Eye for an Eye?

[Art Delfo]

Do you agree with the theroy of "An Eye for An Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth"
or do you think somthing else?

[Kharakov]

Depends on the situation. Will it teach someone not to hit others if you hit them every time they hit someone else? Does someone need to feel the same pain they caused another in order to have empathy for another? Can they learn, after long suffering, to avoid causing pain to others? Does it help them?

[TrippinBTM]

no, that's not a productive system of punishment/learning. there could be exceptions and Kharakov says but generally I don't think violence is the answer. I mean, if a man rapes my mom, wife, or sister, should I or the legal system rape his mother, wife, or sister? What does that acheive? More blood doesn't solve problems, it only increases them.

[themnax]

hamarabi's revolutionary code was to NOT TAKE MORE THEN an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth.

but yes an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth makes the whole world hungry and blind

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[BlackBillBlake]

If you'd asked me this 10 years ago, I would have said definitely no - these days I'd have to make some exceptions. Quite honestly, I am appalled by some of the crimes I see reported on the news these days, and here in the UK people who commit horrific murders seem to get away with what I consider to be too light a sentence. I mean pre-meditated, sadistic attacks often with a money or revenge motive, stuff like that. Young thugs beating old age pensioners to death for a few pennies. Those who rape and murder children.

I weigh this against the pointless deaths and mutilations caused by say the Iraq war, and it seriously makes me wonder. A culture which is ready to burn children for nothing more than the motive of securing a cheap oil supply, but which allows child rapists to go free after a few years seems somewhat topsy-turvy to me.

Another issue here is closure. If I am violently attacked, and as a result left crippled, I'm not likely to welcome the early release on parole after a few years of the perpetrators.

And - even if we say 'life means life' as in some US states, where people are kept in prison until they die, that seems to me a worse fate than a quick, clean bullet in the back of the head. Cheaper too to execute these people, who are regarded by the vast majority of the population as scum who are not fit for ordinary society. The money saved could then be used to help victims of the same Iraq war and so on, and to create better social conditions and education generally, thus perhaps lowering the incidence of violent crime.

That only applies to vicious pre-meditated acts. Where lesser offences are concerned, re-hab and forgiveness are better.

[TrippinBTM]

With the legal system's appeals and stuff, executions are not cheaper than life in prison. You can't just kill someone unless because a mistake cannot be reversed. Jail you can at least let the person go and pay them some money

[themnax]

crimes are reported to MAKE you angry and appaled, usualy to someone's political bennifit. they are committed as expressions of anger and frustration.

punnishing the perp, while neccessary to avoid encouraging distructive activity further, does nothing to address the roots and causes of the problem

which is the structure of incentives, collectively creatied by our individual, and often not obviously harmful, priorities.

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