Poll: More punishing; Death Penalty or Life in Prison
- Thread starter tippy2k2
- Start date
Well "being put to death" doesn't seem like much of a punishment at all, especially when they try so hard to make it painless and "humane". I think it's disingenuous to put it that way, it's clearly "being dead" that's the whole point behind it.Aelinsaar said:
If we're not willing to address the existential questions around death, then how can we have serious conversation about this issue?
I think, i'm in the camp that considers that sometimes, death can be seen as an act of mercy. Even in this situation, life in prison is just so...Lifeless, it's like that almost eternal torment, why not just end it and be done with it? So i think life in prison is a worse punishment, the death penalty is harsh, but there is some freedom in death. The other alternative is to rot away, slowly and surrounded by the worst of the worst.
I think that's kinda the point I was making.Aelinsaar said:
Still seems like a dodge to me, do you think dead people feel "deprived"?
Don't really care, and I find the people who do rather silly. Nothing I've heard about executions sounds more painful than passing a kidney stone. Compared to the actual death itself, the brief suffering one might experience first seems like a childish thing to get worked up about.
You do know one thing about death for certain: it's happened to everyone who has ever lived and it will happen everyone who is currently still alive and to those who have yet to be born.Olas said:
Even if the medical singularity event ever happens, it's still only a matter of time for any individual to end eventually.
Death can be crossed out in any comparison between punishments and other fates, because it's always on both sides of the < symbol.
All that remains then is the length, the quality and the purpose of a life.
For an individual the question then becomes at which point while reducing quality, do you also want less quantity?
The poll depends on just how nasty we imagine the prison to be.
The title of the thread asks which is more punishing while the poll asks which is a worse fate. I would say that life in prison is more punishing but death is the worse fate. Why death is a worse fate is obvious--it's the ultimate end, after that it's all over. But it's not always necessarily more punishing. Bullet to the head, lethal injection, whatever, in either case it's over in a relatively short amount of time (assuming nothing cruel and unusual). Not to mention that death is something we all inevitably face--the death sentence merely accelerates when that happens.
Life in prison on the other hand is more punishing because it lasts for the rest of your life and the only thing to look forward to at the end is...well death. So on top of the life in prison, you still also get death at the end. Your time is limited, but you're severely limited in what you can do with it. Being stuck in a building full of rapists and murderers can't be fun, let alone being in that environment for the rest of your life.
But it does have an upside, which is the possibility for the person to (eventually) see and fully appreciate the consequences of their actions and with time actually become remorseful. Some people do stuff when they're young and to them death is just a word, the gravity of what that really means doesn't fully click--heck in some cases they might even prefer it (many criminals who go on killing sprees try to off themselves before they're caught). But over time and seeing what their legacy is, as they get old they can serve as a living warning for future potential criminals (like that show "Beyond Scared Straight"). The criminal becoming remorseful can also help bring closure and healing for the victims/victims family--not that the criminal gets released or anything of course, they have to live with what they did. But they can help the victims understand why it happened, which can be helpful for some people.
Not to mention the fact that it's also a potential source of affordable labor. At least with that they're able to make some positive contributions to society--which can potentially make up for the cost of their living expenses (as opposed to how expensive it can be to have someone executed).
There's also always the possibility, however slim, of some new evidence proving the innocence of the person years or decades later (rare but it has and does happen). Wasting 10-20 years of a person's life is much better than saying "oops, we executed him by mistake".
So overall I think life in prison is both more punishing and more productive/beneficial. But death is the worse fate.
Life in prison on the other hand is more punishing because it lasts for the rest of your life and the only thing to look forward to at the end is...well death. So on top of the life in prison, you still also get death at the end. Your time is limited, but you're severely limited in what you can do with it. Being stuck in a building full of rapists and murderers can't be fun, let alone being in that environment for the rest of your life.
But it does have an upside, which is the possibility for the person to (eventually) see and fully appreciate the consequences of their actions and with time actually become remorseful. Some people do stuff when they're young and to them death is just a word, the gravity of what that really means doesn't fully click--heck in some cases they might even prefer it (many criminals who go on killing sprees try to off themselves before they're caught). But over time and seeing what their legacy is, as they get old they can serve as a living warning for future potential criminals (like that show "Beyond Scared Straight"). The criminal becoming remorseful can also help bring closure and healing for the victims/victims family--not that the criminal gets released or anything of course, they have to live with what they did. But they can help the victims understand why it happened, which can be helpful for some people.
Not to mention the fact that it's also a potential source of affordable labor. At least with that they're able to make some positive contributions to society--which can potentially make up for the cost of their living expenses (as opposed to how expensive it can be to have someone executed).
There's also always the possibility, however slim, of some new evidence proving the innocence of the person years or decades later (rare but it has and does happen). Wasting 10-20 years of a person's life is much better than saying "oops, we executed him by mistake".
So overall I think life in prison is both more punishing and more productive/beneficial. But death is the worse fate.