OK, shameless Obama paraphrasing aside, this is one headline, supplied by the CBC, that shocked me at first.
2 men sentenced to death in China's milk scandal
OK, so I have no particular stance on capital punishment, probably because I have no real stake in it one way on another. That said, I probably fall more TOWARDS the Death Penalty stance, rather than away from it, mostly because I can more easily sympathize with those who might seek it as a form of retribution for a slain love-one.
But I think in the West we are not accustomed to hearing about CEOs and company presidents getting a 21-gun salute in the back of the head for gross misconduct. We might THINK, regarding a particularly heinous corporate villain who defrauds people of their hard-earned money, or whose products end in death, 'Yeah, the government should just CAP that mother fucker!'. But I don't think we expect it to ever happen, short of someone exercising their vigilante-bone.
Serial Killers and Baby Rapists, sure. Bernard Madoff? Probably not.
Unless you're in China.
8 comments:
While I think that there are things people can do that merits their end, I've no confidence in the state to justly or accurately dispense punishment... so I lean the other way.
That being said, it's hard to work up any sympathy for these douchebags.
Yeah, for me that would be the only argument against a death penalty. But I would also argue that if the government can't dispense punishment, how should offenders BE punished? Who could claim they were qualified?
Ahh, I wait for the day when we all have cortical stacks that allowing people to be re-sleeved after a lengthy, multi-century "prison sentence".
P.S. This is a plug for Richard Morgan's Broken Angels :)
From Amazon - "Critics have compared Richard Morgan's first novel, Altered Carbon, to the classic hardboiled fiction of Raymond Chandler."
Chandler? Totally sold. Added to my ever increasing wishlist.
I wouldn't argue that government can't dispense penalty, just not a penalty from which there is no return or redress.
Google "The Innocence Project" and DNA for a wealth of info, or just go here for a taste - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocence_Project
The situation to me begs asking a rather cartesian circle question:
Which is the ultimate villain? The corrupt employees who deserve punishment by a harsh government for a vile act, or the corrupt government which causes people to think they get away with a vile act, done to survive?
And props for Richard Morgan.
I agree with both of you of course. As mentioned, I don't REALLY have any leanings one way on another. I think I probably have some pseudo-fascist yearnings, stemming from my younger days as a wimp, tempered with doses of NERDRAGE!
And besides, who doesn't like outfits designed by Hugo Boss? Or was that Calvin Klein?
Anyway yes, Richie Morgan. Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies are his trilogy with Takeshi Kovacs. Great reads. Market Forces on the other hand... Let's just say I read it because of his name. Not bad, per se, but certainly his weakest.
Yeah, but do you have any of those here in Japan, or am I forced to increase my debt level? :)
Ahh, sadly I don't have any of RM's books here. You're debt level will have to increase, but your literary breadth with widen to compensate.
That's how I justify the 10 books I have here waiting to be read anyway.
10? Amateur.
I've whole shelves. My enthusiasm clearly eclipses my abilities.
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