My co-workers: "Laws are there to stop people from doing things!"

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

Laws exist to *discourage* people from doing things, and, maybe, ideally, to cause people to stop and think before they decide if they want to do those things or not.

[cstamp@mastodon.social]

@eldritch48 Well, the intent is to prevent people from doing things, but if no one is looking, folk tend to do what they think they can get away with.

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

@CStamp In other words, they make people stop and consider the estimated ROI of the action.

[cstamp@mastodon.social]

@eldritch48 Sure, but it’s intent vs reality.

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

@CStamp Oh, I think that's the intent. No one who gets a law passed thinks it has any direct power to *stop* anyone. Speed limits aren't put in place with the assumption that everyone will obey them.

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

@CStamp I think the more true statement is that many people don't ever think about what a law "means" after they got a definition from their parents when they were 3.

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

This is also why, for MOST laws on the books, they aren't designed to impact the rich and the powerful.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@eldritch48 also (still in theory) to establish whether punishment is warranted, or who's at fault when bad things happen.

[eldritch48@mastodon.social]

@oblomov but punishment is still just to try to discourage action..it’s not for the people who actually did the thing, it’s to direct future behavior.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@eldritch48 there's a lot to be said about what punishment is for; arguably in practice it is indeed largely intended to be a deterrent (when not, worse, just for the sadistic satisfaction of whoever inflicts the punishment), but it can also be (again, in theory) intended to be a way to have compensation (at a personal or communal level, depending on what one is being punished for), and/or education.