I would pay to have him dead... I would like to see the exact question they asked, presumably it was straight forward but these polls always make me a bit suspicious.
(Keeping in mind I think TV execuition is a ridiculously sick idea).
Hobbes Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
I got upset enough over the Timothy McVae thing....
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
quote:I would pay to have him dead...
You sort of are. Except the people you're paying don't seem to be getting the job done.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
True. My point was though that it is possible (possible, not for sure, or even likely I recognize) that people thought that's what the question meant.
Hobbes
[ February 23, 2004, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by slacker (Member # 2559) on :
I'm wondering what the cross section of people are that they polled for the survey. I'd think that the number of people who'd want to watch Osama bite it would be higher, say in NYC than in California (or something to that effect).
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
there was a guy in my Socials 11 class that kept drawing pictures of tractors running over Bin Laden on the board...I don't understand that kind of hatred...needless to say I am very far from that 21%
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
*shudder*
No I would not want to watch anyone die. I never have understood the families of murder victims wanting to watch executions. Then again, I allow that I might feel differently if I were in that situation.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I had a kid once that drew a pic of bin laden then stabbed it with red marker it was disturbing
Posted by Jeni (Member # 1454) on :
I have a really difficult time believing that a kid would draw something like that on his or her own out of anger. I don't have another explanation for it, but I can't imagine that sort of hatred.
As for the poll... How many people would want to murder bin Laden themselves, if given the chance?
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
I think, if I got angry enough, I might pay to watch someone die. Or more likely pay to kill them. At least, I acknowledge the possibility that I could hate someone so much-though I'm quite happy to avoid it.
How do we know Osama bin Laden isn't dead? I'm not saying I believe he is, but I think it's quite possible he's been buried in rubble or annihilated somewhere.
As to the question, though, I would not pay to watch Osama bin Laden die. I would, on the other hand, pay to have him killed. As has been pointed out, I already am and have zero problem with that.
Edit: And it's my belief that anyone who 'doesn't understand that kind of hatred' hasn't experienced enough yet. I think anyone can be, through certain experiences, pushed into that kind of hatred.
[ February 23, 2004, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: Rakeesh ]
Posted by lcarus (Member # 4395) on :
o_O
Kasie, where do you live?
-o-
quote:I think, if I got angry enough, I might pay to watch someone die. Or more likely pay to kill them. At least, I acknowledge the possibility that I could hate someone so much-though I'm quite happy to avoid it. . . .
Edit: And it's my belief that anyone who 'doesn't understand that kind of hatred' hasn't experienced enough yet. I think anyone can be, through certain experiences, pushed into that kind of hatred.
Well put. (Even for a goober who didn't join us aat the Renaissance Festival.)
Posted by Kasie H (Member # 2120) on :
Well that's a complicated question, actually.
I go to college in Washington, D.C.
I'm from the Philadelphia area, really, but my dad lives in Easton, PA.
My mom and my sister currently live in South Florida....but my parents aren't divorced. They're down there so my sister can pursure her golf career -- she wants to play in college.
Posted by lcarus (Member # 4395) on :
Okay. I was just wondering how you came up with a link to one of my local stations. Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Isn't there a certain hypocrisy in being willing to pay to have someone killed, and being unwilling to actually do the killing yourself?
This is why I don't support the death penalty. I wouldn't be able to throw the switch myself.
Edit ... so I woudln't expect someone else to take the responsibility.
[ February 23, 2004, 10:47 PM: Message edited by: Foust ]
Posted by Tresopax (Member # 1063) on :
I would pay to prevent him from being killed.
I admit, not too much though...
Posted by John L (Member # 6005) on :
Isn't this like the glass-half-empty way of saying that 79% of the people wouldn't? Isn't it great to be so morally superior that we can expect only one nation to have absolutely no morally ambiguous types?
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
No, not unless I were invited to be some kind of official witness to the execution but had to provide my own airfare. But definitely not in a pay-per-view cable scenario. Then again, I've never used pay-per-view for anything.
Oh, wait a second, I thought this said Saddam Hussein. Oh well. Doesn't really influence my answer.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
>> Oh, wait a second, I thought this said Saddam Hussein. <<
o_O
Wow.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I wouldn't want to watch anyone die at the hands of another, much less pay for the privilege.
If Bin Laden is guilty of orchestrating 9-11, then he should definitely be brought to justice. I have no problem with that. If he is found worthy of death, so be it. But I won't watch, especially not with blood lust.
Posted by John L (Member # 6005) on :
Would I pay? No. If it were broadcast and I received it, would I record it? Hell yes.
I know that doesn't live up to all you morally superior people, but maybe someday I'll be as enlightened as you.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
For me, no.
I have other foci on which to concentrate my energies. That would be a poor use of some excellent, fierce rage.
[ February 24, 2004, 08:14 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
If I demand that he be executed (which I do) then what kind of a citizen am I if I'm NOT willing to watch what I've demanded to see happen? Those of us who support capital punishment have a moral obligation to look upon the product of our stance.
So, yeah. I wouldn't pay, but I'd watch it. I wouldn't like watching it, but I would.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
You know, in my bioethics class there was a video we had the option of watching that included footage of Dr. Kevorkian euthanizing someone. It wasn't a pleasant thing to watch, but I still found myself glued to the screen with a sense of morbid curiosity, as did the rest of the class. It really was quite the experience. Would I pay to repeat the experience? No. If I was channel flipping and I saw it happening? I don't know… I might just be overcome with that same curiosity.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I cannot say I would pay to see someone killed. That's blood money. No way.
However, I would avidly watch someone die. I desperately wonder what that moment is like when someone slips this mortal coil. What can I learn from death? How can I prepare for what that moment comes for me?
People used to be at deathbeds all the time. Is it holy? Is it awesome and scary, like being at a birth? I want to know.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I wouldn't pay and I wouldn't want to see, hear or listen to people who had seen, or even paid. End of discussion.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
That's absolutely revolting. Posted by David Bowles (Member # 1021) on :
:waves at Teshi, mouthing words she cannot hear:
That's pretty dismissive, don't you think? I haven't said I would watch out of some prurient desire to be titillated by pain, but because as a citizen who's chosen to support this execution, I have a DUTY to not be squeamish about what I'm supporting. I will look it in the face without flinching, unhappy that it must be done, but certain that it must.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Watching Bin Laden die would be a very symbolic thing for many people--kind of a triumph over evil or fear. Capturing Saddam seemed to have that kind of effect.
I wish killing Bin Laden (especially on live TV) would end the kind of hateful acts he is accused of instigating, but I really doubt it would.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Joe,
*smacks forehead* Yeah, well, in my defense I was working...OK, I'm tapped out on making lame excuses. Wish I coulda been there:(
David is correct in pointing out, I think, that if one supports capital punishment, squeamishness concerning the actual execution is a bit...well, questionable. I still maintain that people who cannot fathom wanting to watch someone die are fortunate that they haven't experienced the sorts of things that can lead to that desire.
PS Not just a person, but a specific person.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
quote:People used to be at deathbeds all the time. Is it holy? Is it awesome and scary, like being at a birth? I want to know.
Yes, it is. I've been at many. (edit: It can be. It isn't always.)
But I would not pay, nor choose, to watch an execution.
[ February 24, 2004, 06:54 PM: Message edited by: dkw ]
Posted by John L (Member # 6005) on :
quote:I have other foci on which to concentrate my energies. That would be a poor use of some excellent, fierce rage.
This is the reason everyone should fear CT (in that loveable, huggable way). Posted by odouls268 (Member # 2145) on :
That's ridiculous. No way.
Of course, There's a good possibility that I won't make rent this month, so apparantly at least 21% of Americans have far moer disposable income than little ole me.
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