Thou Shall Not Execute?

What sets humans apart from the rest of the beasts that reside on Earth? Is it our sense of community and social behavior? Or the way we use tools and advance ourselves for the "greater good?" How about our sense of humanity towards each other? My answer is yes. Humans and ants both build grand cities that contain thousands of lifeforms. Packs of wolves and people obey a set of social rules to keep them safe and to thrive. Monkeys also use tools and try to act "humanly" to each other. But no other specie but us can boast all of these qualities. But would all of these traits falter at the start of the end of the world?

The Walking Dead explores just that. As countries fragment, cities fall, and people lose hope, there is a constant theme about whether there is still a place for humanity in a world almost without humans. I don't want to give too much away about season 2, but there is a time when the group becomes split about a life and death situation. They capture someone from a possibly dangerous group residing nearby and can't decide whether they need to eliminate the scout or let him go. Some argue that killing living humans in a zombie infested world is ridiculous, while others say that everything is on the table when it comes to the survival of the group. Both sides presented valid arguments, but as I watched this episode, I began to contemplate what I thought on the subject of capital punishment.

I was brought up in a Christian household and taught that humans were not intended to have the power to decide whether one lives or dies. I do believe that we, humankind, have not been given an omniscient perspective on the world, and that role of judgement is for a higher being to assume. Nonetheless, I also know that there will always be malevolent figures in the world, and locking all of them up in prison is both incredibly expensive and not the best solution. On average, it costs around $47,000 to incarcerate one prisoner. Now multiply that by the 2 million odd convicts in America. That's approximately 94 billion dollars out of the government budget that we could've spent on improving the nation's public schools or even bailing us out of the looming "fiscal cliff." But I digress. I hope that in the near future, our nation will find a cheaper middle ground between prison time and capital punishment. I don't support executing prisoners, but rather believe that no matter how terrible the crime, everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe we can establish an abandoned island and keep all the most lethal prisoners there. If they want to live, let them work at it.

Finally, as I write this post, I came upon a realization. This present world we live in is not too much better than the zombie world of the Walking Dead. In a zombie world, there are no international tensions, depressions or recessions, or budget cuts, heck even global warming will stop. It's a world where everyone gets to start a new life, put all their previous problems behind them, and band together against a common cause. But that's on a global level, until then, I'm perfectly fine enjoying my bed, internet, air conditioning, heating, and not having to worry about getting eaten.