- #1
steppenwolf
i've been thinking for a while about punnishment, prison and all, its role or purpose and whether it fulfils this role. it's a strange part of our society that we just take for granted, the idea that we have the right to this sort of thing. think about the reasons for punnishment;
1- to deter criminals, fair enough it's nice to prevent instead of treat
2- to keep dangerous people out of society so they can't cause harm, everyone has the right to live in a safe environment after all.
3- but then it gets a bit unreal, the last reason is simply that 'bad' people should lead bad lives, like karma but official, not left up to fate.
this third reason we just take for granted, but it's incredibly hard to define, where did we get this almost divine right to decide what kind of life people should lead. i know it's hard to get past the immediate paradigm of our culture, I'm having trouble getting my mind around it, but the more i think about it the stranger it seems that we have taken it upon ourselves to play god.
what do you guys think? is this power justified, and i don't mean to argue against the first two reasons, they are good justifications, but let's face it they are not the first things on everyone's mind when it comes to encarcerating a criminal, it's this feeling that they deserve it, of vengeance.
1- to deter criminals, fair enough it's nice to prevent instead of treat
2- to keep dangerous people out of society so they can't cause harm, everyone has the right to live in a safe environment after all.
3- but then it gets a bit unreal, the last reason is simply that 'bad' people should lead bad lives, like karma but official, not left up to fate.
this third reason we just take for granted, but it's incredibly hard to define, where did we get this almost divine right to decide what kind of life people should lead. i know it's hard to get past the immediate paradigm of our culture, I'm having trouble getting my mind around it, but the more i think about it the stranger it seems that we have taken it upon ourselves to play god.
what do you guys think? is this power justified, and i don't mean to argue against the first two reasons, they are good justifications, but let's face it they are not the first things on everyone's mind when it comes to encarcerating a criminal, it's this feeling that they deserve it, of vengeance.