It is my strong feeling & opinion that society cannot afford to shelter the mass murders amongst the wealthy while scapegoating the murderers from the lower classes -- whether one kills them all or just puts them all in pens for the rest of their natural days.
You make an excellent point: those who do these things in the name of "service to society" on the whole do far more damage than the average psychopath could in his wildest dreams.
Obviously the best answer is to prevent such people from getting into public office in the first place, rather than punishing them afterwards for abusing authority. Sometimes I think we should automatically disqualify for public office anyone crazy and/or power-hungry enough to actually seek the job.
I never considered your point about execution as the most compassionate handling. I don't have an answer for that right now, except to point out that the farthest thing from most people's minds when they talk of execution is carrying it out compassionately. Most people think of it as a form of vengeance or retribution, and contemplate the action in anger or hatred. *IF* society moved to a place where the act was carried out primarily for the reason you raise, perhaps I would have to rethink my position.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2003-12-14 12:00 pm (UTC)You make an excellent point: those who do these things in the name of "service to society" on the whole do far more damage than the average psychopath could in his wildest dreams.
Obviously the best answer is to prevent such people from getting into public office in the first place, rather than punishing them afterwards for abusing authority. Sometimes I think we should automatically disqualify for public office anyone crazy and/or power-hungry enough to actually seek the job.
I never considered your point about execution as the most compassionate handling. I don't have an answer for that right now, except to point out that the farthest thing from most people's minds when they talk of execution is carrying it out compassionately. Most people think of it as a form of vengeance or retribution, and contemplate the action in anger or hatred. *IF* society moved to a place where the act was carried out primarily for the reason you raise, perhaps I would have to rethink my position.