Comment on Do you want the murderer of the UnitHealthcare CEO prosecuted?
Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I don’t want him prosecuted, but not because I think killing people is good or forgivable (though it couldn’t really happen to a better person lol) but because the criminal justice system is awful, especially in the US.
If the death penalty is on the table, then I don’t think I need to explain why that’s bad, but I fundamentally disagree with imprisonment. I’m no expert, but there are better ways to handle harm and justice, and I feel the current system is unjustifiably evil in it’s treatment of convicts.
yeahiknow3@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
Why are people so against killing? From an ethical perspective, it’s often quite justifiable. We’ve been trained like monkeys in a cage to respond adversely to death, but that reaction is based in a social contract that is only conditionally valid.
Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
It is in some cases justifiable, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the only option in the majority of cases where people might jump to it.
I don’t really agree we’ve been trained to respond that way, when I quite often see the exact opposite. Killing is a fast and easy solution that many people are quick to advocate for. I’m quite steadfast in my belief that being able to look beyond killing is one of the few privileges our intelligence gives us, to be better than the cruelty of nature.
I don’t agree the breaking the social contract means death is appropriate or justifiable, but it does mean we can seek to undo that injustice and reduce the harm by other forceful methods. Acting in vengeance is not justifiable.
yeahiknow3@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
Sure.
We are all animals (some more than others). And we have learned the hard way that to realize more of the transcendental values — to bring more courage, wisdom, and meaning into this world — we should preserve life whenever possible. But there’s nothing fundamentally sacred about life… We kill all the time. Literally non-stop. Billions of animals, just like us, sentient and desperate to live, butchered for your use and pleasure. So unless you’re a vegan, you do not get to deploy sentiments about “the sanctity of life” or the like. It’s silly.
If you want to learn about practical ethics and stop talking gibberish, I suggest Shaffer Landau’s excellent textbook “On Living Ethics.”
Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I am vegan, and that’s exactly the reason why.
I think it’s quite simply the case that we should make the choice to try and make life as uncruel as possible. That’s what I believe and I understand that many people won’t agree with me.
Also hey, I’m just having a discussion here we’re all friends. There’s no need to be mean and say I’m talking gibberish.