be warned: Michele Foucoult reports that way back in the dark ages, when they were holding regular public executions, the kings and nobles thought it would be the greatest deterrent to people hungry for crime, since they could graphically see the death. the result, reports Foucoult, was that instead of not wanting to commit crime, the people wanted to save the criminals. this was due to a billy-the-kid kind of phenomenon where criminals became folk heros as sympathies shifted toward the people actually dying up on stage. now, Foucoult does note that this happened because, while people could watch the criminal die and feel pity for his/her pain (although most public executions were men, except in Salem, Mass, where the witches grow), the people could not see the actual crime the criminals had committed, and therefore could not muster the necessary anger and need for vengence that execution requires the executioners to have. the difference today, of course, is that we have television, and we can watch endless replays of the OK city building blow up, and we can maintain our sense of moral outrage and therefore feel good about watching timothy mcveigh die. so if they do televise this thing, theyll probably accompany it with footage of the original crime, which will enable those who think the death penalty is good to continue thinking it's good. just my thoughts.
i feel bloated and happy on billyjoebob posts. you may disappear back into your infamy again, should you need to do so, mr. Australian man.
today the university gave me a yellow and red tassel that i get to wear around my shoulders at graduation. this is in addition to the sock puppets theyve already attached to the ends of my sleeves. i took one look at the tassel and thought to myself, why wait? im going to incorporate the tassel into all my outfits from now on. then im going to attach sock puppets to some of my other shirts. eventually, i will start a tassel-and-sock-puppet fad that will sweep the nation. this is going to be great. youll see.
posted by Paully at 11:43 PM link/comments
