Although as human beings, we love to use the phrase “it’s a small world”, a self-deceiving one that has managed to pass itself on over so many decades. However, whenever we choose to wake up from our very comfortable paradise of self-deceit, we will come to terms with the fact that the world is incredibly big and full of all manner of people; the bad, the very bad and the very ugly. Was the world designed to be that way? Maybe! After all, we would have all been nothing but a zone of boring zombies if we were all alike and behaviourally static. Personally, I see the world as an incredibly bad place filled with bad people where some or simply worse than the others. I do believe the death penalty should be scrapped and here is my argument.

A very typical characteristic of man is the interesting manner in which they evolve and adapt to changes in their environment. This is made possible by their ability to study a certain phenomenon and learn. On some issues, man has learnt, adapted and evolved and on some others, man has just decided to turn a blind eye, remain adamant and unteachable. The death penalty stems from the concept of taking an eye for an eye which is an ancient concept used by nomadic people thousands of years ago, way before the beginning of civilization. Times when people and tribes wandered the face of the earth. Many argue (just like ages ago) that the death penalty will install fear into people and stop them from committing murder.

This is 2018 and if for some weird reason, this law has still not stopped people from killing other people till now, it probably never will and that is because a murderer will kill due the inability to reason rationally regardless of the consequence. Many also argue that the death penalty will at least revenge the death of one and bring a feeling of repayment to the people (usually family and friends) left behind by the victims, but oh well, it doesn’t raise people from the dead. It does not feel whatever gap has been left by the dead either. While this may sound cliché (it actually is) but “an eye for an eye will make the world go blind”

Does the death penalty serve justice to all murders? I will argue that people in the elite class who have enough money to hire the strong and mighty lawyers will get off the death sentence hook most of the time. A typical example is OJ Simpson who was accused of murdering his wife on June 12 1994. I am not a lawyer and I am not saying he did it but well, we all know how it ended. Every evidence pointed right at him, but the gloves did not fit! Basically, once an individual has enough money for heavy and proper legal representation, (s)he most definitely will be able to avoid capital punishment for a crime committed. What about those who didn’t even commit the crime? What then happens when more evidence comes up after they have been killed? “Sorry”? The totality and irreversibility of the death sentence itself is enough reason why it should be abolished. We all know how inaccurate the legal system could be sometimes!

The death penalty is a brutal and inhuman punishment that simply continues the cycle of violence. If killing is so wrong, then how is it right to kill anyone? I believe every human being should have a right to life which cannot be given up. I believe it is an inalienable right which wasn’t given by man or the law therefore, no matter what a person has done, that right should not be taken away from them. At the end of the day, the death penalty is only sending off a worthless and extremely negative message. It is costly, barbaric and obviously, many innocent people die as a result. The death penalty is barbaric and should be abolished.