As I sit here listening to Ulver , I find myself thinking of my life, of the things I've done, and of the things I have yet to do. I cannot imagine being destined for a certain path, a way of life, or of a pre-mature death. Destiny, if true, would be a rather cruel thing in my opinion. Perhaps it is a little of everything. Some would say that torture is conducted because someone can.
Someone has power over another.
This is certainly a valid argument in many torture cases. Children torture animals often as a show of power. Charles Ng and Leonard Lake certainly got a perverse feeling of satisfaction and power over their victims in California. But torture can also be a means to an end. Some of the Nazi and Japanese torture of prisoners for medical research had a goal of trying to improve their ability to give medical care.