The review of former Vice-President Cheney's recent book, found in a New Yorker magazine a ways back, was not afraid to offend. And I imagine the former Veep gets a lot of that these days. Which raises the question: If Cheney was in any way responsible for torture, say, and he seems eager to make that a 'yes', shouldn't he be charged with breaking the law?
I don't intend to make the case for (loss of US prestige; putting our troops in harms way; setting a precedent for future law-breakers; unable to call others to account; and serious doubts about its effectiveness) or against (would be terribly divisive, etc.). My interest isn't in whether Cheney and his ilk should suffer for what they've wrought, but instead, whether the modern world with its bright lights and 'everybody watching' sense of being in the public eye has in any way altered the need for punishment.
First off, I should say that I believe in Hell-on-Earth and fates worse than death; and that those afflicted by same can never be mentally healthy again. Our minds, in order to avoid ill-health, depend on positive feedback. And in each human being's brain there is an objective seer who takes all experience in and metes out reward and punishment without prejudice. There is no avoiding this feedback loop. There is only suppression of said wonder. And with suppression comes banality, loss of direction, imitative self-abuse and all that dulls the senses.
Finding oneself judged by others makes hiding from and suppressing one's inner conscience all but impossible, as one is constantly reminded of wrong-doing. Thus, retiring to a self-selected community of toadies, as one might do in ages past isn't likely anymore. What used to be rumors of bad behavior that wouldn't be allowed inside a community of like minds is now splashed all over media outlets; television, radio, internet can't be avoided. Increasingly in our modern world, there is no escape.
Might this insight, assuming the existential impulse is valid, have implications for criminal justice, for example? I think so. If society became mostly concerned with connecting humans with their own Central Justice System, as one might call it, the need for punishment, while always remaining, would be secondary.
No comments:
Post a Comment