The Republican Argument For The Death Penalty Screams Of "Snowflakery"

     Quite simply, the Republican argument in favor of the death penalty screams of "snowflakery." I find it humorous that people who vote red look at having emotions or caring about other people as a vice, but I'll take any opportunity to point out the hypocrisy of their using this word as both an insult and what they believe to be an accurate portrayal of the party that respects science.

     A clear elaboration of this position is the death penalty. I decided to have a discussion with a few people who support capital punishment. The arguments that stick out are, simply, that people deserve it. This is not a fact that is in dispute. Some child-murdering freak absolutely deserves to die, but that doesn't square with a few of the other arguments made. The proponents of limited government often fail to see the hypocrisy in allowing the government's judiciary to decide whom, among the vast swamp of filth in the world, deserves to die in particular. Nor do the religious people who see the death penalty as a just punishment recognize that killing a person isn't exactly a Christian thing to do; the seeming lack of faith in the principle that they will get justice in the afterlife also denotes hypocrisy somewhere in their belief formula.

     The emotions run high in these cases, but the facts speak differently. The criminal justice system goes beyond the nation: it goes to human nature. Some people will always hurt others and violate society's laws, rules, and norms. The idea that this comprehensive system would exist to punish the small percentage of Americans who are criminals is ridiculous: it is designed to ensure the vast majority feel either protected from these people or that, if not, justice will be delivered. Lifetime imprisonment is protection enough for society. The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, it disproportionately impacts people of color and people with mental illnesses, and there is always a sizeable risk that an innocent person can be convicted or a guilty person tortured by a botched lethal injection performed by a prison employee (doctors cannot do this because of the Hippocratic oath), a violation of the eighth amendment. It is more expensive, with the average death row inmate spending nearly two decades incarcerated in a special prison before being given an expensive cocktail of drugs, only after the dozens of legal appeals are exhausted. This should stand out to the limited government people. These factors have resulted in 160 nations legally or functionally abolishing the death penalty.

     Facts prove the death penalty is pointless and wrong. If you point to emotion as a reasonable way to run a nation, you just might be a snowflake.