Trying to solve crime with authoritarian government, more laws, and stricter enforcement is like trying to keep someone healthy by stuffing them in a coffin and burying them alive. Yet, this is the first move politicians make when they see a problem.
Turning to government and its laws is a sign your society has failed, and the unfortunate fact is that this only causes more crime in the long run. As the Chinese philosopher Laozi pointed out over two thousand years ago, "The more numerous the laws, the more thieves and robbers there will be".
If you prefer Western thought to Eastern wisdom, Roman historian Tacitus is said to have observed, “The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.”
Whoever said it, it's true. It has always been true, and it remains so today. Only, can we finally admit it's not "corruption", but government working exactly as designed?
Once you realize government is made up of thieves and robbers, you'll see reality.
If more things are made illegal, the "crime rate" will inevitably go up, even if the amount of actual crime- individual rights violations- stays the same or goes down. All recent laws, and the majority of older ones, are aimed at making things which aren't real crimes, and have no individual victim, illegal; treating them the same as actual crimes.
Even when laws are directed at acts which violate life, liberty, or property, they are often focused on the wrong things. Like focusing on "gun culture" because political criminals and ignorant activists hate tools, instead of looking at crime culture and its behavior. Or punishing acts which violate no one, but which make politicians, their hired guns, and tyranny's cheerleaders uncomfortable. Like crossing unowned land, buying or selling products or services, or keeping your property hidden from thieves.
If the penalty for doing something which is only illegal, but not ethically wrong, is the same as (or worse than) the penalty for doing something which does have an individual victim, you brainwash some people into believing there's no real difference. They might as well do their worst.
This introduces rot into the foundation of your society, weakening it from the ground up. When it crumbles, those who cheered this behavior will wonder what happened and look for someone else to blame. Well, it's happening, and it's accelerating. I know where the fault lies, and now, so do you.
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Thank you for reading.
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