It seems to me that
life is suddenly not worth a dime, or whatever denomination we prefer to use. Let
me say right now that I didn’t come to that conclusion easily. Every day, in
newspapers, on radio and television there are reports of murders, some more
gruesome than others but still putting to death a lover, partner or child,
colleague or drinking companion, even parents or grandparents. What is the
world coming to when it becomes fashionable to commit such a crime. Open a
newspaper and you won’t just read about one awful incident, but two, three, and more.
Recently I read
about a 14 year old boy being murdered in a cemetery. It was described as a
savage and brutal murder committed by three males aged 16, 18 and 19. What on
earth induces young people to commit such terrible crimes? Is it anger that
drives them or drugs?
And what about those
husbands who kill themselves and their kids in an act of defiance against an
ex-wife and/or society? This tips the scale for me every time I read about such
senseless crimes. They seem to have an attitude that says ‘if I can’t have them,
neither will you’. Do these men actually LOVE their kids? I can’t see how they
can if they are willing to slaughter them in spite. I say again, what price is
life if it can so easily be destroyed?
Only yesterday I
read with horror about a guy who stamped on his heavily pregnant partners
tummy, killed the well formed but as yet unborn baby, and landed the woman in
hospital. He is charged with killing an unborn child and assault. I hope he and
all other murderers rot in hell.
It seems that from
an early age kids are being brainwashed by television and those newspapers that
make more of the crime and less about the punishment. The latter was once a
deterrent, now it’s like winning medals. If courts sentence teenagers to a term
of confinement they brag about where they’re sent to.
My current thinking,
which has been current for a long time, is that the UK should bring back the
death sentence. We used to hang criminals, now we pat them on the back and tell
them not to do it again. Not literally, of course. Instead they are locked
away, deprived of family life, and released before an imposed sentence is
complete.
Bring back the dungeons,
I say. Prisons do NOT teach criminals a lesson. The only sufferers are the
families they leave behind. As a nation
we’ve become soft, which allows wrong-doers to carry on without fear. For sure
we need stronger punishment than a term in prison.
Er I think they call it Human Rights dear. Add to all this the religious and racial murder and persecution which now abounds.In the 20th Century we had two world wars to cope with people's criminal needs.Thank goodness there are widespread forces for good in the world!!!
ReplyDeleteValerie, everything you expressed within this post are exactly the same things going on here in the US.
ReplyDelete"Open a newspaper and you won’t just read about one awful incident, but two, three, and more."
And it's seems to be perpetuating more and more.
A few years ago, four teenage boys (16-years old) verbally abused and physcally attacked a middle-aged man on a subway platform until he had an asthma attack, which caused him to have a heart attack and died. Fortunately, all four boys were captured, arrested, and then tried for murder. Many people in this city felt that the teenage boys should not have been tried for murder because they didn't "actually" murder the man. However, my feelings were that they did murder the man because they caused the attack which killed him.
"For sure we need stronger punishment than a term in prison."
I agree. People need to pay for these crimes, and not with just a slap on the hands and a term in prison, so that it doesn't keep happening over and over again.
Great post!
I have waffled back and forth on this, but I do not favor the death penalty. For one, it seems to never be implemented until after 20 years or more of legal haggling and expense, secondly every once and a while (more than I ever thought) people are convicted of crimes they did not commit, thirdly (?) I am not sure it is a deterrent, and finally if I believe in "thou shall not kill" it is hypocritical to support the death penalty on anyone for any reason. I must say though, when one of these animals does receive the ultimate penalty for their crime, I don't shed any tears.
ReplyDeleteSuch a world indeed......
ReplyDeleteWorld is indeed far more violent and hate filled as ever before. Sad really.
ReplyDeleteHorrific stories, there is no shortage of them. You make some very good points Valerie but I honestly don't know what the solution is. Make punishments fit the crime. The awful after effects that people have to deal with. It breaks your heart.
ReplyDeleteGood post. Funny that after living here for almost 20 years I have come round to the idea that capital punishment is not necessary. I used to think otherwise; we do have the death penalty in Cuba. I do not know. I guess that there are two ways to look at it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the Oscar Wilde quote is "a cynic is a man who knows the price of every thing and the value of nothing". :-) I can't remember in which play it is (Lady Windermere's Fan or The Importance of Being Earnest?).
Greetings from London.
It scares me that I have two little people that are being raised in this world today. You said it Val as it doesn't feel like some folks don't think a human life is worth too much. I don't know the solution but I hope we can figure it out before it's too late.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog Valerie!
ReplyDeleteThe same situation in the States as well. I refuse to read stories about abuse/death of children and animals, it's just too upsetting. But even more sad is how we have become so numb with each additional crime. They all seem blended into one and names of the dead are forgotten so quickly because there is another one to take their place.