Question 4

Choose a side. Are you for or against lamination?

Please watch my video as an introduction to this post.

Lamination was implemented to have the following benefits:

1. To reduce the need for law enforcement resources and prisons; hence lower taxes for citizens,
2. To discourage crime with sentences of up to 500 years,
3. To reduce illegal slavery, domestic abuse and child labor since the public can engage the services of LaMBs.
4. To reduce the release of free radicals since lamination is environmentally-friendly, and
5. To eliminate the need for rehabilitative and aftercare programs to facilitate the reintegration of a criminal back to the community and his family after he has served his sentence.

Nothing but a publicity stunt

The Central Administration Bureau of Cerra (CABC) has made substantial efforts to convince the public that Lamination will become more beneficial to the inhabitants of Cerra. Yet every benefit is easily rebuttable if one is paying attention.


First, the video wherein a girl wants to have a lamination treatment, which of course started as an age-defying skin treatment, indicated that the said process is expensive. In addition, there are also the payment of the maintenance of lamination equipment, research or development, and personnel. There is a possibility of a tax benefit, but I believe it would be rather minimal.

Second, the sentence of up to 500 years may only deter premeditated crimes. Like the main character of the story, accidental and other non-premeditated crimes will most likely have the higher percentage of type of offences in Cerra. The CABC is only focusing on the effect rather than the cause of crimes. Why do crimes occur? Is it when a person is trapped in a situation and compromises his morality then commits a crime? Is it because a person can be mentally-ill to begin with? These are what the Cerra government should focus on rather than finding an “easier” solution.


The third “benefit” is something to laugh about. When was slavery legal? Does this benefit imply that slavery, domestic abuse and child labor are legal if they are LaMBs?

The fourth reason is very contradicting to the second. If lamination would reduce crime rates, then it follows that there only a number of LaMBs. If there are only a number of LaMBs, then wouldn’t it mean that lamination will only have a small environmental impact?

The last one is a complete brain-drain for me. It has two possible interpretations: 1. Criminals will have self-atonement and rehabilitation during their sentences or 2. Upon the end of their sentence, their bodies will age rapidly upon removing the skin cover and will eventually lead to death. I hope it does not mean the latter one, as the post-lamination process is still vague. Perhaps, it is just a wild guess; forgive me if it’s wrong.

Against Universal Human Rights

On December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the story of LaMB takes place in the year 2472 AD, I still think that Universal Human Rights should be applied. To disregard it is just a step backward in human intellectual revolution.

Among the rights violated in the process of lamination are the following:

1. Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person
2. Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
3. Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
4. Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
5. Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Source: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Alternative to Lamination

Aside from the policies I would like to recommend as stated in my previous blog, I suggest that they have an extensive research changing the environment. A planet with a bountiful resource would not only boost the spirits of its citizens, but will also create job and profit opportunities.

Use lamination without the “slave technology” on the scientists doing environmental research. This is of course with their consents. In doing so, researches can be done more efficiently as there is no more need for food intake and sleep.

Strengthen the intellectual property by studying the past, and dedicating 5 hectares of land to research would speed up the environmental and climate research.

Summary

The end never justifies the means. Who are we to say that one situation is more beneficial than the other? Is life equivalent to the tax benefits? Is human dignity equivalent to environmental research? Indeed, the word “beneficial” is only relative to the people who use it.