Destroying artwork

[kai]

Hello Alan,

I fully agree that preventive control is paramount and that one needs to stomp in strongly to prevent the extinction of rhinos, tigers, and - to a slightly lesser or more local extent - elephants.

Much easier to talk about than implement, of course. And we need to talk honestly about poverty and failing elites, for sure.

Kai, I agree wholeheartedly that the execution of a single killer does nothing at all to halt murder.

However, if the consequences of a risk are sufficiently severe to be avoided at all costs, then the penalties that apply to those who fail to observe the laws intended to prevent occurrence of that risk, must be so severe as to cause not mere disapproval, but horror and extreme fear.

My suggested penalty may not be the most desirable to achieve the required result, but I am certain that sufficiently horrific penalties could be implemented that would not just deter people who were so inclined, from killing elephants, but would cause such people to go into a state of mental collapse at the mere thought of a dead elephant laying at their feet.

Things that come to mind immediately are crucifixion, hang, draw and quarter, that wonderful old Dutch speciality, The Wheel. And applied to whole families, or villages, not just perpetrators.

I did get the gist of your well-balanced proposal.
I don't argue that it would have *some* deterrent effect...

However, I do hold that even severe penalties are a very inefficient tool: Even in the middle ages when the penalties mentioned by you were liberally applied (at least to the lower strata of society) it certainly did not *prevent* major offences from being perpetrated. While we certainly also need to talk about penalties if deemed too weak, I'd posit that we can have humane penalties and still achieve needed preventive measures (i. e. let's keep them mostly in the non-preventive realm - what you call detective control). IMNSHO penalties (as well as laws/legislation in general) need to be continuously monitored/evaluated if they really achieve their intended goals. As we have argued here, it's too easy to go overboard, even with good intentions!

Regards,
Kai