The Punishment No Longer Fits The Crime.
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:30 am
Watched Sky news this morning and was kinda shocked to hear that in the UK one out of seven crimes are now committed by earthlings who have already served time. Also a jeweller in Nice has been charged with murder for shooting a robber in the back.
And here was me thinking that this was a problem endemic to the Third World.
Thomas Baines was a 19th century adventurer/explorer/painter who was born in Kings Lynn and spent most of his life travelling, hunting & painting his way through Southern Africa.
In his diaries he tells of a missionary who suggested to King Lobengula of the
Matabele in what was then known as Matabeleland/Mashonaland, then Rhodesia and today Zimbabwe, that his punishment for criminals was far too harsh. When he suggested the king adopt the white man's jail system, Lobengula listened very carefully while this "civilized" way was explained to him.
He then exclaimed: "What, give the wrongdoer shelter, a blanket and food! Why within a few weeks all my subjects would be inside.
This shrewd retort could not be easily countered.
And here was me thinking that this was a problem endemic to the Third World.
Thomas Baines was a 19th century adventurer/explorer/painter who was born in Kings Lynn and spent most of his life travelling, hunting & painting his way through Southern Africa.
In his diaries he tells of a missionary who suggested to King Lobengula of the
Matabele in what was then known as Matabeleland/Mashonaland, then Rhodesia and today Zimbabwe, that his punishment for criminals was far too harsh. When he suggested the king adopt the white man's jail system, Lobengula listened very carefully while this "civilized" way was explained to him.
He then exclaimed: "What, give the wrongdoer shelter, a blanket and food! Why within a few weeks all my subjects would be inside.
This shrewd retort could not be easily countered.