Aahh... Lifes little Ironies...

[Guest]

Death or life?

So, let's whittle this down to the fine points and ask the real question.

Alvarez decides to off himself by parking his car in the path of an oncoming train. He chickens out, but instead of driving his vehicle off the tracks and out of the way, he jumps out and runs. The train hits the car and derails, hitting another train. 11 people die and a couple hundred are injured. Alvarez decides he better finish himself so he cuts his wrists and stabs himself. Only he doesn't have the guts to cut very deep.

Criminally stupid? Unquestionably. But the real question here is what to do with him. Do we sentance him to death and fulfill his wish? Or would it be more of a punishment to keep him alive?

I can honestly say I am torn on this one. I'm not sure which I would rather see him get. Maybe if we almost kill him several times. A quick blast in the electric chair, I whiff of cyanide gas, a firing squad that misses all his vital organs, Hang him low enough that his toes touch the ground, a lethal injection that somehow didn't get the poison put in....

Look, if you want to off yourself, be my guest, but leave the rest of the world out of it.

EDIT: Maybe we should build him a special cell overlooking the train tracks and a memorial to those he killed.

 

[rgraham666]

Having found myself hanging from my own belt at one point in my life, I understand how far down the man was to attempt such a thing.

On the other hand, why did he have to involve other people in his plan?

On the third hand, when you're that far down you're not thinking. Your brain is too mired in misery to think.

I'm not sure torturing the man to death will do anything other than give others permission to do the same thing. After all, if it's all right for us to torture collectively, it will be all right to torture individually.

Torturing him to death will give us some catharsis, and satisfy the bloody hungers an act such as his engenders, but I don't think catharsis and satisfaction are things to be indulged in this instance.

Perhaps we ought to treat mental illness the same way we treat physical illness? Perhaps we should try to identify the conditions that engender mental illness and attempt to reduce them.

[sarcasm] Nah. That would involve money and money is more important than people.

Plus it's simply a matter of strength. If you're strong, you don't become mentally ill.[/sarcasm]