Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum Make 'em suffer!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...HUNDREDS-years.

"They say billions are being invested in techniques that could mean the cruellest criminals will be kept alive indefinitely in condition befitting their crime."

Surely there are better things than vengeance to spend our money on.

I thought science was short on funding.

Of course, I overlooked the possibility that this would put more money in the pockets of those who run private prisons.
How could I miss something as important as that?

Really? The capacity for creativity in human judgment to create more suffering always seems to outweigh its capacity for healing and prosperity.

Addressing symptoms rather than curing the problem is not an intelligent use of the human mind.

Absolutely, but it is a feature of the human tendency to look for the "easy fix", which so often leads to a deterioration in the thing that needed fixing in the first place.

Physical abuse does not address the psychosis which brings about the violent emotional breakdowns that are symptomatic of those that have been abused already. Using the idea of torture to create fear in the public as a remedy or deterrent is not easy, it's not a fix, it's just a symptom of fear based emotional reaction, rather than intelligent and objective thinking.

Billions of dollars for torture?
How about some dollars to tweak the education system so it no longer instills the need to lay waste to the human value system that is so keen on destroying self worth by promoting judgment against those that don't live up to the standards of socialized expectations. The educational system is built upon the same principles that this system of torture is based. Everything about what a person does is judged with the threat of failure and a future of hopeless separation from the system that prides itself on meeting goals defined by beliefs in what is more important than clean water, air, healthy food, mental health and an integrated society.

Social violence is a symptom of stress created by those who have been ignored by their parents and society because social values have become more important than love and compassion.

I find this sort of research very disturbing. I have no quarrel with seeking out ways to allow people to live longer, more productive lives. I cannot accept that we would use Chemistry to torture people. It is already bad enough that many of those who are incarcerated are forced to endure solitary confinement, which is dehumanizing and crazy-making. Making those days seem longer with drugs is, in my opinion, both cruel and unusual. Our justice system is perverse at best, with longer sentences for selling drugs and passing bad checks than for violent murder, rape, or causing a person to commit suicide. Prisons no longer seek to rehabilitate, they serve mainly as warehouses of people, with little opportunity for education or therapy. The business of private prisons has no incentive for rehabilitation, it is in their best interests to have inmate numbers high, so they don't care if their parolees have the skills to make it in normal society, ensuring that they will have a high rate of recidivism that keeps their prisons full and their profits high. I think the worst thing that ever happened to correctional institutions was placing them in the hands of private companies whose sole purpose is to make money.

Of course it's not, but the scary thing is that so many people in leading positions think it is, and the Daily Mail is not slow to popularize the the idea.