Think about this. The racist police officers who killed George Floyd had the exact same mindset that you do. They thought that they could treat him as less than human because he was a criminal. Fox news, yes, the MAGA channel, ran with a story that tried to justify his murder because he was a suspected criminal. How do you feel sharing moral values with them?
Are you serious? There’s a huge number of humans that deserve no dignity. Terrorists and paedophiles spring to mind but there are many many more.
dustyData@lemmy.world 7 months ago
InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 7 months ago
That’s completely misrepresenting what I said. Don’t put words in my mouth. Suspected of a crime, then it should be proven beyond doubt and then punished. Guilty of bombing people, abusing kids? Don’t deserve any dignity in my opinion
mriormro@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Even the worst people imaginable are still people. They think, they feel, they experience, they are sentient.
The moment you begin to dehumanize people is the moment you’ve slipped past the point and when you become capable of truly horrific things.
Sternhammer@aussie.zone 7 months ago
Well said.
I’d also point out that dehumanising a subgroup is a powerful technique used to manipulate people. Tell people who to hate and you can get them to go along with anything while they’re focused on the scapegoats. Popular scapegoats include:
- immigrants (taking our jobs while, paradoxically, being a welfare burden)
- religious groups (Jews, Muslims, etc.)
- welfare recipients (dole bludgers, a burden on society)
- criminals (war on drugs, tough on crime)
Any time someone is demonising a group theres a good chance they’re just trying to manipulate you.
InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 7 months ago
So allow them to be free and commit truly immoral crimes? Because locking them up is not very dignified
dustyData@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Oh, OK. A bunch of prison deputies would be so happy to hear that you support their sexual abuse of immates.
InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Keep making things up. Constructive discussion
ultranaut@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I agree there are people undeserving, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are inalienable rights inherent to all people. If the state is going to legitimately enforce the law it must respect those rights while doing so.
dustyData@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yes, even terrorist and pedophiles deserve a minimum of human dignity. It’s not about their morals. It’s about mine and our collective societal moral principles. To deny another human being dignity, no matter how awful their actions might’ve been, says nothing about the other person’s character, but speaks volumes about the person advocating indignity towards others.
InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Ok, then I have very different morals and character to you
dustyData@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I concur.