Loving Punishment

Conservatives notice that punishment helps deter anti-social behaviour, so they reason harsh punishment should work even better. They know this in their guts. They ignore any scientific evidence to the contrary. They like punishing people on any pretence, especially blacks, gays and Hispanics. Why doesn’t it work? Consider the Afghan war. Americans and Canadians tortured, used banned horror weapons such as radioactivity, white phosphorus and napalm. They removed limbs, raped and killed the wives and children. Yet the Afghans fought back all the harder. Why? They perceive the Americans and Canadians as devils — minions of Satan. They feel morally obligated to oppose them. The same thing happens when the legal system is too heavy-handed and perceived as unfair. There are many more efficient ways to discourage anti-social behaviour than brutal incarceration. Conservatives are not interested. They like it when people behave in anti-social ways because it gives them an excuse to exercise their sadistic impulses.

~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)