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Quote by: Autolykos  I didn't say "necessarily lead", I said "could lead". :) |
Indeed.
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Quote by: Autolykos Would redistributing power to smaller units necessarily (here I am using the word  ) lead to "a bunch of people battling against each other"? On the one hand, the outlaw would have no incentive not to commit crime, since he's already been given the ultimate punishment -- absence of any legal protection. But on the other hand, it also means that others could commit crimes against him (including murder) with legal impunity. |
Yes, and this situation would appear disorderly. That's why redistributing the power into small units could leads to chaos.
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Quote by: Autolykos Yes, their impunity would only extend to the outlaw himself. Then again, there's nothing stopping what you describe above today, aside from physical constraints. |
So it could lead to that situation.
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Quote by: Autolykos What's so special about the "institutionalized" part, anyway?
I don't think outlawing would be so restrictive, and historically it wasn't. The government wouldn't necessarily be handing the convict a death sentence; it would simply say "You have no rights anymore".
- Rob |
Many death penalty advocates are comforted by differentiating executions for the state from full-blown murders. But yeah, in outlawing, the family has a choice whether or not they want to kill, so it's not necessarily a death sentence.
By losing his/her rights, the outlaw would be further removed from society, which actually happened when they committed the crime, since they rejected societal standards in the form of laws; removal from society is also in other sentences like exiling and executions.
If outlawing was frequent, though, then theoretically we'd have lots of deviants who aren't members of a society walking around in what is geographically a part of that society, thus partially displacing that society; if they were in prison instead, deviance would be more concentrated and easier to manage for that society. Of course, they'd only be walking around if the families didn't take revenge, and if they did, there's still the possibility for chaos. Maybe it's just paranoia on the part of those against outlawing, but it sure is a possibility.