I didn't mean to be snarky, that is my unironic take. Our current prison system delivers a horrible punishment, but in a way people can pretend it's not occurring. It would be better to deliver a less horrible punishment and make it public so people know it is occurring. Not only would this be more humane, it also improves the deterrent value of punishment. With the current justice system, people can pretend like doing crimes makes them into some sort of badass. Public humiliation / castration helps clarify that. The goal is to deter crime effectively with as little suffering as possible.
The issue wasn't snark. You broke the rule against flamebait, as well as this one: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." HN users need to follow all the rules, not just one of them.
