A driver who ran over a cyclist following an altercation in central Paris has been charged with murder in a case that has shocked France. Several gatherings are to take place on Saturday in homage to…
He won’t, because he’s rich. The article is so apologetic already, several paragraphs about how bad this poor guy feels. Bonus points for mentioning he’s a father of four (nothing is mentioned about the victim’s family).
"I’m not a thug!'. You disregarded other people’s safety and well being for your own benefit, when being called out, you used unreasonable force. That’s a thug to me.
This is partly a cultural difference. In Europe, there is just less emphasis on the retribution aspect of punishment. For an extreme example that’s impossible to imagine in America, see the case of the Norwegian shooter.
And yes, I do think Europe does things better. The reality is that retribution serves no practical purpose. The kind of person who commits an awful crime is, by definition, not the kind who thinks hard about consequences, or else like here it’s done in hot-blooded anger. Either way, the abstract fact of punishment is not going to function as a deterrent. So all we’re left with is the primal urge to inflict suffering on the perpetrator. Personally, I like to think that we can try to rise above that.
He won’t, because he’s rich. The article is so apologetic already, several paragraphs about how bad this poor guy feels. Bonus points for mentioning he’s a father of four (nothing is mentioned about the victim’s family). "I’m not a thug!'. You disregarded other people’s safety and well being for your own benefit, when being called out, you used unreasonable force. That’s a thug to me.
This is partly a cultural difference. In Europe, there is just less emphasis on the retribution aspect of punishment. For an extreme example that’s impossible to imagine in America, see the case of the Norwegian shooter.
And yes, I do think Europe does things better. The reality is that retribution serves no practical purpose. The kind of person who commits an awful crime is, by definition, not the kind who thinks hard about consequences, or else like here it’s done in hot-blooded anger. Either way, the abstract fact of punishment is not going to function as a deterrent. So all we’re left with is the primal urge to inflict suffering on the perpetrator. Personally, I like to think that we can try to rise above that.
I imagine that car deaths are not a “fact of life” in Europe as they are in the US, so he can actually get some punishment.
So this is another “Affluezna” watershed moment, I guess?