Discussion Of 'The Death Penalty As A Political Issue'
Have been partaking in a discussion of the Nguyen Tuong Van execution, as part of a broader discussion of 'The Death Penalty As A Political Issue' over at The Pubescent Philosopher - apparently the Australian dispute with Singapore has pricked the international consciousness ...
posted by MH at 5:21 pm
2 Comments:
It was interesting to get a different perspective on the debate that has taken up so much of our air-time here recently.
The author of The Pubescent Philosopher was surprised that this issue was discussed in totally political rather than moral and/or ethical terms. Sadly I was not. We don't really have explicitly moral debates in Australia at a notable public level. Not that this places us in any way 'behind' the U.S. I suspect that much of the 'moral' debate that occurs in the public arena there, on any and all topics is predominantly political in motivation.
Be this as it may, we should not be feeling superior. In the same way that moral disscussion can obscure political manuevering, I think it is possible that political debate can conceal colonialist saber-rattling.
I think that 'colonialist saber-rattling' is perhaps excessive, though I think you're right on the implicit sense of Australian superiority in the southern Pacific. I get the feeling - as I've attempted to articulate elsewhere - that this is very much a case of 'they' (Singapore/Indonesia) have no right to punish 'us' (Australia) when 'we' (Corby/Nguyen) are caught for crimes in their jurisdictions, especially when the sentences for the crimes are seen as excessive in comparison to Australia's.
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