If the Death Penalty doesn't have a profit motive, and is so obviously barbaric, why do political groups and people in America still rally behind it? Surely there's more to it than most Americans just being blood thirsty monsters, right?
If the Death Penalty doesn't have a profit motive, and is so obviously barbaric, why do political groups and people in America still rally behind it? Surely there's more to it than most Americans just being blood thirsty monsters, right?
It's really frustrating. I throw around :gulag: a lot, and i've got no issue with killing people in the prosecution of war or for clear, important strategic reasons, but the lust for revenge is very offputting and, on a purely material basis, it's actively counterproductive. We know from endless research that punishment doesn't discourage others from behaving badly, it doesn't reduce recidivism, it doesn't fix anything and actively makes things worse on almost all metrics. I get that people are upset and want to find some kind of way to assert control, but we're supposed to be the materialist ideology.
Plus, also, I think it's much, much crueler to convert bad actors than it is to kill them so I do admit there's a little sadism in my opposition to death penalties or other forms of violent punishment.