New Approach Needed – Legal System
Our spirituality is what tells us Why we are doing what we are doing. Currently, our spirituality is focused mostly on our own individual benefit. We do what helps us survive, or survive better.
An new spirituality could help us grow beyond that. We could actually reach the point where we are starting to fulfill our role her in this world – our role of change-agents, our function as Tools of the Universe, through which the development of this creation is continued.
As a side-effect, following such a new spirituality will make our survival easier, more secure, and more enjoyable.
Here is an example of where the old approach is clearly not working, and a new approach needs to be applied: our legal system.
Our current system is based on revenge and personal satisfaction of victims. You do something bad, you get slapped. And the victim feels better because you got slapped.
Applying this system for all these years, and amplifying it with the typical American hunger for scandal and sensation, has lead us to a point, where the US has the most imprisoned person per capita in the whole world. That means, you take the number of person imprisoned in a country, and divide it by the number of citizens of that same country. If you compare those numbers, it is highest in the US. Higher than places like Irak, Iran, Russia, and any other place in this world!
Despite having locked up so many “bad” people, the US is still one of the least safe places to be in in the developed world. Hm. Something gotta be wrong here! Are we in the US more prone to be criminals? Well, I don't think so! I have lived in Europe, the US and the Caribbean, and I know, that people in all these places are nice people, all wanting the same things: be happy, live safe, have a job that pays living wages, raise our families, do good!
I think it is not the people! I think it is the system, that impacts people ending up in prison.
And there are two general areas, that have a big impact: First the education system – where people learn how to live together in a community, peacefully and productively. Secondly, the legal system – which sends people into prison.
I think, we need a fundamental shift in how we look at dealing with people that are acting inappropriate for the community they live in. Our current focus on punishment with the purpose to revenge, and locking up as one implementation of such punishment. We are trying to deter people by threatening with punishment. It is already understood for a long time, that this approach does not really deter a person from doing something, but rather just encourages them to be more careful not to be caught.
Think about yourself and the issue of speeding! Instead of not speeding, we install radar-detectors! Instead of not engaging in destructive behavior, we try to avoid being caught!
Instead, I think, we should look at the core of the problem. There is somebody, who does not understand that his/her action is hurtful to the community, that it does not increase the likelihood of their survival nor make their life easier or better, and who does not know how to apply their talents and skills in a positive way to make this world a better place.
Look at yourself again. When it is raining, you automatically drive a little slower. Why? Not because the ticket would be more expensive, but because you understand that it is more dangerous.
I know from my own experience, that once I understood – not just intellectually, but emotionally – that it is much safer, much less expensive, much less draining, and that I get to my destination not much later, if I drive at a slower speed, once I felt I am not missing out on something, if I am not speeding, it became real easy to go within the speed-limit.
My behavior did not change because of the pain of having to pay for speeding-tickets. It did not change because of the threat of further tickets. It changed because I understood, I learned, I grew.
I believe, that once a person really understands why to do something, and not to do some other thing, that person will do the right thing.
Whenever we make a decision – with or without really thinking about it – that decision is based on weighing off the positive and negative aspects, and the positive aspects outweigh the negative ones.
When somebody does something that is destructive, either that person did not have all the information necessary to make a better decision, or did not understand the situation.
The obvious conclusion from this realization is, that main goal of a legal system should be to help people mature to the point where they understand enough to make better decisions.
In Georgia there are signs along the highways, indicating that littering the highway can cost 1200$. That is a simple threat. The hope is, that it would deter people form littering. Anybody traveling along the highways in Georgia knows that this threat does not work – there is litter and trash all over the place.
Imagine, if the consequence of littering the highway was twofold: first, there is a training aspect, where the litter-bug learns about all the consequences of littering (the financial cost, the deterioration of the neighborhood, the environmental impact, and so on). Secondly, that person is spending a full day walking aside of the highway picking up trash. That would really allow the person to understand how much work it is to clean up the litter, and what kind of work it is – dirty and totally unnecessary.
I am sure, the problem of highway littering would be reduced dramatically. Anybody experiencing this consequence has a chance to really understand that is is a serious misbehavior to litter. Anybody seeing somebody working along the highway, in their reflective-suit with the big Litter-Bug emblem on their back, and becoming aware of the fact that they would end a day doing this – no matter what social or professional status or position they have - would be deterred at least as much as by the prospect of 1200$.
Again, the focus of the above suggested consequence is to help people learn and understand and mature to the point where they don't want to litter anymore.
Currently, we lock people up. When they come out, they are psychologically scared, trained by other misbehavers, and well-connected - they now have met many other offenders, which will make it much easier for them to continue down the wrong path. Also, since they now have a criminal record, most of the jobs are now not available for them anymore – any company wanting to do business with a governmental agency can not have any employees or contractors with a criminal record.
So, instead of having helped a person to find their way back to be a contributing member of the community, we basically solidified and enforced their status as destructive outsiders, as constant thorn in the communities side, endangering other members of the community, and making the lives of everybody less save, and more cumbersome!
You tell me, isn't it time for spiritual revolution in our legal system?
An new spirituality could help us grow beyond that. We could actually reach the point where we are starting to fulfill our role her in this world – our role of change-agents, our function as Tools of the Universe, through which the development of this creation is continued.
As a side-effect, following such a new spirituality will make our survival easier, more secure, and more enjoyable.
Here is an example of where the old approach is clearly not working, and a new approach needs to be applied: our legal system.
Our current system is based on revenge and personal satisfaction of victims. You do something bad, you get slapped. And the victim feels better because you got slapped.
Applying this system for all these years, and amplifying it with the typical American hunger for scandal and sensation, has lead us to a point, where the US has the most imprisoned person per capita in the whole world. That means, you take the number of person imprisoned in a country, and divide it by the number of citizens of that same country. If you compare those numbers, it is highest in the US. Higher than places like Irak, Iran, Russia, and any other place in this world!
Despite having locked up so many “bad” people, the US is still one of the least safe places to be in in the developed world. Hm. Something gotta be wrong here! Are we in the US more prone to be criminals? Well, I don't think so! I have lived in Europe, the US and the Caribbean, and I know, that people in all these places are nice people, all wanting the same things: be happy, live safe, have a job that pays living wages, raise our families, do good!
I think it is not the people! I think it is the system, that impacts people ending up in prison.
And there are two general areas, that have a big impact: First the education system – where people learn how to live together in a community, peacefully and productively. Secondly, the legal system – which sends people into prison.
I think, we need a fundamental shift in how we look at dealing with people that are acting inappropriate for the community they live in. Our current focus on punishment with the purpose to revenge, and locking up as one implementation of such punishment. We are trying to deter people by threatening with punishment. It is already understood for a long time, that this approach does not really deter a person from doing something, but rather just encourages them to be more careful not to be caught.
Think about yourself and the issue of speeding! Instead of not speeding, we install radar-detectors! Instead of not engaging in destructive behavior, we try to avoid being caught!
Instead, I think, we should look at the core of the problem. There is somebody, who does not understand that his/her action is hurtful to the community, that it does not increase the likelihood of their survival nor make their life easier or better, and who does not know how to apply their talents and skills in a positive way to make this world a better place.
Look at yourself again. When it is raining, you automatically drive a little slower. Why? Not because the ticket would be more expensive, but because you understand that it is more dangerous.
I know from my own experience, that once I understood – not just intellectually, but emotionally – that it is much safer, much less expensive, much less draining, and that I get to my destination not much later, if I drive at a slower speed, once I felt I am not missing out on something, if I am not speeding, it became real easy to go within the speed-limit.
My behavior did not change because of the pain of having to pay for speeding-tickets. It did not change because of the threat of further tickets. It changed because I understood, I learned, I grew.
I believe, that once a person really understands why to do something, and not to do some other thing, that person will do the right thing.
Whenever we make a decision – with or without really thinking about it – that decision is based on weighing off the positive and negative aspects, and the positive aspects outweigh the negative ones.
When somebody does something that is destructive, either that person did not have all the information necessary to make a better decision, or did not understand the situation.
The obvious conclusion from this realization is, that main goal of a legal system should be to help people mature to the point where they understand enough to make better decisions.
In Georgia there are signs along the highways, indicating that littering the highway can cost 1200$. That is a simple threat. The hope is, that it would deter people form littering. Anybody traveling along the highways in Georgia knows that this threat does not work – there is litter and trash all over the place.
Imagine, if the consequence of littering the highway was twofold: first, there is a training aspect, where the litter-bug learns about all the consequences of littering (the financial cost, the deterioration of the neighborhood, the environmental impact, and so on). Secondly, that person is spending a full day walking aside of the highway picking up trash. That would really allow the person to understand how much work it is to clean up the litter, and what kind of work it is – dirty and totally unnecessary.
I am sure, the problem of highway littering would be reduced dramatically. Anybody experiencing this consequence has a chance to really understand that is is a serious misbehavior to litter. Anybody seeing somebody working along the highway, in their reflective-suit with the big Litter-Bug emblem on their back, and becoming aware of the fact that they would end a day doing this – no matter what social or professional status or position they have - would be deterred at least as much as by the prospect of 1200$.
Again, the focus of the above suggested consequence is to help people learn and understand and mature to the point where they don't want to litter anymore.
Currently, we lock people up. When they come out, they are psychologically scared, trained by other misbehavers, and well-connected - they now have met many other offenders, which will make it much easier for them to continue down the wrong path. Also, since they now have a criminal record, most of the jobs are now not available for them anymore – any company wanting to do business with a governmental agency can not have any employees or contractors with a criminal record.
So, instead of having helped a person to find their way back to be a contributing member of the community, we basically solidified and enforced their status as destructive outsiders, as constant thorn in the communities side, endangering other members of the community, and making the lives of everybody less save, and more cumbersome!
You tell me, isn't it time for spiritual revolution in our legal system?
posted by Thomas | 1:42 PM
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