Justita Est Commodatum

[Inverse Skies]

Justice is Served

It's time to find out just how moral members of the Escapist are.

The idea behind this thread comes from the complex moral problem asked in the manga Death Note [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note] which deals with a young mans plight to create the perfect world free of crime or human suffering by murdering criminals and gradually changing the world through a litany of fear*. It's challenging and brilliantly done, and it makes me want to ask this question of my fellow members;

Would You kill those people you thought the world was better off without (ie criminals) in order to create your version of Gemeinschaft?**

I certainly wouldn't... one has to ask oneself where one would draw the line of 'criminal' activity. Murderers? Rapists? Drug Traffickers? Corporate crime? How does one decide which of those are worthy of punishement by death in order to create a utopia based around fear. I couldn't do it, even without the notion of how hypocritical it is to murder those deemed 'less worthy' because of what they've done.

That that's me... what do others think they'd do given the power to kill whoever they want?

*I know there's a lot more to Death Note than just that but let's concentrate on the moral question.
**Gemeinschaft - an idealised society
***Justita Est Commodatum - Latin for 'Justice is Served'. (It sounded cooler ok?)

 

[Baby Tea]

Absolutely not.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

"Don't temp me Frodo! Understand that I would take the Ring in order to do good! But through me...it would wield a power to terrible to imagine." (Might not be a direct quote, but it's a decent summation).

Who am I to say who is good or bad? Right or wrong? No thanks, I pass on power like that.

 

[oktalist]

A society based on fear. Eventually, everyone would be a criminal.

In fighting monsters, ensure you do not become one yourself.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

No, by killing these individuals you would be just as bad as them.

 

[mechabrae]

Definitely not.

Capital punishment is one of those things that is very hard to fix if you get it wrong. I was reading about a guy in the UK who had been imprisioned for nearly 30 years for a crime that he didn't commit.

Imagine if we'd killed him. *shudders in a full body fashion*

 

[fix-the-spade]

No.

If you've read Death Note then you'll know excatly where that path leads.

 

[Inverse Skies]

No.

If you've read Death Note then you'll know excatly where that path leads.

All too true...

Spoiler: My view on the end of the series

To tell you the truth the only time I ever lost respect for Light is the last book when he finally loses to Near. I still thought he was fantastic, not right but fantastic in how he carried out his ideals until he acted like he did when he lost.

 

[Lord Kofun]

I hate Near. I'll just have it out there.

As for the question of: Would I be the one to do it?

No. I know I have a short temper. That would be like assigning me God's power of smite-ing. It's a bad idea.

Also, I would have to include Michael Moore as one of the first people dead. Go be fat somewhere else, tosser xD

 

[dtocs]

If I had the power id most likely end up killing people to make the world a better place for me to live in. To sum it up, if your against me you would be dead. I thought about it and while i would punish criminals, I would punish people who didn't conform to the moral code I set out. I would operate on the base that, only criminals that hurt others I would kill. Drug trafficking is fine as long as its not hurting anyone directly. While rape would be a killing offense.

But then id go a step further, people with aids would be killed to prevent the spread. Id end up killing politicians. Worst of all id kill anyone if my life would be made easier, I know one girl who I do not have any feelings for if i could kill her and get away with it I wouldn't feel bad doing so.

The underlining theme is I would be a murderer, I should not have that power nor anyone. Watch Trigun, its an awesome anime, The main character never kills. This is because he appreciates the value of all life. As a child he wanted to save a butterfly from being eaten by a spider, hes brother just kills the spider. He didnt want this, he wanted both to live but was reminded that it would be impossible to save both.

So Id like people to think would you kill the spider to save the butterfly, let the spider starve or let the butterfly die.

Finally morality is just prescriptive, it has no intrinsic truth but is a necessary construct to keep a society operating.

 

[TheMatt]

I'd kill them.

Who decides what's a crime? I do.
Who decides which crimes are worthy of death? I do, or at the least someone I appoint.

You could make a Utopia.

Furthermore, stop reading manga. It's fucked up.

 

[sidhe3141]

No. It is better to lead by example than by fear. Rather than changing the world by eliminating its negative aspects, I would change it by strengthening the positive traits and altering the negative ones.

 

[JMeganSnow]

I wouldn't. You can't abolish criminality by killing off criminals--people have free will and everyone retains their ability to become a criminal. The potential for evil will always be with us. All we can do is construct our laws in such a way as to make it an exceedingly poor alternative. THAT is the ideal society.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

The entire act is a farce because no matter how noble the aim, the method is still murder and terror. Unless one ends such a spree with their own public execution then they will have betrayed their own revolution.

Besides, I believe it was Camus who once famously penned "Every revolutionary either ends up dead or a heretic".

 

[traceur_]

I wouldn't kill them myself, I think it would be good for a while, even though the utopia is based on fear, it's still better off with out it's resident scum, if you kill all the criminals more will take their place but they would be fewer in number, many would fear my ninja assassin squad and would be too scared to pursue a life of crime, I would reign supreme and that would be awesome. But remember...