Politics: Austrian Greens want nothing to do with Schwarzenegger
In a largely symbolic move, Peter Pilz, a top official with the Austrian Green Party, says that the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger no longer is worthy of citizenship in his homeland because he recently approved a state execution. Capital punishment is illegal, and apparently unfathomable, in Austria.
Update: Bo links a strong article in the comments suggesting that the EU rules against capital punishment actually trump the wishes of a majority of Europeans in many nations.
5 comments:
Well, unfathomable to the Greens. Check out this TNR article about European politics of the death penalty.
"It's true that all of America's G-7 partners, save Japan, have abolished capital punishment, but the reason isn't, as death-penalty opponents usually assume, that their populations eschew vengeance. In fact, opinion polls show that Europeans and Canadians crave executions almost as much as their American counterparts do. It's just that their politicians don't listen to them. In other words, if these countries' political cultures are morally superior to America's, it's because they're less democratic."
Great article, but I think Marshall hits my wish-I-thought-of-that rebuttal very clearly in the last paragraph:
"But, all over the industrialized world, it turns out that the men and women on the street like the death penalty. It's just that in Europe and Canada elites have exercised a kind of noblesse oblige. They've chosen a more civilized and humane political order over a fully popular and participatory one. When American liberals invoke Europe's abolition of the death penalty, that's the choice they're essentially endorsing, whether they know it or not. It's a perfectly defensible position--but it might not go over that well on 'Crossfire.'"
I have to admit I'm surprised that the populace is so pro-death penalty, and I'm glad that I've read that article to understand that, but I can't say I really care that they are. I don't think it's so terrible for a moral government (which of course is nearly impossible to define) to trump the more base desires of the population, i.e. state sponsored murder. In war, the case can be made that casualties are defensive. I don't see how that same argument can be made for incarcerated criminals. Any study I've seen has always shown that the death penalty has no special deterrent effect on crime.
This might seem elitist, but sometimes, in cases of life-and-death, and what I as an individual feel is a grave injustice, I'm not going to mind too much what it seems like. Similarly, I'm sure the anti-abortion crowd doesn't particularly care what's 'democratic' with regards to abortion. They only care that justice, as they define it, is served. And they will work for that justice.
To me, this article really just proves that the people of any nation (or region of that nation) can be wrecklessly aggressive in their ideologies. That's obviously a liberally slanted view, but that seems fine to me in a case of moral consciense.
interesting article. that said, i broke the news dealing with the KDP.
Well, I respect your opposition to the death penalty no matter if it is democratic or not. Just thought it was an interesting article.
Most certainly!
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