Punishing Theft

Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. -Stephen King, novelist (1947- )

I was having some verbal discourse with Edmund Dantes when he brought up the cost of prosecuting theft. Dantes is of the opinion that the cost of investing, prosecuting, and imprisoning thieves cost more than the items stolen. Dantes thinks we would be better of without theft as a crime, even though he thinks theft is wrong.

If the enforcers of the state were out of the equation we would simply make sure our more valuable things are safer.

We should have the right to shoot thieves if they show intent to do us harm by stealing our goods.

The only justification for the State is to protect our lives and our property. The State does a poor job of this by the number of thefts that occur and the numbers that go unsolved. So, is the State protecting us? Would we be better off with private security? The State laws are made in legislative committees made of attorneys and staff. Attorneys, judges, and prosecutors are all members of the bar associations. They lobby for more laws because it helps their business. Law enforcement officers' union and prison guard unions also lobby for more laws, to create more work, which creates more members, which creates more power for the union leaders.

Wikipedia--"In Sharia law, in accordance with the Quran and several hadith, theft is punished by imprisonment or amputation of hands or feet, depending on the number of times it was committed and depending on the item of theft".

I suspect theft would be severely curtailed if a convicted thief's hand was amputated instead of sending her to prison. If that is too severe, we could start with one finger for each conviction of theft. Soon everyone would see the evidence that indicated that person was a thief and would not trust her. Theft laws would be eliminated, and we would need fewer lawyers, judges, and cops. Our insurance premiums from theft would also go down.

Amputation must be effective in reducing theft. How many one handed Muslims do you see?

Bilbo Baggins