BaidenFallwind t1_j392cks wrote on January 6, 2023 at 9:45 PM

Reply to comment by Ulgeguug in TIL of execution by Breaking Wheel that would start with tying the body to a wheel, breaking the bones of the limbs, braiding the broken limbs through the spokes and leaving the body to be eaten by scavenging animals and birds. by muadib1974

Here's the thing: I agree, along with hundreds of others. But as soon as there's some psychopath who tortured, raped, and murdered children, there will be more who deeply wish we could return to such brutality.

Ulgeguug t1_j393vxa wrote on January 6, 2023 at 9:55 PM

I think that there's a brutal impulse that is at odds with our moral aspirations, and certainly our desire to fit into a civilized society. I think that impulse tends to seek out outlets where it's socially acceptable to be brutal or fantasize about it. "Flaying another human being alive while starving rats eat the eyes out of their face is sick, evil, no one should ever fantasize about doing that to anyone EXCEPT Nazis child molesters terrorists rapists enslavers ooh yeah we should torture them mmmm torture the fuck out of them"

Like the deplorable people who exist in the world are used as an excusable outlet for repressed sadism and cruelty. It allows us to conflate those impulses with feelings of righteous vindication. Anyone who's watched the bad guy in a movie die a grisly death of humiliation and pain with any feeling of satisfaction understands this.