4 ms·

Prior to justice-by-committee a lot of societies didn't have jails. Either what you did was so bad we need to end your life or you need to find a way to repay i

Prior to justice-by-committee a lot of societies didn't have jails. Either what you did was so bad we need to end your life or you need to find a way to repay it even if you have to work for free as a slave to earn the money. I don't think that would work today, but what we have today doesn't work either.

pfannkuchen 3y ago
Don’t forget banishment, which isn’t really an option today. Though I don’t see why some large chunk of federal land couldn’t be designated as a banishment target.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
  Also don’t forget corporal punishments. Whippings, branding, amputations were common punishments.
- jtsuken 3y ago
  I feel like Elon Musk is about to propose a tech-driven innovative solution to this centuries old problem.
  - pfannkuchen 3y ago
    Banishment to Mars?
- rurp 3y ago
  In many historical contexts banishment was basically equivalent to a death sentence.
- NateEag 3y ago
  When I was younger I flirted with a banishment alternative to imprisonment for severe recidivist offenders. Fence in a few hundred thousand acres of wildlands. Send sentenced criminals in with a minimal backpack of survival gear, a waterproof survival manual (including a minified calendar), and their exit date and fingerprints engraved on a piece of metal (maybe their firestarter). You showed repeatedly you didn't want civilization, so here - you get what you chose. Man the walls with military or national guard troops who rotate out regularly (makes it hard to corrupt them) - come within 500 yards of the wall (interior or exterior) anywhere but a defined ingress point and you'll be shot after due warning. Approach an egress point from the interior with any other people and you all get shot. If you can't show that it's your exit date promptly on reaching the egress point, you'll be given five minutes to get clear or be shot. I'm no longer as convinced it's a good idea, and I'm sure the logistics are massively harder than I'm making them sound. It's certainly harsh and merciless. Still - there is a certain elegance to it.
  - brianaker 3y ago
    You are describing the plot to Robert Heinlein's short story "Coventry".
    - NateEag 3y ago
      Huh. The things I missed growing up in conservative homeschooling. It is a very Heinlein plot device, now that I think of it.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Escape From New York! Great movie.
    - NateEag 3y ago
      I've never watched it, but I may well have been aware of its existence when I first thought of the idea. I think the concept works much better if it's wilderness, though. Even a ruined, abandoned city has an endless supply of the artifacts of civilization, so those imprisoned don't really get to understand what it is they've chosen.
soup10 3y ago
They also had exile back in the day, among other punishments between life and death and incarceration.

pfannkuchen 3y ago

Don’t forget banishment, which isn’t really an option today. Though I don’t see why some large chunk of federal land couldn’t be designated as a banishment target.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
Also don’t forget corporal punishments. Whippings, branding, amputations were common punishments.
jtsuken 3y ago
I feel like Elon Musk is about to propose a tech-driven innovative solution to this centuries old problem.
- pfannkuchen 3y ago
  Banishment to Mars?
rurp 3y ago
In many historical contexts banishment was basically equivalent to a death sentence.
NateEag 3y ago
When I was younger I flirted with a banishment alternative to imprisonment for severe recidivist offenders. Fence in a few hundred thousand acres of wildlands. Send sentenced criminals in with a minimal backpack of survival gear, a waterproof survival manual (including a minified calendar), and their exit date and fingerprints engraved on a piece of metal (maybe their firestarter). You showed repeatedly you didn't want civilization, so here - you get what you chose. Man the walls with military or national guard troops who rotate out regularly (makes it hard to corrupt them) - come within 500 yards of the wall (interior or exterior) anywhere but a defined ingress point and you'll be shot after due warning. Approach an egress point from the interior with any other people and you all get shot. If you can't show that it's your exit date promptly on reaching the egress point, you'll be given five minutes to get clear or be shot. I'm no longer as convinced it's a good idea, and I'm sure the logistics are massively harder than I'm making them sound. It's certainly harsh and merciless. Still - there is a certain elegance to it.
- brianaker 3y ago
  You are describing the plot to Robert Heinlein's short story "Coventry".
  - NateEag 3y ago
    Huh. The things I missed growing up in conservative homeschooling. It is a very Heinlein plot device, now that I think of it.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Escape From New York! Great movie.
  - NateEag 3y ago
    I've never watched it, but I may well have been aware of its existence when I first thought of the idea. I think the concept works much better if it's wilderness, though. Even a ruined, abandoned city has an endless supply of the artifacts of civilization, so those imprisoned don't really get to understand what it is they've chosen.

soup10 3y ago

They also had exile back in the day, among other punishments between life and death and incarceration.