Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Is Torture the Answer ?

Dealing with the anti-social has been an issue since society began. They have been killed, maimed, shunned, re-educated, punished, imprisoned, exorcised......
Of course, what is anti-social has changed over the years. I always loved the T-shirt that said, "I used to be shocked, now I'm just amused".
Anyway, jail seems to have lost it's stigma. I have overheard a common conversation multiple times. It goes like this:
Larry - hey, man, have you seen Moe around?
Curly - no, man, he's in jail.
Larry - oh, ok

There is no shock, surprise or outrage. If I heard one of my friends was in jail, my response would be more along the lines of, "WHA? - What happened?", or, at least, "aw, fucking Moe. What did he do now?"
In recent police crackdowns the police have made efforts to make racketeering charges against nuisance criminals. The offenders expressed short jail sentences was just a part of doing business. When faced with harsher/longer sentences, they seem to take a little more notice.
The thing is, these anti-socials know what to expect - 3 meals a day in a very regimented environment. Every day people join the military expecting the same lifestyle & the prospect of being put in harm's way in the future. I'm not seeing a big difference.
Rehabilitation has not been too successful.
So what to do? I say, bring back torture. Potentially anti-social types would know that their punishment would not be 3 squares & lights out at eight.
To reinforce the understanding of the wages for anti-social behavior we could establish an elected office of Chief Torturer. Politicians would have public campaigns to promote the types of torture they would employ. People could vote for the guy who wants to flog or the guy who wants to brand. Anti-socialists would get a real clear picture in consequent Novembers.
uhBob - Well I say we should skin 'em alive!
uhClem - Well, I say skin 'em alive & salt 'em!
uhBob - Well, there you go again! Have you looked at the budget? We don't have any money for salt!

The old subway tunnels would be a perfect venue for torture. People in the vicinity of Central Parkway could be reminded of their possible fate in the din of groaning & wailing punctuated by the occasional shriek.
This is a chance for Cincinnati to make a bold step forward & lead the country into the future.

3 comments:

geebee said...

If all else fails, you could always sentence them to eternity in Tremont City. Soft-on-torture Democrats would propose sending the poor wretches to Springfield.

Quimbob said...

life in the northwest has certainly hardened you.....

geebee said...

Nah. I'm a softy. Just a minor case of bitterness...