Your last meal on death row

[Leinad]

Too hard to narrow it down to one meal, but lots of stuff already named would be good. Maybe a bunch of those suckers with the tootsie roll center so I could stretch the "last meal" into an experiment on how many licks it takes to get to the center? Hmmm...maybe milk so that my first meal would also be my last? Hmmm...

If I were competent enough to somehow be on death row for my crimes, I'd probably be competent enough to somehow use my last meal as a weapon. I'm trying to figure that out, however.

Hey, that's exactly where my brain went, too!

I guess this is a fascinating personality test: does your brain go to imagining great foods, negative thoughts due to your implied impending demise, or finding a way to cheat justice?

I suppose the first group is normal people, the second group is philosophical people, and the third is...uh...mastermind criminals. Huh. Maybe my analysis is wrong, though (kind of like the death penalty itself).

[Leinad]

because I simply can't imagine what it feels like to be sitting in one's cell knowing that it will be over soon

Life in prison, especially years in solitary is far worse if you ask me. Imagine spending a year or two in solitary? 23 hours a day by yourself, with nothing but your thoughts. Most people end up losing it. For prolific killers or people who need protection, this is more common to end up in such a situation. It seems far less humane to do that to a person then to just put them out of their misery, if you ask me anyway.

Yeah, I never understood solitary confinement. I mean, if he did something so bad that he needs to be completely isolated, why not just kill the poor bastard?

I get what you're saying, but at the same time I can't see how any otherwise libertarian (in your case domestically) person can be in favor of the government having the ability to end people's lives. I'm hesitant to think that much certainty (and it needs to be 100%--99.9% won't cut it) is possible to achieve--and even if it is in some cases, it's a frightening precedent to set in case they do get it wrong.

I'd much rather a chance to live, even if it's an incredibly slight one. Maybe that's just my fear of death, though--I could see how someone at peace with the concept could easily prefer execution.

(Also, this discussion makes me think of Chekhov's "The Bet." Although I do not plan to replicate the events of said story.)