February 17th 2008
Society creates.
I keep having an argument with another student in an online law class I am taking. Recently we are debating the death penalty and talking about criminals. I keep on suggesting that criminals are born from their society. Although I do not explicitly say it, because these criminals are created by this society, then it is the society that is flawed and not the criminal. This does not imply that people are not responsible for their actions–they are. However, one can only work with what one is given, and if the odds are stacked against them… then what can be expected? If you grow up in poverty and find it difficult to live on whatever job you find, maybe you’ll resort to being a thief. And why? Well, look at what this society gave you. You’re just trying to survive.
What about murderers? Something in them enraged them, or in some way gave them the state of mind that made them think it was okay, even for just a moment, to cause someone else extensive bodily harm. That’s not just a fundamental flaw in the murderer, if it is at all. That’s years of conditioning, bad food, bad emotions and bad living until it came to that tantamount moment where one person takes the life of another. Rapists? Same thing, conditioned by society. The list goes on.
Back to the class. This other student seems to claim to know the mind of criminals (not explicitly, just in his wording, as he says things like “these people think…”), and it seems a main focus of his for instating the death penalty is not wanting to have to pay to keep them in jail (although apparently its cheaper to do that than to sentence them to death). When I suggested that there was an option other than “kill or not kill”, they told me my system wouldn’t work. What system? I didn’t even explain my idea of what a proper system looks like, and already its being shot down as the other party chants “fry ‘em!” (I kid you not). The possibility of a third option isn’t even looked upon as a viable alternative, not even in hypothetical conversation. I am completely taken aback by some people’s complete lack of humility. Claiming to know the mind of another, let alone a criminal, is beyond anything I can even comprehend. How? You can’t even pretend to know that. And, to assume that there is no peaceable alternative is quite astounding. You can’t pretend to know that, either. But if you’re not even willing to admit the possibility… then where does that leave you? Close minded, without options open to you, closed doors, lacking creativity, dead end. Really. There’s nowhere to go from there. Once you stop entertaining alternatives, you’ve lost all open doors. That’s a lot of missed opportunities.
Lia Cross
