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Published On: Jan 27, 2005 08:32 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jan 27, 2005 08:32 PM
I heard he killed a guy
The death penalty sucks.
I have been bad about this blog crap.
I'm not sorry.
I was driving home today and realized it and then realized how much other stuff happens that is WAY more important than anything I'd have to say. I mean, I hardly care what I have to say so why would anyone else? For that matter, you might do well to ask what the hell you are doing reading this still! Gotta love the irony.
But, on my way home I was realizing that my state killed a guy last night. It was by all accounts a really bad guy, no question. In the end, though, they killed him for killing someone. I read all the news I could dig up and came to learn that he was involved in the killing with a bunch of other unsavory people and they killed a couple of people who seem to have run in similar circles. It wasn't like the story about a bad guy who kills the happy little old lady who worked for charity all her life. It was just some killing.
It got me to thinking about how killing used to be public and how it was an event not to be missed by most people. The killing, far from being terribly rejected by the public, was an entertainment. Picnics were packed and kids even attended sometimes. I wondered why we don't do that anymore if we are going to be killing people under the state's powers. Then I realized it. Killing people is bad, but we don't like to admit it.
I'm not talking about the people who admit that killing is bad and then try to survive in the context of our society. I'm not talking about people who spend large amounts of their time trying to stop the killing. I'm talking about the average schmuck walking around.
I had a notion that we pretty much WANT the killing. We may know better and we may pay some lip service to stopping killing, but we love it. We seem to think we need it. We have built huge outlets for this same violence to take the place of our public acceptance of the killing and the killing itself.
We have video games, movies, books and all manner of stories (including poetry and painting and sculpture) in which we LOVE to see the bad guy get his due. There is little that feels better.
Spend a minute, you'll see what I mean. Seriously, take a drive. Talk out loud to the death row inmates and see what they tell you. Then come home and watch some TV. It's all there...in high definition.
I was driving home today and realized it and then realized how much other stuff happens that is WAY more important than anything I'd have to say. I mean, I hardly care what I have to say so why would anyone else? For that matter, you might do well to ask what the hell you are doing reading this still! Gotta love the irony.
But, on my way home I was realizing that my state killed a guy last night. It was by all accounts a really bad guy, no question. In the end, though, they killed him for killing someone. I read all the news I could dig up and came to learn that he was involved in the killing with a bunch of other unsavory people and they killed a couple of people who seem to have run in similar circles. It wasn't like the story about a bad guy who kills the happy little old lady who worked for charity all her life. It was just some killing.
It got me to thinking about how killing used to be public and how it was an event not to be missed by most people. The killing, far from being terribly rejected by the public, was an entertainment. Picnics were packed and kids even attended sometimes. I wondered why we don't do that anymore if we are going to be killing people under the state's powers. Then I realized it. Killing people is bad, but we don't like to admit it.
I'm not talking about the people who admit that killing is bad and then try to survive in the context of our society. I'm not talking about people who spend large amounts of their time trying to stop the killing. I'm talking about the average schmuck walking around.
I had a notion that we pretty much WANT the killing. We may know better and we may pay some lip service to stopping killing, but we love it. We seem to think we need it. We have built huge outlets for this same violence to take the place of our public acceptance of the killing and the killing itself.
We have video games, movies, books and all manner of stories (including poetry and painting and sculpture) in which we LOVE to see the bad guy get his due. There is little that feels better.
Spend a minute, you'll see what I mean. Seriously, take a drive. Talk out loud to the death row inmates and see what they tell you. Then come home and watch some TV. It's all there...in high definition.
Posted: Wed - January 19, 2005 at 06:43 PM