Ok lets start with a fictional crime: Individual A has just been caught stealing a loaf of bread in a grocery store. How would a society deal with this crime? We can look at a right wing extreme method and then look at a left wing extreme method. Afterwards, I will propose a plausible better solution. Unfortunately, the right-winger and the left-winger will prefer to head towards their favorite extreme than to concede that their opponent may have some intelligent points.
Right-wing extreme: Individual A is brought immediately to a public location. Individual A's crime is announced publicly: the theft of the loaf of bread in a grocery store. Once the crime is announced, individual A is asked if he apologizes for the crime. An apology will result in an immediate gunshot to the head.... anything else results in stuffing his mouth so that he can no longer speak and then individual A is hanged. Society can sleep comfortably knowing that the criminal is immediately dispatched without the nonsense of a trial. The crime's punishment is immediate with no capability of appeal, the apology allows you a quicker and painless death.
Left-wing extreme: Individual A is detained and brought to a rehabilitation center where he is served a sumptuous feast. After the elaborate dinner is served, a team of psychologists and social workers interview/massage and generally treat individual A as royalty to understand why he did this unfortunate action. Individual A is offered free college training in a job of individual A's choice. We discover that individual A's parents and teachers never motivated him well enough to be nice, so they are also treated in this rehabilitation center. All the responsible ones are shamed while individual A is showered with gifts to compensate for the bad influences he has received which forced him to steal a loaf of bread.
Meanwhile, the grocery store implements a new ID system that only allows people who are registered in the system to enter the store. The grocery store can exclude anyone they wish, and we all know that only criminals will be excluded. The entire society must now register with the grocery store and answer extremely personal questions to get their ID registration. The society's consumption is now recorded and anyone who buys more bread than others may be sanctioned and penalized for excessive consumption while poor people still exist. Individual A is now allowed to return to the grocery store with a registration that signals a chime to allow the clerks to escort this individual wherever he goes in the store. Individual A is no longer being rehabilitated so no more sumptuous feasts. Individual A decided to take photography classes as part of his free college education but has discovered that there is no need for his talents.
These above two extremes are obvious foolishness, but guess what? The normal right-winger is convinced that the normal left-wingers are trying to get the left-wing extreme and see every left-wing maneuvering as getting closer to this foolishness. On the opposite side, the normal left-winger is convinced that the normal right-winger are trying to get the right-wing extreme and they see that every right-wing maneuvering is getting closer to that particular foolishness.
The better solution for individual A: arrest him immediately. Considering that it is food that was stolen, find out the extenuating circumstances, and verify. Solve the extenuating circumstances.... lets say that the family is starving and individual A was attempting to get some food home.... the grocery store donates the food for immediate use. Individual A must now work at the grocery store to make ammends for a period determined by the grocery store owner. Considering that it is a loaf, probably a week's worth at a reduced salary. There must be a punishment, then a job must be found for the individual if the grocery store can not keep him as an employee. An advertising campaign issued to anyone else in similar situations to come to such and such office for employment. AND THERE BETTER BE EMPLOYMENT AVAILABLE WITH DECENT WAGES. Thieves are not only the ones who steal bread from store shelves but also steal from society's working class.
Now before the left-winger says that this is fair and decent and before the right-winger rolls his eyes and thinks that I am being too soft.... if this same individual A was stealing the loaf of bread for kicks or for some initiation rite or to deliberately get a job at the grocery store as a means to get into the store.... or that his family is starving because individual A wasted all his money on foolish spending leaving nothing for food.... a MUCH HARSHER PENALTY IS TO BE DELIVERED. Which may include as harsh as a good whipping.
See, I believe each case is unique and as such should be dealt with uniquely. Two principles to guide this: the first, be very harsh to indicate that bad behavior is not to be tolerated. Second, extenuating circumstances can always exist and you are allowed to give the benefit of the doubt and find a punishment that will serve as a lesson yet give the individual a chance at redeeming himself.
Society can not rehabilitate anyone. Anyone can redeem himself and improve if he or she makes the determination to do so, if that miracle happens, society must help in the efforts. If society is mocked by a phony attempt, you do what they did with the boy who cried wolf: you allow the wolf to come and do not intervene.
Why can society not rehabilitate someone? Because a lone human being is much more intelligent and devious than a human-invented system or procedure. Society's rehabilitation presumes that the adult should be treated as an infant. If the adult is lazy, he will enjoy the illusion of being an infant and play along until he is alone again and then repeat his criminal behavior to eventually come back to his playground. If the adult is active, he will play with the system and use the right jargon and attempt to fool the gatekeepers so that they release him to be alone.... then he will repeat his criminal behavior but much more subtly to prevent being sent back to the amusing yet time-wasting rehabilitation center.
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