If you had to choose between the death penalty, and life in prison...
- Thread starter Rearden Metal
- Start date
If given the choice between life and death, I would choose life. I would almost certainly snap after xx years, but at least I could try to create a way to live.
Interesting that almost as many here chose death as life. Maybe it has something to do with the psychological makeup of those who trade. Most of us subscribe to a doctrine of personal responsibility for one's own life and its outcomes, and the thought of giving up control of it is too much to bear. I highly doubt that this result (50/50) would occur in the general population. Also, a lot of people might say that they would choose death over life imprisonment, but most of those would bail if it actually came down to a choice.
The same way people use idioms such as, "I'd rather die than...." or "I'd kill myself before I'd....", or even "I'd rather have my dick cut off than........". When push comes to shove ain't no one in a rush to leave Earth. As societies become more agnostic/secular the lack of faith in an imaginary afterlife is creating far less willingness for members to sample death. As Islamic suicide bombers prove, it's not how one lives there faith but how they die with faith.
...but life in a supermax prison isn't really much of a 'life' at all, but more like a living death.
No friends, no sex, no beer, no steak, no work, no pets, no internet...
No friends, no sex, no beer, no steak, no work, no pets, no internet...
As I tried to understand the suicide bomber syndrome, I had a lot of trouble characterizing these young men and women as 'brave', since I always believed that choosing death was the easy way out. But then what about the Army man who bites down on the cyanide cap when capture is imminent? He knows that he will be killed. He chooses death rather than the humiliation of interrogation and possible capitulation. Seems brave to me.
I have a really hard time getting rid of the idea that religion is brainwashing and that the suicide bombers are just victims of a very effective form of it.
So, is choosing death in this poll a matter of bravery? I thought it was the other way around, that it would more brave to try, to see if you could find a way to live in 23 hour lockdown.
Tough question.
I would take life. As time goes by, perhaps there would be enough fools that would make excuses for why I did what I did. Maybe enough people would forget what I did. Maybe enough people would think that I was innocent, and I could be pardoned or sent to a minimum security prison or something. Perhaps my friends would help me escape, or take hostages then bargain with the authorities to have me released. Anything is possible as long as I am still alive. When you are dead, you are forgotten about within a week.
gooch87
gooch87