The real reason to end the death penalty

Post by dang » Thu, Apr 22, 2021, 6:47 PM UTC

slibhb wrote: post #204

dang wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't take HN threads into ideological flamewar. If you start with "morally clueless" and end with Eichmann, god help us, that's pretty much guaranteed. We're trying for a very different sort of conversation here. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

I edited the post but frankly I don't see how "morally clueless" is more conducive to a flamewar than "barbaric" which appears all over this thread.

Post by aeternum » Thu, Apr 22, 2021, 6:48 PM UTC

kelp wrote: post #188

I'm glad this is being shared widely, because I agree with it. That said, I have to snark a little about it, because I was in high school, in the 90s, when I came to the same realization about why the death penalty is wrong. So this seems pretty obvious to me. Our justice system is not reliable enough to have the death penalty.

Post by sremani » Thu, Apr 22, 2021, 6:49 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #171

sremani wrote: post #167

Death penalty is Lindy. I am not interested in some esoteric academic ethics argument.. in this, I want to hear, from people who lost loved ones - who are against Death penalty. Who endured and still endure the suffering of a losing loved ones. If we get an even split from this group of people, may be then only then I will consider the academic arguments.

The article is all about not having an esoteric academic ethics argument, as its opening sentence makes clear. That's also what the word "real" means in the title.

Post by alexashka » Thu, Apr 22, 2021, 6:50 PM UTC

spoonjim wrote: post #26

nikbackm wrote: post #9

Even if there were no death penalty, spending 30+ years in prison while innocent does not seem like such a good deal either.

Sure, but death is worse, as evidenced by the vast majority of death row inmates who try to stall the process. Very few say “OK, just shoot me now.”

Post by lostlogin » Thu, Apr 22, 2021, 6:51 PM UTC

tompccs wrote: post #6

wideareanetwork wrote: post #2

I think no other justification is needed to end the death penalty than “it’s inhuman and barbaric”. Even discussing other factors arguments and considerations dilutes the core point that’s it’s straight up wrong unethical and inhuman to murder others in the name of the law. Paul Graham has a valid point, but if you say “it’s wrong cause it’s inaccurate”, implies it’s right if it’s accurate. And it’s not... the death…

I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but this sort of remark is why the left and intellectuals more widely fail at winning politically. Rather than use arguments that are amenable even to people who disagree on the fundamentals, you would rather retain the moral high-ground by refusing even to debate on their terms, thereby failing to actually influence policy (in this case a matter of life and death). If the de…