Re: Is the death penalty Extropian?

From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Fri Nov 27 1998 - 12:34:46 MST


From: Dick.Gray@bull.com
You respond:
>> The flaw lies in the fact that I just re-read "the extropian
>> Principals v2.6, and there is no non-aggression principal.
>> "have some fire Strawman"

>Now you're really burning me up. :-)

>Obviously I wasn't referring to the Extropian Principles, but to
>the general libertarian prohibition of aggression. Extropians, by
>the coiner's own definition, are "libertarian transhumanists", so
>there's more to what we hold in common than the EPs, no?

>So douse that torch already.

The torch was strictly rhetorical, (and a wizard of oz ref)
ToughLaw Inc (PPL) takes arson seriously.

>I suspect (and hope) that your death provision would be found null
>and void by most freemarket courts. There are things that can't
>legitimately be contracted for, including, especially, harmful
>effects on nonsignatory parties. (Right, Greg?)

Greg did a great job on this part.(Thanks Greg)

You made another attempt to differentiate punishment from revenge:

>> I argue it is fair because it is the only thing a murderer has
>>of equivalent value to what he/she took.

>What good does it do the corpse? How is it fair to forfeit yet
>another life, to nobody's benefit? What does it do to compensate
>for what was lost? IOW, exactly where is the justice?

As I argued to Paul, since the victim is dead they cannot act in
their own interest, so the society must. The murderer has forfeit
his/her life in the act of taking another. The murderer does not
get to enjoy living, nor can they spread their genes/memes. The
ultimate price for the ultimate despicable act.

> If an individual does it it is revenge.

>...implying that a wrong, so long as it's perpetrated by some
>_non-unit_number of individuals, somehow magically becomes right.
>How?

By the definition between revenge and punishment posted earlier.

We seem to have exhausted the usefullness of this thread.

Brian
Member,Extropy Institute.
www.extropy.org



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