We are all a bunch of un-apprehended felons

Thanks to Sarah Hoyt, I found this monstrosity:

Have you ever thrown out some junk mail that came to your house but was addressed to someone else? That’s a violation of federal law punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

That’s just one example from a piece on overcriminalization.

We are, literally, screwed.

In like vein, after quoting from a post by Walter Russell Mead  on overcriminalization (“we’re perhaps the most penal country in history, imprisoning a larger percentage of our population even than the Soviet Union under Stalin“), Glenn Reynolds opined thusly:

Not only do we need prison reform, we need criminal law reform. There should be far fewer crimes, and prosecutors should be under more scrutiny.

The more laws there are, the more crimes there are. It doesn’t take an economist to understand this.

Take a look at these aerial views of beautiful American cities, all built when the federal government had very little power and did almost nothing, and when there were very few laws. There were no income taxes. Almost no building codes. No gun control. And no drug laws. Heroin and cocaine were sold over the counter or in the Sears Roebuck catalog without prescription. Prostitution thrived.

How did such a wild and un-nannied country survive?


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7 responses to “We are all a bunch of un-apprehended felons”

  1. JB71 Avatar
    JB71

    It didn’t.

    Faced with too much freedom, it decided the only thing to do was lock itself into a closet and whimper.

  2. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    @JB71 OUCH! Unfortunately, you are probably right.

    One problem I have with the (big L) Libertarians is that they don’t admit that a LOT of people really want someone to tell them what to do.

  3. Bill Quick Avatar

    Kathy – keerect. Although I dunno what good it would do for the Big-Ls to admit that – they have no strategies or solutions for the times when reality violates their dogmas. Hence: borderless “nations” with completely unfettered immigration are always good things. Especially when they fill your own nation with people who think Big-L Libertarian are insane, and are more than willing to vote for politicians who feel the same way.

    The truly stupid party in America is the Libertarian Party. Pure of heart, and utterly, laughably helpless, thanks to a total inability to deal with reality, and a willingness to burn the village of liberty in order to save it.

  4. Frank Avatar
    Frank

    Three weeks ago I would have agreed with you Mr. Quick, about Libertarians burning the village of liberty in order to save it.
    Now I realize that there is no village of liberty left to burn. Through complicity and cowardice Republicans have seen to that.

  5. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    Bill, if they actually admitted it, perhaps they could develop some strategies.

    But, sigh, you are probably right about the blank stare when reality violates their dogmas. More’s the pity – they do have SOME good ideas.

  6. wtp Avatar

    That’s funny. When I get junk mail for the previous occupant and miss the “or current resident” part of the address and put it back in the box marked NATA, I get it back, printed in big bold letters, from my postman/woman, whom I suspect is a little nutzy for other reasons, not the least of which is he/she works for the post office, “OR CURRENT RESIDENT!”.

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