Let’s talk about capital punishment and the double standard.

     I have certainly lost some fans and followers in the last few weeks. I try very hard to be consistent, sometimes failing since I am in fact human, even in the face of circumstances I agree with that come about from means I would normally be opposed to. High order consequences exist and are too often ignored, or acknowledged and ignored as inconvenient. Capital punishment is one such example from the hard right that falls into this category. The hard right and hard left have 1 major thing in common: They love the government when they get their way, and decry the government when they don’t. Neither side is principled on government consistently. 

     When it comes to capital punishment, the data has shown, often too late in many individual cases, that the government gets it wrong as in the case of Levon Jones from this 2012 blog from the ACLU. For even more information on this, please visit the Innocence Project. If we all know that in fact sometimes the state gets it wrong, then the very idea that the state, in any capacity, should have the monopoly of deliberate lethal “justice” should be scorned. In fact the question is, if you understand and know that the state gets it wrong, at what percentage of innocent people being killed by the state is acceptable for you?

     If the answer is zero, then you must decry capital punishment by government, both State and Federal. If knowing government gets it wrong, you are still an advocate of capital punishment, then protecting innocent life is not in fact your ultimate principled position. It can’t be. If you believe something to the effect of “you gotta break a few eggs” and shrug your shoulders at innocent people dying for the “greater good” then I have some news for you, Stalin would be proud. 

     If you are the first option, where you believe innocent life should be protected at all costs, and therefore also oppose the death penalty, then you are being consistent. I know then, that you are probably pro-life. What’s also funny is if you are conservative, and are willing to accept the death, by the state, of innocent people to ensure those truly horrible persons are also put down, then I can also predict with accuracy that you are also “pro-life” when it comes to abortion. Funny thing that is. This is what you call a double standard. 

     The double standard is so often seen on the left. In fact leaps and bounds more on the left. In fact the left, in most regards, has zero self awareness in this regard. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: 

     There is also cognitive dissonance and a lack of self awareness with that second option I listed earlier. There are in fact people of the conservative persuasion who know that the government gets it wrong, have made careers of talking about how the government gets it wrong, and still champion the death penalty. If governments wreck economies, destroy morals through the nanny state, go after political opponents, make unnecessary war, and spend beyond their means, how in the ever loving fuck can those same people champion the death penalty? 

      I know how. They do in fact worship the ultimate authority of the state, they just think they should be in charge. If only they were in charge, all babies would be born, all criminals would be killed, and any lives ruined in the pursuit of these ideals would be unfortunate side effects of the absolute moral good. For they know best. 

     Many have seen my arguments on Minds lately. I’ve been accused of caring more about my stolen watermelons last year, than I do about babies. That is of course bullshit. The person who said it knows it’s bullshit, yet they say it, because they feel like they are in a position of absolute moral clarity. This issue is not related to any other issue. Sure, but the principle guiding your stance on this issue is related to other issues. If anyone doesn’t understand that, they have not considered their principles for this issue in the broadest sense.

Exhibit C: A double standard that seems to be the norm, and completely counter-intuitive if you want more babies being born.

     So back to trying to be consistent. I understand the pro-life argument. It is valid from their perspective and I respect it. I absolutely do not respect ignoring high order effects and the double standard nor the moral busybody who wants to use the state to enact their will, consequences be damned. This is not a hill I ever thought I would have to fight on. Liberty as a principle seemed to be making a comeback, until state legislatures had the opportunity to enact their will on half of the population with absoluteness, often with zero accounting for high order consequences, to the cheers of far too many people. Liberty hasn’t been refreshed, she is wilting as the government's authority(state governments are still government) grows, even when you agree with it.

In Liberty