I see all the memes about guillotines for the rich, funny in spirit, but actually building one in the town square is not practical. They take a ton of materials, they are huge, and they do not even work reliably. Would it not make more sense to build one from metal with hydraulic pistons or something? I am not a machinist, but a more mobile unit you could wheel into a square to decapitate a few effigies seems about as effective for sending a message, and easier to remove or relocate if needed.

  • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    If it’s about sending a message, then the item itself is the conveyor of the message, not an unrecognizable but more efficient substitute. The guillotine is a recognisable symbol of people rising up and seizing power from the criminal ruling class. It is a warning and a threat.

    If you plan on actually executing people, then sure - optimize all you want, or just go with a bullet to the brain.

    But as a symbol, the guillotine is powerful.

    • over_clox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Let’s not encourage the troll. Sure there are certain people that it won’t hurt my feelings at all if they suddenly stop living, but at the same time I don’t agree with the death penalty, I think that just makes the executioner just as evil, if not moreso, than the person getting their head lopped off.

      Death no good yo.

      • Deflated0ne@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That’s a nice sentiment. But an unrealistic one. Be the bigger man riding his high horse down the high road after we win. These people kill us every day. With the police. Via social murder. Deaths of despair. Poiaon food and water. All their fault. An intentional policy choice.

        If we have to kill them to win. Then they gotta go.

        • over_clox@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Makes about as much sense as fucking for virginity or killing for peace. I’m not buying either of those ideas.

          • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
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            1 month ago

            It must be nice, living in a fantasy world where good people win because they’re good and the bad guys get to sit in jail for being bad.

            I would love it if we lived in an ideal world where everyone plays by the rules.

            I am not naive enough to think we live in that world.

            • over_clox@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Meh, I’ve been threatened multiple times by crazy people, even cops.

              I’ve found that staying chill and just walking away from crazies has successfully prevented me from getting a bullet to the head.

              Two wrongs never make a right. Kill them with calm kindness. Just walk away, don’t contribute to the violence.

                • over_clox@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  I’m not turning a blind eye to reality at all. I totally get it, life itself is a risk.

                  I’m 43 years old, and have enough common sense to not agitate crazy people. I’ve had my share of crazy experiences to know, that being chill is way better and safer than sinking to their level of violence.

                • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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                  1 month ago

                  I’ve seen discussions about the future of automation where people speculate “what will rich people do with the general population when they’re no longer necessary to keep industry running for them?”

                  Opening up the “let’s just kill the people we don’t like and don’t want as part of society” box seems like a bad idea in a context like that.

      • missingno@fedia.io
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        1 month ago

        I’m against the death penalty because I don’t believe it should be necessary in a just world, nor should the state ever be trusted with that kind of power.

        However, I see the guillotine as symbolizing the last resort in an unjust world. The worst monsters in society commit their injustices in broad daylight, and nothing will be done about it. We know that justice will never be served through the courts. So what then?

      • dickalan@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Troll is a matter of perspective and in this situation you are the troll so what were you saying again

        • over_clox@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I reject the idea of beheading, and somehow I’m the bad guy?

          Well you have a nice day too, and accept that you’re cool with people getting their heads chopped off.

  • mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    I like your approach here of making a clearly wrong statement just to get more activity on this important topic

    I will add yet another comment that guillotines are neither complicated nor require much material. you could make a sturdy one with less than a dozen 2x4s, some screws, a scrap piece of rope, and whatever junk metal you have lying around that’s around 24x8 (which you need regardless of how fancy the frame itself is)

    that said, mobile ones seem like they would also have a purpose

  • Diddlydee@feddit.uk
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    1 month ago

    Nobody is wanting to build a guillotine. it’s simply a symbolic reference to the French Revolution.

    • GrayBackgroundMusic@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Exactly. It’s like when people joke “eat the rich”. Zero desire for cannibalism, but 100% desire for the rich to be removed from the earth.

  • Typotyper@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Use a log splitter with a different blade, higher capacity valance and an accumulator for faster action. Strengthen the frame and maybe add a dampener for the end of stroke so things last longer. Reloading ca be controlled by smaller hoses.

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    1 month ago

    You can make them modular, with telescoping rails, for portability. The blade needs to be weighted, but the weight can consist of a stack of weights, like on gym equipment. In fact, you could probably repurpose a bench press machine into a guillotine with a few minor modifications.