3。Certainthingscanonlybedonebutnottold IntheSichuanearthquake6yearsago,aprimaryschoolteachernamedFanrunrunprovokedthepublicwithablog。Inhisblog,hewrotethatherushedoutofthebuildingassoonashefelttheearthquake,leavinghisstudentsunattendedintheclassroom。Hesaidwhathedidwasperfectlyokaybecausesavingthelifeofothersisn’tanobligationbutanhonorablechoicewhichhedoubtmostpeopledon’thavethecouragetomake。Iwouldn’tonlytrademylifeformydaughter’s,hesaidnotevenformymother’s。Peoplegotverymadathimnotbecauseofwhathedidbutbecauseofwhathesaid。Thecommonattitudewas:IunderstandhimandmighthavedonethesameifIwerehim,butwhycan’thekeepittohimself?What’stobrag?Thisremindsmeofwhatyouwroteinagainstfairness,Iwouldstrangleeveryoneinthisroomifitprolongedmyson’slife。Thisideawasalsobadlyreceived。Ican’tfindfaultintheseactionsbecauseIwouldn’thavedoneanybetterbutthewayitsoundsisstillverydisturbing。Althoughideally,oneshouldn’tgetintroubleforspeakinghismindandcertainlynotforspeakingofunblamabledeeds,almostthewholesocietyfindsFanranranveryguiltyanddeservestobemorallycondemned。 Mygrandfatherusedtotellmethatthereisnoabsolutetruth,italldependsonwhatgroundyouhold。There’saChinesesayingthatgoeslikeOnceyousteppedontothebus,youchangeyourmindimmediately。whichisaveryvividdescription。Youwaitforabusforhalfanhouranditarriveswithaloadofpeople,there’salonglinebothinfrontofyouandbehindyou。Beforeyousqueezedintothebus,youwouldtellpeoplebeforeyou,Pleasemoveforward,I’msurethere’sstillsomespace。Andonceyougotonthebus,youwouldshouttothepeoplebehindyouCan’tyouseeit’salreadytoocrowdedinhere?Waitforthenextbus!Sothisisoneoftheexplanationstowhysomethingscanonlybedonebutnottold。WhatFanrunrundidwasappropriateifyoustandinhisground,butitbecomeslessconvincibleifyou’reoneofhisstudents。 Evenifthepublicwereveryunderstandinganddidntblamehimforhisactions,it’sstillinappropriatetowritedownthisoccurrenceandpostitontheInternet。TheotherexplanationIcameuptowhysomethingscanonlybedonebutnottoldisthat,whatistolerableisn’talwayspromotable。Imean,everyonepickstheirnosesandfartsfromtimetotime;okaysosometimeswemightevenbecaughtintheact,there’snothingtoblame。Butdowehavetowriteablogtellingthewholeworldwepickedournosesandfarted?Andcanyoucallsomeonewhokeptthoseinformationtohimselfahypocrite?No。Notsayinganythingisnothiding。Andtheactoftellingismorethanjusttellingbutpromoting,convincingeveryoneelsetodojustthesame。Thereareplentyofthingstolerable,angrymothersbeatingupmisbehavingkidsisprettymuchtolerableinChina,butwedon’tseemanymothersgatheredtogetherexchangingexperiencesabouthowtheyphysicallyabusedtheirkids。Becausewestillwantanationwhereteacherstakeresponsibilitiesfortheirstudents,wherefavoritismisreplacedbyfairnessandparentssortedthingsoutpeacefullywiththeirkids。Certainthingscanbedonebutbetterleftuntold。 4。ShoulddeathpenaltybeabolishedinChina? LastyearagraduatestudentfromFudanUniversitypoisonedhisroommatewithdeadlychemicals,causingthelatterapainfuldeath。Hewassentencedwithdeathpenalty,somethingcompletelydisputable。However,recently,177Fudanstudentswroteapetitionpleadingforhim。Theystated:Linisn’tabrutalman。Hewasonlyblindedbyhisemotions。Hedeservesasecondchancetomakeupforhiscrimetothevictim’sparentsandbeabettercontributortothesociety。Also,theyarguedthatdeathpenaltyshouldbeabolished,startingfromthiscase。Butthevictim’sparentsinsistedthatonlybyputtinghimtodeathcantheyrelievefromthelossoftheirboy。 Itisonlynormaltoseekvengeance,eyeforaneye,right?Somemisunderstoodthisidea。Ifyoupluckedmyeyeout,Iwon’tneedtopluckoutyours。Isimplyneedtomakesyousuffertothesameextentyoumademesuffer。Thissoundsfairbecausewhateveryoudotootherssomehowgoesbacktoyou,aresultofeatingone’sownbitterfruit。Andit’sveryoperable,incaseyoudontevenhaveeyes。 Deathpenaltywasdesignedtosatisfythisprinciple。Takealifeandrepayitwithyourown。Butthere’soneproblem:It’sirreversibleandultimate。Ifwebyaccidentexecuteaninnocentman,there’snogoingback。Eventhefinestjudgemakesmistakessometimesandtheconsequencesarejusttoooverwhelming。Isupporttheeliminationofdeathpenaltybecauseitistooextreme,notbecauseofwhatsomepeoplemayargue,thatdeathpenaltyisinhumane。Thoseholdingthisargumenthavedefinitelygonedownthewrongpath。Aharshlawsystemhelpsinpidualstobebetterrestrained。Ifacriminalgetsawaywithmurder(gettingawaymeanssufferinglessthanthevictim),it’sunjusttothevictimandalsocrimerateswouldgoup。ThismightnotbethecaseformostcountriesbutChinaisinaveryspecialperiod。There’sahugewealthgapbetweentheupperclassandthebottom,andserioussocialinjusticegoesoneveryday。Peopleareforeverinconflictwithoneanother,someofwhichevolveintogrudges。Evenwiththedeathpenaltyastheultimatepunishment,someenragedmenstillbearsthisinmindwhentheystrike:Mylifeischeapanyways,ifI’lltrademineforyoursandIstillwin。Imaginewhatcouldhappenwiththedeathpenaltygoneandnothingasfearfultoreplaceit。 Soifwearetoabolishthedeathpenalty,allweneedtodoiscomeupwithsomenewreplacement。Therearealotofwaystotortureamanandhe’dbegforaquickdeath。Takealookbackintohistoryandwemayfindthemostsavagetortures。OkayyoumightnotlikewherethisisgoingI’mjustsayingtherearealotofalternativesfordeathpenaltywhichcanmakethecriminalsufferallthesame。Andthoughallofthesemethodsareinhumaneinessence,wecanshiftthemalittlesothattheylookmorehumane。Fromphysicaltomentalperhaps。Herearetwogreatexamples: ThefirstoneIsawfromanepisodeofBlackMirror,aBritishTVseries。Awomancommittedsomekindofcrimeandshewassentencedwitheternalpunishment。Theyputherinanamusementparkandeverydayshewakesupintoaterrifyingworld。Maninscaryoutfitswouldtrytohuntherdown,jigsawinhand。Andshewouldrunforherlife。Touristsoftheamusementparkwouldjusttakephotos,enjoyingtheshowregardlessofhowshecriedforhelp。Thenbytheendoftheday,thestaffwouldshowherthevideoofhercourtday,remindingherofwhatshehasdone。Shewouldbreakemotionallyandtheywouldsitherinanoperatingtableandwipehermemorycleanforthenextday。 ThesecondoneIsawfromaJapaneseminifilmcalled30daysincustody。Amankilledsomeonebutonlyfoundhimselfsentencedwith30daysincustody。Hefeltextremelyluckyandthoughthehadgottenawaywithmurder。Onceinjail,theprisonguardstrippedhimofhisclothesandtiedhimtoawoodencrossontheroof。Hisskinburnedfromexcessiveexposuretosunradiationandtheyonlygavehimafewdropsofwater,bearlyenoughtokeephimalive。Thiswentonfor30daysandthemanwasalreadyinverybadshape。Thenhewokeupandfoundmedicsaroundhim。TheytoldhimtheyhadputhiminREMandallthatwasadream。Ithadonlybeenfiveminutesinreality。Themedicgavehimanotherinjectionashescreamedinhorror。 Ifindthesetwomethodsveryadaptable。