Capital Punishment Essay: Controversy Distorts Capital Punishment :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Controversy Distorts Capital Punishment    Is it just me, or have we become totally fixated with the issue of capital punishment? Save abortion, I can't think of a single issue with more passionate advocates on each side. Waiting for the controversy over capital punishment to be resolved is like waiting for Godot.    What amazes me most about all of this passion and fervor is the fact that, on the grand scale of things, it really doesn't make a lick of difference. Oh sure, it matters to the guy who gets the needle in his arm, and it's an issue of concern to the families of his victims, but it doesn't really touch the rest of us one way or the other.    Do proponents of the death penalty really think death is a worse punishment than life in prison? Have you seen the state of our prison system these days? These places are so purgatorial that Dante should be taking notes. I'd say that execution is a merciful and favorable alternative to being incarcerated with this mà ©lange of Darwin's elite. Any sensible person would rather be skewered to death by toothpicks.    The interests of justice aren't perverted just because a murderer spends 40 years dying of dysentery rather than getting a shot of Liquid Plumber in his veins. Either way, the guy's not going to be making the same mistake twice.    On the other hand, opponents of the death penalty make it seem like all we've ever done is execute innocent grandmothers. Of course, there are probably a significant amount of innocent people getting whacked each year by the state. But as I said before, the alternative to dying for something you didn't do is spending the rest of your life as some 7-foot tall Neanderthal's girlfriend.    Critics of the death penalty often claim that it's a racist system, evidenced by the fact that African-Americans make up 12 percent of the general population but 55 percent of death row inmates in Texas. But men only make up 48 percent of the population and they consist of 98.5 percent of the death row population. If we're going to point out the prejudices of the system, sexism seems like a much more plausible complaint.    I'll admit that when you look at the numbers, it certainly looks like a racist system. Capital Punishment Essay: Controversy Distorts Capital Punishment :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics Controversy Distorts Capital Punishment    Is it just me, or have we become totally fixated with the issue of capital punishment? Save abortion, I can't think of a single issue with more passionate advocates on each side. Waiting for the controversy over capital punishment to be resolved is like waiting for Godot.    What amazes me most about all of this passion and fervor is the fact that, on the grand scale of things, it really doesn't make a lick of difference. Oh sure, it matters to the guy who gets the needle in his arm, and it's an issue of concern to the families of his victims, but it doesn't really touch the rest of us one way or the other.    Do proponents of the death penalty really think death is a worse punishment than life in prison? Have you seen the state of our prison system these days? These places are so purgatorial that Dante should be taking notes. I'd say that execution is a merciful and favorable alternative to being incarcerated with this mà ©lange of Darwin's elite. Any sensible person would rather be skewered to death by toothpicks.    The interests of justice aren't perverted just because a murderer spends 40 years dying of dysentery rather than getting a shot of Liquid Plumber in his veins. Either way, the guy's not going to be making the same mistake twice.    On the other hand, opponents of the death penalty make it seem like all we've ever done is execute innocent grandmothers. Of course, there are probably a significant amount of innocent people getting whacked each year by the state. But as I said before, the alternative to dying for something you didn't do is spending the rest of your life as some 7-foot tall Neanderthal's girlfriend.    Critics of the death penalty often claim that it's a racist system, evidenced by the fact that African-Americans make up 12 percent of the general population but 55 percent of death row inmates in Texas. But men only make up 48 percent of the population and they consist of 98.5 percent of the death row population. If we're going to point out the prejudices of the system, sexism seems like a much more plausible complaint.    I'll admit that when you look at the numbers, it certainly looks like a racist system.