This is exactly the sort of mentality that hinders any type of progress in society. To justify a cruel, torturous death with yet another one is destructive, inefficient and inhumane. That so many of us would turn to sadistic means to satisfy our internal hunger for some misguided sense of "justice" is something that will always puzzle me. And, as said above, execution is more expensive than life in prison. Executions, especially done in this manner, are nothing more than murder covered with the guise of righteousness. It's important to look beyond animalistic tendencies when deciding what's right. One death does not cancel out another. The only result can be that we hunger for more death, always trying to justify yet another on the basis of the "eye-for-an-eye" approach. Execution is both morally unjustified and economically unsustainable.
I, for one, have no trouble feeling sympathy for those who commit murder. As a general rule, these individuals tend to be among the most troubled in society, for reasons often completely beyond their control. The victim acts as a metaphor, a representation of some negative figure from a traumatic period earlier in their life. Killing them acts as a "release" from the painful memories of the past, but this is a false release, never to be permanently satisfied, and perhaps not even temporarily. Some become serial killers, others get caught, but the pain remains nonetheless. On a daily basis, we convince ourselves of our own humanity, yet we fail to consider the "criminals" and what led them up to this point. Murder is by no means justified, so why do we hypocritically return the favour in cruelly murdering the criminal? This is no different between the differences in the way OxyContin is perceived in comparison to heroin, for example - one is legally justified, and thus somehow becomes morally justified in turn, while the other is entirely immoral, serves no medical purpose, and is demonized constantly, yet the two are incredibly similar in terms of the potential dangers they present, if not in the effects. Murder not committed in an execution setting is morally wrong, while murder committed under such circumstances is completely justified, based only upon the legality of the act. Thus, the drug hypocrisy is no different from the execution hypocrisy, or any other hypocrisy for that matter. I feel great sympathy for those who suffer under the hands of the state, guilty or not guilty, regardless of the crime and circumstances, and I fully support the abolishment of the death penalty. It's not feasible and it reinforces our lustful obsession with death, twists our ability to separate true justice from sadistic urges. We look for more "criminals" to execute far in excess of the heroin addict's need for his fix. Our love of death is the worst addiction of them all, yet the treatment is nowhere in sight.
Although life in prison is preferable to the execution method, we still fail to take into consideration the murderer and what led him to commit such intolerable crimes. My suggestion? Psychedelic therapy, though we're a long way from accepting such things, could help tremendously in allowing the inmates to find a way to permanently release themselves from the pain, the pain which caused them to kill in the first place. Once implemented, the perception of prison must also change. Addiction and insanity are conditions one is treated for, so why not do the same with the *root causes* of murders and the like? It may be expensive, but I'd certainly rather see *less* suffering throughout the world, even in those who may not deserve it in the eyes of moralistic sadists. Prison should not deprive criminals of their rights, but should offer them a rehabilitation program which might allow them to finally overcome the issues plaguing them throughout their lives, perhaps long before they committed their crime. We're always telling criminals to "think about what they've done," but what of what's been done to them? People aren't intrinsically cruel - we are instead conditioned into cruelty by this morally twisted, power-hungry system we live in today, and this is reinforced by those too weak to break free of it. Parents, sometimes without even realizing it, condition their children to murder by simply following the system to which they are enslaved. No one commits an act of murder or any other "intolerable" crime without some important pre-existing condition (especially though not limited to childhood trauma). Sometimes this condition may not be obvious at the surface, and the "criminal" may not realize the source of the acts himself, giving him the appearance of having always been this way, but this is not the case. Considering the circumstances by which murderous tendencies manifest themselves, a more humane approach is the *only* way to go. Allow them to overcome what's troubled them throughout their lives and the criminal may someday free himself of his bonds and not only function, but thrive in society. We must always help those who cannot help themselves, even if our innermost thoughts and societal conditioning prevents us from feeling anything but hatred for them. Psychedelic psychotherapy is the best way to achieve a "humane" alternative to execution. Furthermore, implementing this approach outside of prisons in everyday life, if done properly, will guarantee a significant reduction in the overall crime-rate throughout the country. This is assuming the use of such substances is considered not as a crime, but as the legitimate therapy tools they truly are. While we cannot prevent murder just as we cannot prevent any other natural human process, we can at the very least ensure the most effective preventative measures are set in place and, when murder is inevitably committed, we can ensure the process which caused it in the first place can be completely reversed. It goes without saying that we cannot reverse murder once it does happen, but once again, criminal acts do not justify other criminal acts. It's an incredibly long leap to get from our current situation to the hypothetical situation outlined above, but I will continue fighting for a more sensical approach to the prison situation until we get to the point we need to be. The way things are done right now sickens me. This is but a small piece of an infinitely vast puzzle, the political strands tangling everything in their grasp, preventing progress in all areas. With politics, morality may never be achieved, but I refuse to sit still and remain content with this current situation. Progress is a long process, but ever so worth it in the end. 10 years, 90 years - however long it may take, this is my dream. This is the situation I envision in the ideal country - nay, the ideal world. How unfortunate that we can't look beyond our prejudices and realize the great moral truth. Some other day, perhaps...
