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So Saddam Hussein is going to be executed. I've always been against capital punishment, and you know what? Even in this case, I'm still against it. Killing prisoners -- even despotic, dictator prisoners like Saddam -- is not something civilized people should do, and it's certainly not something they should rejoice in. Lock him up and throw
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I was listening to CBC radio all day at work today and every hour they were talking about Saddam's execution.
There's no point in time that I can justify the killing of another person in my mind. As a form of punishment, it's just representative of a basic and outdated aspect of humanity.
The fact of the matter is that nothing can be done to change the actions of the person being punished. Then it just comes down to how to deal with that person. Vengeance, wrath, whatever... it's primitive, outdated, crude... it drags society down to a level that is equally as gratuitous as the actions of the person who committed whatever crime.
As for the comment above about people in the penitentiary system being treated too much like humans and not enough like animals... that's such a simplistic way to look at it. There are so many people who are able to be helped, and come from very poor backgrounds. It's best to ask yourself "would I be just like this person if I lived the same life as they did?".
When I see empathy losing out to grotesque revenge, I can't help but see that as a flaw within humanity.
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I'm not referring to the one who stole a tootsie roll at the local convience store. Yes, I agree with you that people can be "rehabbed" back to society with better social and coping skills than they had before they were thrown in the pen.
But I don't care what "poor background" you were from. Killing and raping each other are acts in which people cannot blame on a poor upbringing. Those are the people I believe should be treated less like humans because they are inhumane. What comes around goes around.
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There's a lot of "What Ifs" in the system.
I guess we could ask questions all day and there will never be a straight up answer on how to "properly" punish those who deserve to be punished and to let go the ones that deserve a second chance.
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(Though I'm not sure if helping/rehabilitation would've been all that realistic in Saddam's case..."How Not to Be a Tyrant" classes, maybe? But then, he's about the most extreme case imaginable.)
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