MsGrotesque's blog: "[[[Welcome To My Sandbox Asylum of Confusion]]"

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Dear Deadbeat Dad,

Hello there, young man with your priorities misconstrued. Those are

some nice rims on your car. Man, you STAY wearing the latest sneakers

out. In fact, you know ALL the release dates to all the new shoes. Do

you know your child’s birthday, though? Do you know the first tooth

they lost? Was it a top tooth or bottom tooth. How are their grades in

school? In fact, do you even know what school your child attends? Sit

down, let me talk to you.

What does your child mean to you? Chances are, even though you aren’t

there – you mean the world to them. Are they someone you have an

emotional attachment to, or are they just a wallet sized photo you

like to show off to prove that your sperm works? Did you stop caring

about your child when you stopped having sex with your child’s mother?

We’ve got to do better.

I’m not going to preach to you like someone who hasn’t been there –

because I have, and I’m still here. Stop making excuses as to why

you’re not spending time with your child. You say to yourself, “I

don’t have any money”… or “I can’t buy them (insert item here)”. Let

me tell you something, THE BEST THING WE CAN SPEND ON OUR CHILDREN IS

OUR TIME. They won’t remember what you bought them, they’ll remember

how you made them feel. Therefore, don’t let your child feel like they

are dispensable. If you can’t give your child a gift, give your child

a kiss.

Now, you’re with your new girlfriend. Playing with your girlfriend’s

child. Don’t you feel at least a LITTLE GUILTY? Seriously! What about

the child YOU helped bring into this world? Does that trouble your

spirit at all? Just know that if you aren’t a male role model for your

child – someone else WILL BE. Whether it is a celebrity, neighborhood

dope dealer, or the man that physically abuses your child’s mother and

keeps them awake at night with their arguments.

Was your father there? If not, how did that make you feel? As a man,

we try to suppress those feelings. But, you know it makes you feel a

certain way. As a child, he probably made you feel like you wasn’t

worth his time. Perhaps, he only provided you with empty promises,

didn’t deliver and NOW as an adult you really don’t get your hopes up

for anything. Lets break the cycle.

Fathers… Call your child now right now and tell them, “I Love You”….

I Love You,

Morality is a human construct which naturally developed as groups of people instinctively learned to distinguish between acts beneficial to their welfare and acts detrimental to their welfare, which probably had something to do with the development of values. Thus, laws were created and religious codes of conduct became common. Morals, thus, subjectively define appropriate and inappropriate conduct. 

It's similar to ethics in that people naturally wished to distinguish between "good" and "bad" -- the will to find and understand the most ideal form of conduct. However, morality tends to arrive at conclusions via subjective -- predominantly aesthetic -- judgment, while ethics tends to arrive at these conclusions via objective -- almost scientific -- analysis. 

Therefore, morals tend to be more irrational, while ethics are more rational. This doesn't mean ethics are superior to morals, however. Not all ethical conclusions are completely acceptable, just because ethics are more rational. For example, ethically, can we logically prove why it's wrong to murder someone, if no harm will come out of it? If ethics are completely objective and rational, without consideration for "human values," there's really not much we can say about murder. However, ethics tends to take human values into consideration -- just not as much as morality does. 

Morals, however -- just because they are irrational -- aren't always unreliable and incorrect. With a great emphasis on human values rather than logical strictness, morals allow us to conduct ourselves in a manner so that we feel compassion for others, empathy for their conditions, and a sense of understanding of their values. With ethics, these matters are less considered. 

But, ethics usually -- because they are rational -- tend to override morals in most situations. Morality is more "taboo," which is to say, morals are more based on irrational feelings, impulses, inclinations. So, as in the discussion of the problem of abortion, we tend to have more favorability to trust our ethical understanding of the situation, because ethics are rational, objective, standards based on reason, not necessarily feelings. 

And when it comes to whether or not it's right to wrong to abort a pregnancy (terminate a fetus), we must place more emphasis upon the scientific scrutiny of the situation, rather than the religious impulses we all have initially. This is the only way to objectively evaluate the problem without erroneously basing our decisions on personal value biases. 

So, ethically, abortion is not considered "wrong." Scientifically, we cannot verify that the termination of a fetus at a particular stage of development is literally "murder." However, many people personally feel that abortion is immoral due to irrational inclinations based on personal values. This is the reason for the distinction in the issue of abortion. 

Do morals do us any good? Obviously, they do. Again, morals tend to keep our ethical inclinations under control, because they are based with an emphasis upon subjective, aesthetic, human values. Our ethical inclinations are based with an emphasis upon objective, rational, human reason. So, without a strong sense of aesthetics, we would live in a world largely dominated by strict human reason, which really wouldn't be pretty. Aesthetic appreciation is necessary and useful in life, which is why morals aren't "useless." 

Do morals hinder us? Taboos do. Yet, taboos are a specific type of morals. There are "rational" morals and "irrational" morals, never-minding the fact that all morals are predominantly based on emotional human values. Taboo (irrational) morals are based entirely upon personal values, while common rational morals are based upon a more objective, universal aesthetic sense of right and wrong. 

An irrational, taboo moral would be: "It is wrong to have sex with your sister." If the two adults are consenting, is there any rational reason why two related people shouldn't have sex with each other? Are not taboo morals simply based upon irrational disgust, then? 

A rational moral based on a more objective sense of aesthetics would be: "It's wrong to neglect a person in need, if you are in a position to offer help." Ethically, you may or may not find it in your best interests, rationally, to help such a person, but morally, you are naturally obligated. And this sense of morality is necessary in keeping our extremely objective ethical views balanced with some sense of humanity. 

Therefore, I think taboo morality hinders us because these type of moral codes simply regulate behavior for no good reason. Why shouldn't someone have sex with their sister for recreational purposes? Who has the right to make such a claim? On what rational basis? Why do manners matter? Why is it wrong to not say "thank you" when someone gives you a gift? Why is it inappropriate to not follow irrational forms of conduct which others mindlessly believe in? 

Taboo morality is what hinders natural progress, because it stifles individual liberty without reason. Rational morals do not hinder us. Rational morals actually keep our ethics in check. And I personally consider any moral convictions/impulses with regard to abortion "taboo." Most often, objections to medical abortion are not based on rational reasons, but simple personal, instinctive impulses which cannot be rationally explained. It's just a form of natural disgust, like thinking it's wrong for someone to have sex with their sister. It's not true morality; it's taboo. And this is what hinders us, not rational morals.

(6/03/07)

broken hearts, shattered lies

you in which are what i solemnly despise

you make me yield upon the cruel

you set me down like a porcelain doll on a stool

you lash out at me in vein

you show me everything through pain

you make me sick upon vile render

you are everything i used to despair

you leave me here with sorrow

you make me feel as if theres no tomorrow as if this is one big nightmare

you sit me in this angry chair and it takes a lot to wonder do you even care?

you are farther then whats beyond unhappiness

you are indeed lower then low

you are something i feel i should dispose

you is what i always had wished was true

you are now the fool

i hate you with every word that comes from my mouth not to mention the air that i breath

you is what made me blinded and who deceived me

i hate you with every move i ever made

you are what made me thirst & lust for something

so not true and made me feel as if i had to fade

i knew for fucking sure you wasnt here to stay

it was just one big pretend play

a show you put on to make you look good and make us look blissful

so when you fucked up

it looked as if i was in the wrong

and you were in the right

despite the jaded edges of my torn heart

as it was ripped from my chest

i knew this shit was for the better of me and you

not to mention the best

although your just getting this through a well written poet but you fucked up and now im sure you know it

i bet your sitting there now wondering was it all me or was it all you

you wonder why your name isnt mentioned in this

and its because your names not worth the breathe nor space and your names something id rather not want to ever taste

so run along my little friend this is now the bitter end

now all that i have to say than already been said

thank you for everything you have ever done

cause you sicken me more then most and some

i mean i dont mean to boast

you suck at all things you do

so now then tell me baby was that cruel?

did you think thats what i thought when you said i mean everything to you?

Crimson tears of liquid fire,

As delicate as a red rose.

Beauty in the smallest things,

Can change your life forever.

As far as forever goes,

Looking for the unforeseen and forsaken

And searching for light in darkness that always grows,

Trying to see the truth in a sinful small white lie,

To find no truth in life.

Seeing but not really knowing,

Understanding means to misinterpret

Life is a lie within this darkness, 

Rise to the reflection

Flee with the sun 

Fade in the darkness 

But never back down

Live with the sin 

Hold wrath is holy

Cheat and surrender

Til lies pull you down

Sleep with the living

Thrive in the dark

Question all of people

Trust in no one

Defeat all your fears

Grave the pain

Worry about nothing

Just suffer away

Itching sucking feeding away at me

Pushing pulling contorting all reality 

It never stops and never goes away

Shoving me further into my decay

This torturing pain i feel inside

Killing emotions til all had died

Drumming away like it always does

Yet ever changing as it never was

So vital to life yet close to death

Ripping into my every taken breath

Must stop its demented work of art

Cant find a way to stop my heart

The United States of America stands as the only democracy in the world that supports capital punishment. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia. Years later, in 1989, the Supreme Court case of Stanford v. Kentucky confirmed that the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not grant minors over the age of fifteen immunity from receiving the death penalty. Since then, thousands of people have been executed in the United States, and an alarming number of them were juveniles at the time they committed their crime. Today, hundreds more still wait on death row. 

Many believe that capital punishment exists as a fair and just punishment for murderers; they feel that without capital punishment, a victim’s life and death are held in less regard. Others believe the death penalty serves as a deterrent to murder and also as a means to give closure to victim’s families. Some almost inhumanely consider the costs of lifelong incarceration, and support capital punishment because they assume executions consume less tax dollars. 

Ultimately, one finds difficulty in discerning who capital punishment really serves: the dead cannot be resurrected, waiting twenty years for the appeals process and execution of the murderer of a loved one hardly sounds like closure, and the offender’s families and friends undoubtedly suffer more with the death of their loved one. Surprisingly, politicians seem to have the most to gain by claiming support of capital punishment for votes. Regardless of whom capital punishment serves, or fails to serve, perhaps some of its proponents are right in their presumptions. However, even if every assumption in favor of capital punishment were true, the death penalty should never be applied to anyone under eighteen years of age. Because teenagers do not possess fully developed brains, because the justice system that condemns them to death is flawed and inconsistent, and because the execution of a juvenile contradicts contemporary morality and international law, juveniles must be treated as what they are, children, in courts and the sentencing of juveniles to death in the United States must end! In order to fully understand the need of cessation of administering the death penalty to juveniles, one must first understand that the mentality of the juvenile murderer is not comparable to an adult. 

Current capital punishment laws allow for the execution of underdeveloped juveniles. The word ‘juvenile’ is used to clearly differentiate an adolescent from an adult, and one of the major differences that separates the two is brain development. Kimberly Appell, a college psychology instructor and behavioral psychologist, explains that scientists generally agree that a person’s cerebral cortex is not fully developed until they are in their 20’s. At this stage of brain development, juveniles have less impulse control, less ability to discern the outcome of their actions, and are generally incapable of foreseeing any options other than the course of action they have chosen (Appell). One must be mindful that adolescence is more than a wait until legal drinking, smoking, and war-waging age, but a physical and psychological transition to adulthood. Unfortunately, that transition rarely goes as planned. 

Many adolescents face abuse, and child offenders present no exception. Research indicates that a large percentage of juveniles sentenced to death suffer from physical, sexual, mental, and drug abuse; many of them are abandoned and hopelessly poor (James 182). The average adolescent already suffers from relatively poor judgment, and the abhorrent conditions of an abused adolescent will undoubtedly lead them to display even worse decision-making abilities. While research indicates that abused children later suffer from mental and emotional instability, as well as impaired cognitive abilities, the United States government still holds them culpable for all of their actions when evidence clearly dictates otherwise (Child). The majority of juvenile courts presented with capital offenders defer them to adult courts, and unfortunately, the justice system that tries them falls disappointingly short of perfection. 

The flaws of the legal system are astounding. On January 11th, 2003, Governor George Ryan of Illinois commuted the sentences of all death row inmates in his jurisdiction. Ryan recognized the injustice and unfairness of the legal system, stating in reference to convicts on death row, “We then had the dubious distinction of exonerating more men than we had executed. Thirteen men found innocent, twelve executed” (589). Ryan cited several factors contributing to the unfairness of the justice system including race, gender, age, and location acting as determining factors for who is issued the death penalty; the “absence of standards…for attorneys, who must decide to request the death sentence;” and that only two percent of murderers were actually sentenced to death (587-590). Clearly, no fairness or consistency exists in the justice system for impressing the sentence of death on capital offenders, and yet the United States still defers children to this heinous device. 

Furthermore, juveniles lack proper defense in adult courts. The average juvenile has few monetary possessions, and most juvenile capital offenders come from poverty, forcing them to rely for their defense on a system of public offenders so overworked that in California alone, “more than 100 [death penalty appeals] are on hold because the state can’t find lawyers to handle them” (Kozinski 630). Unfortunately, these overworked and underpaid lawyers have proven themselves occasionally incapable of properly defending their appointed client. In an argument against capital punishment for juveniles, Anne James cited the case of Alexander Williams of Georgia, a mentally handicapped teen recently exonerated from death row stating: 

" His lawyer neither investigated nor presented evidence of Alexander’s severe mental illness or appalling childhood abuse. Furthermore, Alexander was a child still living at home at the time of the crime, but no family member or school official was ever interviewed. His lawyer never requested a psychological evaluation or a history of his client. (183)" (sorry for the shitty formatting on this quote, DS, it's hard to type in block quotes in the text box here) 

Because Alexander’s lawyer so carelessly handled his case, he almost paid the ultimate, irreversible price. Surely, others were not so lucky. 

Though no case of an innocent ever being executed has been found yet, one can easily attribute it to the fact that little research is done on behalf of a person after they are dead. As long as the reality remains that innocent people, juveniles included, are being convicted of murder and almost being executed, the possibility of an innocent being executed will exist. However, even if a juvenile commits cold-blooded, premeditated murder, and is found guilty beyond a shadow of all possible doubt to the certainty of every person in existence, their execution would still violate modern morality and international laws that the United States itself helped forge into being! 

International law dictates that juveniles should never face capital punishment. The most disturbing fact concerning these laws is that the United States helped draft, and even signed, some of the documents that are still in effect. In 1977, the United States signed the American Convention on Human Rights, or the Pact of San José, which specifically states that capital punishment may not be imposed on juveniles (4.6). Furthermore, in 1992, the United States Senate signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR, a document ratified by the United Nations General Assembly, also prohibits juvenile death sentencing, but the United States simply refuses to abide by it (United Nations, 6.4). While the civilized international community ultimately seeks to abolish all forms of capital punishment, a great deal of effort has been reserved to protect juveniles until that time comes by creating laws to ward them from execution. Laws should generally reflect the consensus of the people, and while all other nations who actively participate in the international community abide by the clearly-defined contemporary, and almost globally accepted, moral that children should not face the death penalty, the United States continues to violate that belief in spite of their own contractual agreement to uphold it. The United States stands only with third world countries in applying capital punishment to minors; a change must be made. 

United States policy must be changed to concur with modern morality and international law. The first step to this lengthy process is recognizing that children are not adults, and are not fully responsible for their actions, yet at times are prosecuted as if they are. Strangely enough, there exists a minority who is also not liable for their actions but, unlike juveniles, is protected by the law. In July of 2002, the US Supreme Court decided in Atikins v. Virginia that the execution of mentally handicapped offenders, people with an IQ below 70 or diagnosed with a mental illness, is cruel and unusual punishment. Ethics and morality demand the prohibition of capital punishment for the mentally handicapped because they are not fully responsible for their actions. However, one must question why the law protects one inculpable group, but not children, who are equal in the aspect. David Myers, author of a prominent psychology textbook, provides insight to this unfair treatment with the phenomenon known as the curse of knowledge, explaining that people mistakenly assume others share their experiences and that, “what’s clear to them will be similarly clearly to others” (Myers 188). Every adult goes through adolescence, and so they mistakenly assume that adolescents are endowed with their present rationale. However, no normal person was once mentally handicapped, so people have a harder time relating to their condition and therefore recognize their inability to make rational decisions with more ease. Because one assumes adolescents function on the same intellectual playing field as adults, they ultimately are unfairly treated as adults when they commit heinous crimes. Once one recognizes this and inevitably concedes that a child must be tried as a child, the next step of this important process of changes can occur, which is to eliminate the death penalty as an available punishment to them.n 

When juveniles no longer face adult prosecution, the possibility of imposing capital punishment on them must be abandoned, and alternatives applied. The decisive solution to the issue of such extreme punishment for children is to discontinue the practice! However, the administration of justice through means other than execution must continue. While the United States could learn much from more than half the world’s countries that have abolished capital punishment entirely since the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, answers lie closer to home. In 1998 Texas commissioned a Capital Offender Program (COP) for Juveniles. The COP provided an intensive 16 week program to assist juvenile capital offenders to gain access to their emotions through role-playing with the goal of addressing their emotional attachment and inability to accept responsibility for their crimes (Cothern 9). Initial reviews deemed the program successful and effective, suggesting a margin of possibility for rehabilitation for juvenile offenders. Sadly, further research is desperately needed and the true problem is that alternatives are not tested. In a report issued by the United States Department of Justice in 2000, Lynn Cothern states that “a review of individual juvenile…death penalty cases often reveals years of trauma and deprivation prior to the commission of capital offense (9). Because the bulk of offenders suffer from mental trauma, should not rehabilitation be an obvious choice? However, the United States rarely tries alternatives and has created a system that generally kills abused children for capital offenses without an attempting rehabilitation. With the applications of alternatives, and the cessation of capital punishment for juveniles, the United States has much to gain. 

Ultimately, capital punishment should not be an option for juvenile offenders in the United States, regardless of the severity of their crimes, because modern morality and international law demand alternative treatment. Furthermore, the United States judicial system must be more mindful of the psychological development of an adolescent, and the common conditions of abuse most juvenile offenders endure. Should the United States adopt this morally righteous suggestion, its citizens will benefit in unforeseen ways. The suffering of victim’s families should find a quicker end to their grievances, as opposed to being mired in decades of legal affairs; offender’s families will be spared the trauma and agony of knowing when and how their loved one will die; taxpayers will ultimately save money, since a lengthy appeals process can cost millions; and most importantly, the United States will find itself in better relations with foreign nations during a time where its present relations are notably strained. The importance of providing children every opportunity to succeed and be safe must be the upmost priority of human beings. American children must be protected, the executions must stop, and rehabilitation must begin! 

Works Cited 

“American Convention on Human Rights.” Human Rights and Constitutional Rights. Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, 2008. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. 

Appell, Kimberly. Personal Interview. 22 Mar. 2011. 

Child Welfare Information Gateway. “Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect.” Child Welfare Information Gateway. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2008. Web. 14 April 2011. 

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/long_term_consequences.cfm#psych

Cothern, Lynn. “Juveniles and the Death Penalty.” Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. US Dept. of Justice. Nov. 2000. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. 

James, Anne. “Capital Punishment: The Execution of Child Offenders in the United States.” International Journal of Children’s Rights” 2001. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. 

Kozinski, Alex and Sean Gallagher. “For an Honest Death Penalty.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. 9th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 630. Print. 

Myers, David G. Exploring Psychology in Modules. 7th ed. New York, NY: Worth, 2008. 188. Print. 

Ryan, George. “Speech Announcing Commutation of all Illinois Prisoners’ Death Sentences.” Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. 9th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.586-599. Print. 

United Nations. “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” 

United Nations Human Rights. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1976. Web. 22 Mar 2011. 

The 5 rules of life:

1. Money can't buy happiness, but it's more comfortable to cry in a BMW than on a bicycle.

2. Forgive your enemy, but remember the fucker's name.

3. Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.

4. When in doubt, keep shooting until the magazine is empty.

5. Alcohol doesn't solve your problems, but nor does drinking milk.