6 ms·
> “I do not feel any pity for Gollum. He deserves death.” > “Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. C
by oska 10y ago
> “I do not feel any pity for Gollum. He deserves death.”
> “Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of Justice ... even the wise cannot see all ends.”
Remains a very good, concise argument against capital punishment.
- GarrisonPrime 10y agoAn alternative to capital punishment: exile. Fence off a large part of the American southwest. Surround it with guard towers and automatic motion-activated machine guns to destroy anything that comes within 100 ft of the fence. Then drop the exiles off with a backpack of basic equipment and wish them well.
- DougWebb 10y agoI think I saw that movie a few times. Never seems to work out well.
- PhasmaFelis 10y agoThat's not "exile." That's just prison, only even more sadistic and poorly run.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- okwhatthe2 10y ago> only even more sadistic Remember Florence ADX.
- GarrisonPrime 10y agoIt's not sadistic; it's neutral. Nature is the only guard. It's not poorly run; it's not run at all. This is nearly the very definition of exile, so I'm not sure where your confusion comes from. Perhaps you feel throwing them into a desert is inhumane? Fine, then fence off part of a jungle or plains with a river or something else more comfortable. Build some basic infrastructure if necessary.
- blowski 10y agoI assume this is a reference to "Esacpe from LA".
- AndrewDucker 10y agoOr the Heinlein short story "Coventry": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_(short_story)
- douche 10y agoOr, since we've already brought Dune into the picture up-thread, Salusa Secondus.
- GarrisonPrime 10y agoNo, it is a modest proposal.
- aaron-lebo 10y agoI don't feel like quoting Tolkien is going to win anyone arguments. We should keep in mind that Gollum is for a short time reformed before he tries to lure Frodo and Sam to their deaths so that he can have a golden ring... Not the poster child for capital punishment reform. Turning off snark, that quote sounds very informed by Tolkien's Catholicism.
- nylsaar 10y agoIf this wise man, who cannot see all ends, witnessed a wolf with a flock of sheep, would this same logic apply?
- labster 10y agoYes, because the wolf-sheep situation is orthogonal to moral arguments about justice amongst the race of Men.