The Death Penalty

this is the text of a letter i sent to the star (the main south african daily newspaper) after a rash of hysterical people were demanding the reinstatement of the death penalty (we haven't had the death penalty since the bad old days of apartheid).  It was published, resulting in much flamage of my mailbox:

To All Defenders of the Death Penalty:

Just because a majority holds a certain opinion does not grant that opinion validity. The only valid reason for killing someone is in self-defence. Institutionally mandated vengeance is not a step forward but a step backward into barbarity.

The death penalty cannot be considered legitimate punishment nor can it be considered to be a greater deterrent than life inprisonment. We should be focusing more on the carrot rather than the stick in our attempts to deal with crime in this country. Economics play a significant part in crime in this country. More jobs, better wages, more houses, etc, are essential to reducing criminal activity. Instead of building some super-prison or converting ships to prisons the government should be focusing on upliftment of our countries poorest.

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