The+Issue+of+Capital+Punishment

__**The Issue of Capital Punishment**__ One of the more important issues of this century....is often ignored. I'm talking about capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, something that is a common legal practice in 59 UN member states, accounting for 60% of the global population ( [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment__] ). This is a scary statistic for me, because in many of these countries the application of the death penalty is applied “liberally” to offenses ranging from drug possession to consensual homosexual sex. On top of this some countries (such as the People's Republic of China) routinely uses the death penalty to dispose of unwanted political activists. Once could say that the above applications of the death penalty constitutes systematic and horrific abuse by a large number of UN member nations. Does this mean that a global moratorium on capital punishment should be in order? But it would not be fair if we simply considered the bad about capital punishment. We must also consider the good inherent in the system. Take this unusual argument from Japan: “A unique justification for keeping capital punishment has been put forward by some Japanese psychologists who argue that it has an important psychological part to play in the life of the Japanese, who live under severe stress and pressure in the workplace. The argument goes that the death penalty reinforces the belief that bad things happen to those who deserve it. This reinforces the contrary belief; that good things will happen to those who are 'good'.” (From [|__http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/for_7.shtml__] ) Even more fascinating is that these claims have been corroborated by the Japanese public themselves, who are more than 81% in favor of the continued use of capital punishment. These numbers seem to prove that in some societies at least, the use of capital punishment is a good thing in that it reinforces social order and reminds people that actions have consequences. But is capital punishment an ideal solution for everyone? hardly. The question still remains: Should the death penalty be abolished? or should the countries that have it, keep it?
 * Entry One (April 11** **th** **)**


 * Entry Two (April 13** **th** **)**