There are no Truly Victimless Crimes Essay -- essays research papers

A man chooses to coin cocaine. He understands the risks he is taking, and he believes that taking the cocaine is worth the risk. Should he be allowed to take the drug? Or should the government force him to abstain from it, in his own interest? He is not hurting anyone but himself, so why should there be a law against it? This debate has raged since the beginning of civilization. J. S. Mill, in his Essay on Liberty, takes the position that is commonly accepted the government should not interfere with matters that do not involve more than one person. These matters be often called victimless crimes. Mill - along with the majority of people in todays world - claims that if a person commits a crime against his or herself, much(prenominal) as harming the body by taking certain drugs or suicide, the person should not be prosecuted. The argument is that no separate person is affected. All involved parties consent to the arrangement, so they should be responsible for whatever h appens. A few common victimless crimes are prostitution, taking harmful drugs, and suicide. These are perceived as having no negative effect on anyone but the people who agreed to accept the negative effects. In reality, all victimless crimes cause problems for other(a) members of society. J. S. Mill did not understand that victimless crimes do not actually exist.Prostitution is one of the most debated of the victimless crimes, because the US has been slow in adopting it legally. Only ten Nevadian counties aside of the entirety of the 50 United States have passed laws that legalize prostitution, while in Holland prostitution is a recognized occupation. Holland even has a union for prostitutes. It is argued by proponents of legalized prostitution that the business is ... ... cases, this can go so far as to cause suicide by a survivor, repeating the cycle. Besides those negative psychological effects, survivors of suicide usually experience some need to place blame. This can eithe r be manifested in anger towards the suicidal person, to a third party that may have the blame placed on him, or on the survivor himself. It is very common for a survivor to feel self-loa involvement and to entertain the idea that there was something that could have been done to save the lost loved one. Suicide is not a victimless crime. These are only three of the victimless crimes that have been postulated by people such as J. S. Mill. While he may have had strong urges for social liberty, he never understood the fact that there is no such thing as a victimless crime. All crimes have a victim, and no amount of philosophy or political theory can change that.

The Importance of Time in Shakespeares The Winters Tale Essay

The Importance of Time in The Winters Tale Leon. No pes shall stir. Paul. Music, awake her strike Music Tis sentence descend be rock music no more approach Strike all that look upon with marvel. Come Ill fill your grave up stir, nay, come away Bequeath to death your impassivity for from him Dear life redeems you. You perceive she stirs --The Winters Tale (V.iii.98-103) Unlike most of Shakespeares earlier plays, The Winters Tale moves from tragedy to comedy. The disastrous consequences of Leontes jealousy and tyranny are resolved by the passing of time. Only after sixteen years can the two royal families come together again. Time also plays a significant division in the reading of the chosen passage. The passage is full of commas, colons, semi-colons, and periods, which force the lines to be slowed and pausing. The frequent punctuations draw the readers attention to time and its effects on the words macrocosm spoken by the characters. The scansion of the passage illustr ates Shakespeares mastery of time as he manipulates the rhythm of the lines using varying foots and meters. Time seems to be the crucial element in not only the scansion of this passage, but in the development of the play as a whole. Line ninety-eight begins with a half-line consisting of only two feet, No foot shall stir. The brevity of the line and the slowness of the opening spondee help to create the tension before Paulina attempts to summon the statue of Hermione. Leontes wants everyone to stand still while Paulina tries to give life to the statue. He says, No foot shall stir (98). Meanwhile, the metrical feet in line ninety-eight do stir as the pentameter is broken up into two ha... ...vidual from imminent danger. When time is misused or misjudged, as seen in Leontes hasty accusations and also in Antigonus tardiness in returning to the ship, Time can lead to utter destruction. Works Cited Gomez, Michelle. A History of Clocks. Online posting. 4 Mar. 2001. Shak espeare, William. The Winters Tale. Ed. J.H.P. Pafford. London Routledge, 1994. Works Consulted Bloom, Harold. The Winters Tale (Modern Critical Interpretations). Chelsea House Publishers, 1992. Granville Barkers Prefaces to Shakespeare A Midsummer Nights Dream The Winters Tale The Tempest. Granville Barker. Heinemann, 1994. Innes, Sheila. The Winters Tale (Cambridge School Shakespeare). Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pyle, Fitzroy. The Winters Tale A Commentary on the Structure. New York Routledge & Paul, 1969.