I listened keenly to the words of Dr. Notice as he proffers a very potent position in the daily Observer dated Saturday November 1st 2008 in an article entitled, “who will lead save Jamaica?” on the heatly debated issue of capital punishment. In his estimation he strongly believes that Capital Punishment has no place in curbing the high murder rate experienced in our country. He sees capital punishment as a fuel that will continue to keep burning the uncontrollable flame of murder.
This is a point well received; however, I believe that a bridge can be erected to meet the two opposing positions. For those who are for Capital Punishment and those who are against. By this I believe that the installation of Corporal Punishment will prove to be very effective in social control.
As Dr. Notice made mentioned of the lack of future orientation of most of the criminals we war against. I am of the belief that killing them may not be as effective as making the gun swindlers handicapped; who prized themselves in their ability to own, and operate a fire arm for all their evil purposes. Persons who are found guilty of gun crimes, and killing by means of a gun, machete, knife or any instrument for that matter, should have their hands chopped off! Well this may sound very harsh, so let me suggest a milder alternative in cutting off their thumb and index finger. This will restrict them from operating a gun, machete or knife for their ill gains.
The criminals in our country control us through fear; their power is not in the gun they possess but in their ability to use this gun. What good will a gun be in a hand of a person that cannot hold it? And what harm can a handicapped hand do to hurt someone? If these villains will not be deterred through fear of death and the reality of imprisonment, I am convinced they will be deterred though fear of being handicapped. Corporal punishment I believe then will bring some sense of fear for the law that governs this land. There has to be a strong presence of formal social control that will regulate the deviant behavior in Jamaica, Corporal Punishment is the most likely possibility.
We may argue and question the ethics of corporal punishment but this should be no problem for us to resolve, as the method can be quite easy and painless. What is for certain is that criminals are having a field day breaking the law because we do not take this law seriously. They see us as jokers who find it hard to even implement a system to effectively curtail crime. The major system of punishment is imprisonment, but this seems to be producing more ruthless criminals as opposed to rehabilitated citizens, who have a degree of fear for the law of the land. I strongly believe that it is time for drastic action to regulate criminal behavior in Jamaica. Criminals should not dictate to us, we should dictate to them! Criminals should not inflict fear in us; we should inflict fear in them! Criminals should feel the supremacy of a social control system that hunts them when they are wrong, and administer due consequence for the action they have made. It is time for us Jamaicans to rise from the slumbering mode of fantasy. It is time for us to be healed from the paralytic sting of fear and doubt. It is time for us to charter a new course in the history of this country, where criminals are no longer feared, celebrated nor seen as invincible. It is time for us to come out of hiding and respond affirmatively to the question of Dr. Notice. “I will lead save Jamaica.”
Dr. Notice as you offer your suggestions for curtailing crime, let us greatly consider Corporal punishment as a key ingredient in the crime plan. The ideal is to have a penal system that criminals will fear, and seek to avoid at all cost. The reality is however that they prize themselves in going to prison often returning worst than how they first went. Corporal punishment should level the battle field in our war against crime, and will in effect to some degree offer justice where necessary.
The pervasiveness of crime in our country can become a thing of the past. With the right strategy and the right people who will be brave and fearless in their decision to fight for the cause of corporal punishment. I am strongly convinced then that through this together we will lead save Jamaica.
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3 comments:
I consider your post very thought provoking and worthy of comment. I think that Jamaica's social and economic problems are too deep seated for the implementation of any kind to have any major impact in reducing crime and correcting the social ills.
I agree with you that Jamaica needs "a system to effectively curtail crime." This is at the heart of our problem - the system is weak, virus infected and as a result slow and ineffective.
I agree with you further when you declare that we need 'the right strategy and the right people.' Chopping off someone's hand can hardly be considered a right strategy. The fact that our crimes and murders are brutal gives us no excuse to begin to live like barbarians.
What we need are: a more effective justice system, more committed police, courageous leadership and the help of God.
Good attempt at proffering a solution to Jamaica's crime problem. However, corporal punishment is not and will never be the answer. It is, at best, ridiculous and, at worst, barbaric, savage, inhuman, and un-Christian.
Corporal punishment of the sort you are advocating merely adds to our untenable social situation. It does absolutely nothing to solve our major crime problem.
Please rethink your suggestion and consider re-writing a post on the matter.
I feel your passion and zeal. I respect that you desperately want drastic change and are emotionally overwhelmed, but you can't become like that which you dispise so becarful to maintain perspective. You tried to take the logical approach of meeting Capital Punishment half way, but logic is much more complex than this. Note: when walking down the road of logic that nothing is ever black and white so, you must always consider the grey areas. Think of the issue itself in simple terms but, logically and analytically exhaust all possibilities and afreas of grey to find rational and reasonable solutions. Fire can not put out fire and so violence can not curb violence. When a child is having a temper tantrum to seek attention the parents best reaction is to remain stern, calm and authoritatively in response. If the parent shows any sign of weakness the child knows they have won. You can not meet a criminal half way. Corporal and capital punishment both suggest that it is not o.k. for the persons committing crime to be violent but it is o.k. for the persons of the law to be violent. When a soldier kills at war he is given medals and praised and glorified by his country, but did he not take the life of someone's child? It is a sad reality but, criminals can also be admired by the people of the land as "war heroes". If they believe that their country has failed them they will seek out hope and a hero anyway that they can. Which unfortunately includes going against that same government which has fialed them and joining the side of crime. This maybe hard to stomach and sound to simplistic but it is pyschlogically and logically sound. The key now is for the government to restore the faith of the people and become their hero again. What our Jamaica needs is to combat this fire with water, figurtively speaking. Now the question is what forms of water will drown out this fire that has been burning for so long? Hope and faith that God is not sleeping will create and ignite seeds of courage and a new belief system like you suggested is the foundation to change. "As a man thinketh so is he" An overhaul of the police system is beneficial in the immediate sense to help protect families and eliminate fear. Restoration of some peace and an end to chaos is vital. The nation must know who is in power. Nevertheless, everything starts in the home and bleeds into the community, church and school. Creating employment and ensuring that families are not hungry is the basic responsibility of a social government. There is a loss of hope and the young turn to violence when they are hungry. Hungry for food, clothing, opportunity, a job or career...it doesn't matter which when there is a large deficit it creates unrest. This is true globally, not just in Jamaica. The mindset of the Jamaican mother and the Jamaican father must first be devoted to truth, honor, respect, purity and justice for oneself and others. Simply put, one wife married to one husband and their duty is to each other only and devotion to the raising of their children as a team. Too many broken homes and single parents creates a strain and sometimes worse. My mother had me at a very young age and did not choose to marry my father, but did marry a good man and I was still young enough to be raised in the traditional design of the family. We should never dismiss the value of this design. God makes no mistakes and thus he knows best. We should not mock God and have multiple babymother's or run away a good husband in hard times. We can make our shortfalls right. We can repent and change for the better. Everything is a choice. When we make better choices our situation does change. God is not sleeping. Children must be taught from birth that right and wrong is real and not just an interesting concept or idea. Mom and Dad need to embrace their role as parents in unity and love. This example is more powerful than any punishment. Be your children's only hero.
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