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Is this supposed to be ironic? "Our prisons are inhuman so replace them with something else inhuman"? A great lesson for the kids: "Hitting people is bad, if y

Is this supposed to be ironic? "Our prisons are inhuman so replace them with something else inhuman"? A great lesson for the kids: "Hitting people is bad, if you hit people, we'll hit you. Dichotomy? Of course not... we're bigger than you."

pizzeys 13y ago
So is locking people up teaching our kids that locking people up against their will is OK?
- lotsofcows 13y ago
  Hmmmm, oddly after 10 years as Scout Leader and 4 as a parent, I've never had to discipline a child for locking anyone up. I do occasionally steal chips from my eldest when he steals chips from his younger brother so, you're right, I'm a massive hypocrite with no sense of perspective.
bronbron 13y ago
I think you're missing the point. This is a half-hearted "A Modest Proposal", the point being that our current prison system is so insanely inhumane that honest-to-god corporal punishment is actually significantly less inhumane.
- lotsofcows 13y ago
  So it is supposed to be ironic. How am I missing the point?
  - bronbron 13y ago
    Well, not to be pedantic, but in this case it actually matters - he's being satirical, not ironic. It's not supposed to be ironic. He wants the debate to be about the modern penal system, not about corporal punishment. It would be ironic if his intention was to point out how awful corporal punishment is, but that's not his point - it's kind of a given that corporal punishment is generally viewed as barbaric (see the opening paragraph). Corporal punishment is just used as an exaggeration to expose the stupidity of the modern penal system ala eating babies in "A Modest Proposal". It's slightly more subtle than AMP, which is why I inferred you might've missed the point (though I can see that's not the case now, so my apologies) - but for example, if we were talking about AMP and your original comment was: > Is he being ironic or is he trying to justify eating babies? <sentence about why eating babies is wrong> you can hopefully see how I might think you were confused a little.
    - lotsofcows 13y ago
      "it's kind of a given that corporal punishment is generally viewed as barbaric" It's exactly that point that made me unsure if this was supposed to be ironic or not. It is not in anyway "a given" that corporal punishment is viewed as barbaric. Most USAians support the death penalty.
      - bronbron 13y ago
        > It is not in anyway "a given" that corporal punishment is viewed as barbaric. The last instance of judicial corporal punishment was in the 50's. It's a given. > Most USAians support the death penalty. Maybe you should look up the difference between capital punishment and corporal punishment. They're not the same thing. Anyway it seems like you've been called out on your reading comprehension and now you're clawing desperately to save face, or you have an axe to grind in general - I don't really care which it is. Either way I'll bow out and let you save face. Read more carefully and/or know the meaning of the words you're typing before you comment next time.
        lotsofcows 13y ago
        Woah, where did that come from?

pizzeys 13y ago

So is locking people up teaching our kids that locking people up against their will is OK?

lotsofcows 13y ago
Hmmmm, oddly after 10 years as Scout Leader and 4 as a parent, I've never had to discipline a child for locking anyone up. I do occasionally steal chips from my eldest when he steals chips from his younger brother so, you're right, I'm a massive hypocrite with no sense of perspective.

bronbron 13y ago

I think you're missing the point. This is a half-hearted "A Modest Proposal", the point being that our current prison system is so insanely inhumane that honest-to-god corporal punishment is actually significantly less inhumane.

lotsofcows 13y ago
So it is supposed to be ironic. How am I missing the point?
- bronbron 13y ago
  Well, not to be pedantic, but in this case it actually matters - he's being satirical, not ironic. It's not supposed to be ironic. He wants the debate to be about the modern penal system, not about corporal punishment. It would be ironic if his intention was to point out how awful corporal punishment is, but that's not his point - it's kind of a given that corporal punishment is generally viewed as barbaric (see the opening paragraph). Corporal punishment is just used as an exaggeration to expose the stupidity of the modern penal system ala eating babies in "A Modest Proposal". It's slightly more subtle than AMP, which is why I inferred you might've missed the point (though I can see that's not the case now, so my apologies) - but for example, if we were talking about AMP and your original comment was: > Is he being ironic or is he trying to justify eating babies? <sentence about why eating babies is wrong> you can hopefully see how I might think you were confused a little.
  - lotsofcows 13y ago
    "it's kind of a given that corporal punishment is generally viewed as barbaric" It's exactly that point that made me unsure if this was supposed to be ironic or not. It is not in anyway "a given" that corporal punishment is viewed as barbaric. Most USAians support the death penalty.
    - bronbron 13y ago
      > It is not in anyway "a given" that corporal punishment is viewed as barbaric. The last instance of judicial corporal punishment was in the 50's. It's a given. > Most USAians support the death penalty. Maybe you should look up the difference between capital punishment and corporal punishment. They're not the same thing. Anyway it seems like you've been called out on your reading comprehension and now you're clawing desperately to save face, or you have an axe to grind in general - I don't really care which it is. Either way I'll bow out and let you save face. Read more carefully and/or know the meaning of the words you're typing before you comment next time.
      - lotsofcows 13y ago
        Woah, where did that come from?