The image above is a satirical cartoon about the death penalty in the United States. The two men at the bottom are looking at the Uncle Same lookalike who us deeming what is "just" in the U.S.. He says how advanced and sophisticated we are in the U.S.. But the two men do not think agree. The death penalty looms over all of them, dressed as the grim reaper. This cartoon is asking the viewer the question, how advanced and valued is our society if the death penalty exists? \
This cartoon made me think of the class discussion we had on Socrates The Apology. That story asks many questions, one of which is about the death penalty. Socrates society was going to put him to death for teaching against what they think people should learn. They wanted to kill him for asking questions and having different beliefs than them. In that story, I do think it is unjust to kill him. However it unjust, I think it makes the government less powerful. Killing someone over different views proves that the government doesn't actually believe their own views are strong enough to convince anyone of them, so they just kill people who think against them. In our society, I think the death penalty has more validity. I believe it is there to discourage people from doing what they do in the first place. If you have that threat against you, you may not commit those crimes at all. In our society, we don't kill people over opposing views either, and the death penalty isn't just thrown around and given to anyone. Depending on the circumstance, the death penalty gives the government more power, and in others it takes it away. Does the death penalty ever give the government more power? If so, in what circumstances?
The ability to kill does give the government power, but it is a different kind of power than that of accepting the view of others and working them into the society and decision making process. Both killing and the democratic process require power, and the types of power reflect the values that the society recognizes as legitimate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it is a different power. Obviously the death penalty is not the only way the judicial system in the U.S. and there are much more powerful aspects of it. However, the death penalty definitely says something about how much power they do hold. I agree with you also that there is a big statement made about social values from the implementation of the death penalty. I do not think it casts a negative light on how we view social values, but some may think so.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the death penalty has more validity since it is able to discourages people from committing crimes. However, it is undeniable that putting the U.S. citizens to death is an immense power enjoyed by the U.S. government. In my opinion, great power opens the door to great abuse.
ReplyDeleteEven though I think it is unjust to kill Socrates, I still agree with Machiabelli that political power is necessary for peace and prosperity. It is necessary for the government to seek power, and that power should be accepted and approved by the public.
I think that you are right about the fact that this could be abused. But in our society it is scarcely followed through with. Also, are you saying that it is an abuse of Socrates society to kill him? Or do you think it is okay because it is the government?
DeleteI believe the death penalty does not give the government more power because it is only used for the people who commit the most heinous crimes. What gives the government the most power is having the ability of locking them up for the rest of their life. having them have to think about what they have done wrong every single day of their life in prison. The death penalty i think does the exact opposite because by killing a human for their actions you are also taking away the suffering one would go through by being locked up in prison.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it is a great power to lock someone up. However that is assuming that they actually do spend time thinking and regretting it. And that is also assuming that they don't get out early for whatever reason. It isn't really powerful to have someone locked up if the citizens of that country are paying to keep them there for all of their life.
DeleteI first want to address that I like how you used a cartoon instead of an article for your blog post. It is a nice change and makes me want to search for something different to make connections with materials discussed in class for my next post. After reading your post though, I agree with you that the ability to kill does give the government more power. The democratic process in America and the threat of the death penalty are both very serious and powerful positions to have. Both situations require a great deal of power because both determine the outcome of a certain situation. Although both powerful, I do not think they are the same forms of power. The death penalty has a more serious outcome than the democratic process but both can have an influential outcome.
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I do agree with you that the death penalty and the democratic process are different. The democratic process is much less serious in the end than the death penalty is. In conjunction with one another though I do think that they work well together in establishing power and government rights.
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