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Death Penalty in China

The Central Scrutinizer said:
I like it! Where can I buy one?
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ACT NOW! Here at Krazy Kang's, we're slashing prices on all our 2006 Deathmobiles! Only $55,000--$15,000 below retail! Standard anti-lock brakes, automatic door locks, air conditioning, and automatic transmission!

Our Deathmobiles are so convenient, the powered stretcher just slides out so you don't have to haul a struggling prisoner inside! Full leather interior, and built-in execution machine! Guaranteed financing, courtesy of the State! Get one now, before they're all gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooone!


I'm so glad I don't believe in Hell.
 
Furious said:
As for BPSCG, I'm not sure what point he was trying to make other than a snide retort to AH. :)
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Since people are speculating on what I meant:

What AH said was,
Its funny how death penalty advocates are only in favor of it if they dont have to see it.
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...implying some hypocrisy on the part of people who favor the death penalty. AH, you may correct me if that conclusion is wrong, in which case everything that follows here is irrelevant.

I can approve of something without wanting to be a close participant.

I approve of eating meat. Does that mean I want to watch a cow be slaughtered and butchered? No. But just because I personally don't want to witness the slaughter and butcher of a cow, does that mean I'm a hypocrite for liking to eat meat? I don't think so.

Similarly, I favor the death penalty. Does that mean I want to watch an execution? No. But just because I personally don't want to witness an execution, does that mean I'm a hypocrite for believing the death penalty should be on the books? I don't think so.

FWIW, I think Cleon's right; this deathmobile is disturbingly like the Nazis' rolling gas chambers. I think it tells us something important about the Chinese; they don't give a rat's ass about world opinion. Speaking of which, does anyone know if the Europeans are marching in the streets in protest over this, the way they certainly would if we were to do it here in the U.S.?
 
Injections leave the whole body intact and require participation of doctors. Organs can "be extracted in a speedier and more effective way than if the prisoner is shot," says Mark Allison, East Asia researcher at Amnesty International in Hong Kong. "We have gathered strong evidence suggesting the involvement of (Chinese) police, courts and hospitals in the organ trade."
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It's big business there, apparently. And it encourages the system to find people guilty and condemn them to death.
 
Anti_Hypeman said:
Its funny how death penalty advocates are only in favor of it if they dont have to see it.
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It's funny how death penalty opponents cannot seem to tell the difference between a proper execution of a murderer and a state executing its political opponents.
 
Beerina said:
It's funny how death penalty opponents cannot seem to tell the difference between a proper execution of a murderer and a state executing its political opponents.
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but given that China had previously been shooting dissidents, how does implenting "deathmobiles" make it worse?
 
Beerina said:
It's funny how death penalty opponents cannot seem to tell the difference between a proper execution of a murderer and a state executing its political opponents.
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It's funny how you beg the question by assuming that the execution of a murderer can ever be "proper."
 
a_unique_person said:
It's big business there, apparently. And it encourages the system to find people guilty and condemn them to death.
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For once I agree with AUP. It reminds one of the Larry Niven alternate universe where--due to demand for organs for transplant--more and more crimes are given the death penalty all the time, from murder to monetary fraud to operating a private jet car without a license within city limits.
 
Damn! I bet Jack Kevorkian would give a score of dead patients for a ride that that.
 
BPSCG said:
I can approve of something without wanting to be a close participant.

I approve of eating meat. Does that mean I want to watch a cow be slaughtered and butchered? No. But just because I personally don't want to witness the slaughter and butcher of a cow, does that mean I'm a hypocrite for liking to eat meat? I don't think so.

Similarly, I favor the death penalty. Does that mean I want to watch an execution? No. But just because I personally don't want to witness an execution, does that mean I'm a hypocrite for believing the death penalty should be on the books? I don't think so.
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I think the original point was that you aren't being forced to watch it, unlike the convict.

Perhaps some people would still support it even if they were forced to watch, the same goes for eating meat. But I think if some people actually watched an execution or a slaughterhouse they would change their opinions.

Of course the problem is that it's impractical to make everyone watch it and it interferes with their liberties. In fact making people watch an execution is pretty barbaric anyway.

Anyway, I noticed that at the end of the article China claimed the Death Penalty reduced crime? Does he have any evidence for this?
 
Beerina said:
Ok...and what's the question?
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the question you "begged" was whether an execution can ever be proper. James Dillon was using the term "begging the question" in it's original meaning , rather than the newer meaning of "raising the question".
 
We've had that discussion before: If the death penalty (let's not be wimpy and call it "capital punishment" - it's penalizing people by killing them, OK?) acts as a deterrent, why not have public executions? Why not make the executions as gruesome as possible?

Noooooo.....
 
CFLarsen said:
We've had that discussion before: If the death penalty (let's not be wimpy and call it "capital punishment" - it's penalizing people by killing them, OK?) acts as a deterrent, why not have public executions? Why not make the executions as gruesome as possible?

Noooooo.....
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Who said it was just a deterrent? It also serves "to express society's revusion at particularly horrific acts."

In any event, there are death penalty advocates who do think it should be done more publicly.
 
Beerina said:
Who said it was just a deterrent? It also serves "to express society's revusion at particularly horrific acts."
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I'm a member of society, and I'm more revolted by a sovereign state engaging in the systematic execution of its subjects than by anything any one of those subjects might have done. The state should hold itself to a higher standard.

In any event, there are death penalty advocates who do think it should be done more publicly.
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There are death penalty opponents who think it should be done more publicly, too, myself being one of them. If we're going to continue engaging in such a barbaric practice, we should at least have the collective balls to look the condemned in the eye (metaphorically speaking) rather than hiding it all behind penitentiary walls while we pretend it isn't happening.


Beerina said:
Ok...and what's the question?
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We seem to be having a miscommunication here, but I think Brodski identified the source of it. By drawing a distinction between "proper execution of a murderer" and "execution of a political opponent," you assumed without arguing for the proposition that execution of a criminal can ever be proper-- a principle that opponents of the death penalty reject.
 
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