE way to go about changing the surrounding climate of violence and cruelty that helps to foster violent and cruel behavior.
reeducation and reintroduction work better, as has been proven by some north-eastern countries. simply wrangling up people ‘who deserve to be put in a cage’ and throwing them into darkened tunnels to dwell in their own disenfranchisement wont help anyone, it will harden the already wounded and confused and create more brutality. the way to teach your son not to hit his sister isnt to beat the fuck out of him, it is to activate empathy.