From: Brian D Williams <talon57@well.com>
>Mike Cheponis <mac@Wireless.Com> and I have been having a
>discussion off-list that I thought would make a good thread for
>discussion.
>
>"Is the Death Penalty Extropian?"
No. Probably not.
Reason: As an extropian it is important to have a rational humanist outlook. This means that a humans life and time, in other words it's freedom, is the only thing of real value there is to that human.
As rationalists and humanists we should ALWAYS strive for a win/win situation in any human to human conflict. A win/win will not always be possible, but death penalty makes it shure that there wil be a win/loose scenario whether the acused/sentenced is guilty or not.
I am not much for murderers, rapists etc. and instinctively I too feel that they should be killed for the safety of the rest of society.
Basically any sane, intelligent adult member of society is an assets to
society and adds to the economic surplus.
You can argue that a violent criminal is not that, and I would have to
agree. But wouldn't it be better to lock up the criminal until he can be
rewired with nanotech drugs or something else? This way everyone would gain,
Of course if somebody is uncureable it is another story, but uncurability is a very unextropian concept ... right?
Private mailto:maxm@maxmcorp.dk http://www.maxmcorp.dk
That, at least, is the theory i support with my current knowledge