From a private Facebook discussion about defense of personal property, Bill said:
Heads on pikes should be suitable for display until a proper weatherproof likeness can be provided for permanent view.
I can see a case being made for this in certain circumstances. Not that it should be applicable in all situations (the two-year old getting into the cookie jar for example).
That I love sick humor probably contributes to the appeal of this.
If it was good enough for Captain John Smith, it’s good enough for today.
English tradition was parboiling, which would extend the presentable time period for months if not years
That reminds me of a scene from a Heinlein novel … Time Enough for Love, perhaps? … wherein the tradition was for shopkeepers to display the heads of those who attempted to rob the store.
Yep, TEFL; the “twins who weren’t” on Valhalla.
Heinlein may have re-used this theme, but you are probably thinking of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. There was no law enforcement on Luna but prison guards, who didn’t interfere in what the prisoners – and their descendants – did to each other, so the people worked out their own customs to maintain order. Those who would not or could not keep to a few simple rules – such as don’t steal and don’t molest women – were soon dead, and their killers were praised. Most malefactors simply went out an airlock – usually after an informal but reasonably fair trial – but when a shopkeeper overcame a robber, the head went on a spike both to brag about this accomplishment and to warn the next guy thinking about robbery. Except for official corruption, crime stayed low even with more criminals coming in with each rocket.
“I can see a case being made for this in certain circumstances. Not that it should be applicable in all situations (the two-year old getting into the cookie jar for example).”
Of course not. You don’t spank a baby with an ax. Hell, I wouldn’t execute a thief on their first offense either.
The problem comes from the coddling of recidivists. Something that the left is quite fond of.
We could see this sort of thing shortly if things keep going. Certain communities warning off the thieves gild of the area?
What else you going to do when you don’t have paint for a sign?
Traditionally it’s been the international symbol for one to mind one’s manners.
Bringing back public hanging for Capital crimes would also go a long way towards diminishing criminality. Some types of people can never be truly deterred from
engaging in crime against others. Thus in order to keep crime under control
the victims must always be ready, willing and able to dispense summary justice.
There were good reasons for ending public hangings. When we had them, many among the crowds that came to watch treated it as an excuse for a riotous party, and there were frequent disgraceful scenes. In English-speaking countries through the early 19th Century, authority disapproved but generally didn’t suppress the crowds. But with the deprecation of fun that came in with Queen Victoria (NOT by her choice, at least not before she was widowed, but rather a social movement that even a queen had to conform to), executions were eventually moved indoors with spectators admitted only by invitation.
But I don’t know if this would still happen. Public hangings mostly ended before phonographs, movies, and radio broadcasts. For most people there was only one affordable “entertainment channel” and that was whatever was going on in the public square. It could be a performance by a Shakespearean troop, but bear baitings were less expensive and more common, and hangings were free and usually rare. Now, I expect most people would stay home and watch it on TV, if they didn’t prefer the hundreds of other choices.
The bleaching skull provides sufficient ‘weatherproof likeness’ for most purposes.