America hardly uses the death penalty, and recent events remind us why not.
They also remind us why hardly anywhere still has it.
To revert to it would be to join some thoroughly insalubrious company, and would be downright bizarre on the part of those who defined themselves against Marxism and Islam, or by their affinity with the Old Commonwealth.
To revert to it would be to join some thoroughly insalubrious company, and would be downright bizarre on the part of those who defined themselves against Marxism and Islam, or by their affinity with the Old Commonwealth.
Abortion is an argument against abortion, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Wars of choice are an argument against wars of choice, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Mass deaths on the roads are an argument against the policies that give rise to mass deaths on the roads, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Wars of choice are an argument against wars of choice, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Mass deaths on the roads are an argument against the policies that give rise to mass deaths on the roads, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Prison suicides, like prison violence in general, are an argument against the regimes that so often prevail in prison, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Murders by released murderers are an argument against the policies and procedures that lead to those releases, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
Murders by released murderers are an argument against the policies and procedures that lead to those releases, not an argument in favour of capital punishment.
And there have always been released murderers.
The huge increase in the use of firearms in the course of crimes such as robbery predated the abolition of capital punishment, and began with the sentences handed down to the Great Train Robbers, who had not at that point killed anyone, or else they would have been charged with murder or manslaughter.
I regard it as a considerable scandal that none of them ever was later charged with manslaughter, at least. Had their actions caused the death of someone grander than the driver of a train, then they undoubtedly would have been so charged and prosecuted.
But no one had died at the time of their original trial and sentencing, after which it was universally remarked, while the death penalty was still in place, that "you wouldn't have got that for murder".
As a result, all manner of villains started to go on jobs tooled up as a matter of course.
But no one had died at the time of their original trial and sentencing, after which it was universally remarked, while the death penalty was still in place, that "you wouldn't have got that for murder".
As a result, all manner of villains started to go on jobs tooled up as a matter of course.
The abolition of the death penalty did not cause that.
Any more than the abolition of the grammar schools caused the decline in social mobility among the working classes, who barely attended the grammar schools, and who barely attend the few that remain.
In fact, that decline was caused by the weakening of the trade unions and of their role in the Labour Party. Hence the fact that it did not begin until 1979.
In fact, that decline was caused by the weakening of the trade unions and of their role in the Labour Party. Hence the fact that it did not begin until 1979.
Or any more than the smoking ban caused the present problems in the pub trade, which did not begin until later, when, you know, the global economy collapsed.
Had Britain retained the level of economic growth that there was on the day of the last General Election, then the smoke-free pubs would have been doing fine by now.
Had Britain retained the level of economic growth that there was on the day of the last General Election, then the smoke-free pubs would have been doing fine by now.
Except the decline in social mobility did not begin in 1979. It began in the late 60's and early 70's-as shown by the Sutton Trust and Rowntree Foundation studies.
ReplyDeleteNo research has ever found social mobility declined in 1979. Show me one such study-it doesn't exist.
The number of Oxbridge entrants from state schools began drastically declining as soon as grammars were abolished.
The abolition of grammar schools was the primary reason for the collapse of social mobility.
By universal consent, the last year of it was 1978. Anyone who says otherwise is saying what they wish were true, without having bothered to check.
ReplyDeleteWorking class people never went to grammar schools, or as good as. Where there still are grammar schools, that is still true.
ReplyDeleteThey announced a widening access to the poor scheme only this week. Widening access to state schools! But they need to do it. It won't work, though.
Everything in this post is spot on. It is a little masterpiece.