I can understand your view from where you come from, Loz. It's a whole different situation than it is here. Norway is a rich country and all you adress is actually in place. The welfare system is good here. You get a certain amount of money to live of and you get a certain amount for rent. It's more than I and hubby lived off the first three years after I moved to Norway. And we managed without help.
A prison inmate gets 59 NOK a day if he works or studies. You can't buy much more than a shampoo for that.
The cost to society for keeping the criminal in prison is substantially more than that.
But the real point is why should we not treat convicted criminals as human beings? That's what they are. Sure we lock them up so they can't hurt us anymore. But does that mean that they are less than you and me?
It depends.
*Stole food from a supermarket? We all would do that if hungry enough.
*Killed someone drink-driving? Not premeditated and more negligence than malice.
*Killed someone in self-defence? Who wouldn't?
*Murdered someone in a jealous rage? Almost anyone could be driven to that if pushed long and hard enough.
*Murdered 77 people, including children, because of political differences? Wait, do we all do that?
*Keep a child captive for years, torturing and ultimately killing them? Is that "there but for the grace of God go I" behaviour?
I hope you see what I am driving at. Certain types of crime are
not committed by human beings, they are committed by something else. They have the DNA of people, but they aren't
people.
I don't think so. You and me could have turned out like them with another childhood. Wouldn't you want to have a possibility for education if you were caught for a minor crime inyour youth? Tell me why that same right shouldn't apply for a mass killer.
We don't live in a world where there are sufficient resources available for everyone to live happy, productive lives, or in many countries, any lives at all.
Think of it as triage - in triage, you first save the folks who are in danger but who can be saved. You do this because you haven't the resources to save everyone all at once. Turning to the issue at hand, we have far more deserving targets for our care, consideration and financial assistance than mass murderers, serial killers and the like. Until we are saving
everyone in society, or on the planet, we don't need to keep the worst dregs alive, we cannot afford to. They are only kept alive to salve our consciences whilst we ignore people far more deserving of our mercy and concern.