Is it possible, just possible, that policing - and the courts in their own way - are both meant not to be effective but performative? In other words, the issue perhaps is simply that the police and courts are to be SEEN to be doing something but that ACTUALLY doing something is not as important. Carrying that thought further, whether that "something" is effective is not at all important.
Performative arrests can be effective in deterring law-abiding citizens from becoming first-time offenders, by raising the psychological bar that they need to cross internally before they decide to commit their first crime. However, once someone has actually offended and had personal experience with the system, they quickly realize that there is not much to lose even if they commit subsequent crimes. The cost-benefit analysis becomes tiled in favour of first-time offenders becoming repeat offenders. In the long term, society become divided into two groups: veteran criminals who are the "smart guys", and the constantly-victimized who are the "suckers". Welcome to Canada!
Given that the only legitimate roles of the state are the police, the military, and the courts, when leviathan has metastasized throughout all endeavor, thanks to exuberance in vote pandering and out of control law making, legitimacy, thrift, and purpose are forgotten.
"The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the nation." - Tacitus (56-117 AD)
"Dying societies accumulate laws like dying men accumulate remedies"- Nicolas Gomez Davila
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished… The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism.
Very interesting if depressing. Great provocative question at the end regarding whether to tell people that safety no longer realistic. It is hard to image either the politicians or public administrations providing a clear answer to the clear question. In a distracted society it is too easy to get away with announcing funding and initiatives and skating around the lack of results.
"I started with the assumption that folks from Toronto are no more naughty than anyone else in the province." That may be a correct assumption, but I wouldn't bet on it. I live in a part of Ontario where people don't lock their doors. We have crime, but we don't have shootings and gangs. So your 90K might be on the high side. Or not.
Very thought provoking.
Is it possible, just possible, that policing - and the courts in their own way - are both meant not to be effective but performative? In other words, the issue perhaps is simply that the police and courts are to be SEEN to be doing something but that ACTUALLY doing something is not as important. Carrying that thought further, whether that "something" is effective is not at all important.
Just a random query that occurs to me.
Performative arrests can be effective in deterring law-abiding citizens from becoming first-time offenders, by raising the psychological bar that they need to cross internally before they decide to commit their first crime. However, once someone has actually offended and had personal experience with the system, they quickly realize that there is not much to lose even if they commit subsequent crimes. The cost-benefit analysis becomes tiled in favour of first-time offenders becoming repeat offenders. In the long term, society become divided into two groups: veteran criminals who are the "smart guys", and the constantly-victimized who are the "suckers". Welcome to Canada!
Given that the only legitimate roles of the state are the police, the military, and the courts, when leviathan has metastasized throughout all endeavor, thanks to exuberance in vote pandering and out of control law making, legitimacy, thrift, and purpose are forgotten.
"The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the nation." - Tacitus (56-117 AD)
"Dying societies accumulate laws like dying men accumulate remedies"- Nicolas Gomez Davila
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished… The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism.
So sad! Is there anything in Canada that isn't broken, corrupt or destroyed?
Well it still snows. So I guess climate change hasn't taken that from us. :)
Very interesting if depressing. Great provocative question at the end regarding whether to tell people that safety no longer realistic. It is hard to image either the politicians or public administrations providing a clear answer to the clear question. In a distracted society it is too easy to get away with announcing funding and initiatives and skating around the lack of results.
"I started with the assumption that folks from Toronto are no more naughty than anyone else in the province." That may be a correct assumption, but I wouldn't bet on it. I live in a part of Ontario where people don't lock their doors. We have crime, but we don't have shootings and gangs. So your 90K might be on the high side. Or not.