In my opinion some people forfeit the right to live.

While it's not particularly popular to say something like this in the left-wing leaning era of do-gooders and social democrats, I believe this to be the case.

In particular people who carry-out heinous acts – such as sexually assaulting and murdering children; the Hutus who without any compunction hacked children and the elderly to death with clubs embedded with nails; Pol Pot; people who abuse their positions of authority and power for corrupt purposes and suck the life-blood out of a community or country for their own greedy, selfish purposes while subjecting their fellow citizens to hardship and poverty.

All lose the right to live.

Viet Nam imposed the death penalty and lowered the limit with which it could be applied for corruption cases in the late 1990's. After a few people were shot, corruption in the country dropped dramatically.

The death penalty is the ultimate deterrent. If people know they face the prospect of it then they choose to gamble with their own life or not.

Naturally it should not be applied to people who are of unsound mind.<br><br>Post edited by: photo_journ, at: 2007/09/26 15:29