Damnatio memoriae

The last few days have reminded me that we really need to stop “glorifying” the actions of mass murders and actually do something to prevent others repeating their actions. Making losers famous by mentioning them in the mass media just encourages more losers. We can learn from the past and the Roman damnatio memoriae is an approach we would be wise to revive.

Rather than giving those that have stepped outside society’s boundaries fame, let us instead remove them from history. Total and utter obliteration. We have the technology and legal authority to completely delete the historical existence of someone evil. Remove everything about them; their birth, schooling, job history, marriage(s), relationships, photos, phone records, emails, Facebook posts, even the banal like credit records or receipts from Walmart. Remove everything about them such that they effectively never existed as a person. Leave nothing. If we need to refer to their actions then give them a pseudonym such as the “butcher of X”. In a 100 years there will be no record or memory they ever existed while we still remember their victims.

It might seem impractical to follow such a path given the ubiquity of modern media, but in practice it is easier today to remove someone from history than it has ever been. A single authority with determination can track down and remove every fragment of an individual’s existence.

We must do something rather than wring our hands in despair and let history repeat. Let today be the last time evil has a name.

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