Snow Melt

Opinion Thursday: Communications and the Death Penalty

The January 17, 2013 prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  is
Are social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc ...) an evolving form of communication and allow us to be more connected to those around us, or do they decrease communication skills, and distance us from "real" connections?

This is a different world then the one my grandparents, my parents, and even myself was born into. Technology has made the world smaller and given us easier access to other parts of the planet. Once it took weeks or months to travel from one nation to another, now we can do it in hours or in some cases a few days. In this ever shrinking world, social media sites give access to friends and potential friends in other parts of the world.

Real communications has less to do with the technology used then it does with the people using the technology. Social media is a new form of communication, therefore we have to learn to use it properly. The individual needs to take responsibility for the way he or she uses the technology. The technology of communications has very little to do with communications skills, it just makes communication faster. Communications skills is something that the individual needs to learn, if the individual has poor communications skills then the technology will make communicating more difficult. If the individual has good communications skills then the technology will make connecting with other people easier and faster.

The January 17, 2013 prompt for "Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum"  is
Do you believe in the death penalty? Defend your answer.

There are some crimes that are so heinous that they require a death penalty. The problem with this penalty is the way it has been used in the past and is still being used today. The crimes that require this penalty should be strictly limited and the appeals process given an overhaul. Humanity, its cultural, its technology, and even its laws are in the process of evolution, of change.

In the past, a person could be put to death for any crime; however, that has changed. Today are numerous crimes that do not demand or even require the death penalty. In the future, there will be even fewer crimes that require this penalty because everything in the material universe is in the process of change. As the human race matures, reasons to use the death penalty will become fewer as we learn how to deal with our emotions, reactions, etc.