The Real Problem with Capital Punishment

With all the controversy surrounding capital punishment these days I thought I would throw my two cents in. Typically when we think about capital punishment our minds wonder to the idea of what a hypocritical way it is to serve justice and quite frankly I agree. How come the concept of capital punishment is something we find very hard to understand? I can't tell you the answer to that. However, coming from a capitalism society I could tell you that maybe there's more to capital punishment then justice, maybe it's really about the social classes and power. 

For those who don’t know what Marxism is, it is the political, social, and economic theory that we are all equals, living in a communist society, where there should be no social classes or an apparent divide between people. Karl Marx the creator of Marxism was oppose to capital punishment as am I. Capital punishment also known as the death penalty has been abolished in many countries worldwide including Canada. Many consider the states ability to execute someone as the result of committing a crime to be inhumane. Not to mention it is a breach of the Canadian charter of rights section 7 where it states, “everyone’s right to life is enshrined”. Nonetheless it seems to be a breach of rights worldwide.  So the real question is why do 57 countries worldwide still have the ability to sentence someone to their death?

The theory of Marxism conflicts with the states ability to execute someone and rightfully so. The vast majority of those who have been put on death row are those who Karl Marx would classify as the proletariat class (working class). There is a correlation between socialclasses and crime rate, the lower the social class, the greater the probability of being involved in crime. Marx’s main idea was to free the lower class from poverty and give the poor a fighting chance and in my opinion the death penalty does the opposite of that. The death penalty is inhumane and causes an unnecessary divide between classes. Having the state sentence you to your death is ensuring someone had the power to seal your fate regardless if it was a judge or jury, either way they had power over your life. To an extent capital punishment just adds an even greater, and more apparent divide between classes and those in power. Democracy also seems to play a role in capital punishment. Places in America which are for the death penalty are influenced by the majority of the state.  Therefore, the power is in the hands of the majority and their beliefs.

This is a controversial topic; most people have already formed an opinion on. Some may consider the use of up to three lethal injections to paralyze and then stop the inmate’s heart or the method of hanging and snapping the inmate’s neck to be inhumane. Other people also see capital punishment as deserving or view the topic as an “an eye for an eye” type thing. Social media shows that about half the people agree with the view of Marx, that it goes against the idea of communism and all being equals, the other half would disagree and state that capital punishment is justified. That’s the problem with this debate, that either side can be justified in some sort of way. The question is what’s more important: the power between classes or what people believe is justice?

Even though 57 countries still use capital punishment, I think the laws need to be reformed. Any way you view capital punishment, the bourgeoisie class (so-called middle/higher class) has an advantage over the proletariat class. When it comes to battling it out in the courtroom, like anything in life the better you are at what you do, the better your shots of succeeding. The bourgeoisie class can hire better defense lawyers then anyone in the proletariat class. I don't know of any defense attorneys that would be cheap in a case where the crown is seeking the death penalty. Most people in the proletariat class cannot afford good lawyers or the ones they have, have been previously disbarred or have run into problems with the law themselves. This only divides social classes more because they cannot all have fair and equal trials. 

Although, Marxism has proved to be a flawed theory (most of the world is capitalist) his theory is proven to be correct in terms of capital punishment and its relation to class structure. The fact that someone can have the power to sentence you to your death goes against most people religious beliefs, Marx’s ideology on social classes, and the idea of communism. Bottom line is that the theory of Marxism was that everyone is equal in a just society and that communism would create a utopian state in which every person would have the same rights and economic status. There would be no poor, no rich, just a well to do middle class.   Despite, some believing capital punishment is inhumane the real and underlying problem is the problem of class inequality in which capital punishment creates.  I think that the issue is that we are not all equals when it comes to the death penalty and I don't think that is morally correct. 

 

Karl Marx creator of the theory of Marxism