How I Would Do Deterrence, 6-20-2010

 I admit if I knew I was going to be kept in jail (for such is the truth of this release on my own recognizance), I would have gotten rid of the garbage and never sent any more. If I knew there would be an argument against suicide I could not refuse, I would have changed my ways. To me, it possessed no value in and of itself, hence, its designation as garbage.

You want to deter others from my crimes? Well, you have the power. Go through every chatroom and online forum, and post links to any of the following: 1) the relevant federal statutes; 2) press releases for convictions; and 3) anything else that will get the possible penalties in the faces of potential offenders. Most people I met online had no real idea of how much time they could get for their crime. Mark that down as another failure of the federal government's deterrence program. Most were as I was in the beginning - getting a rush by committing a crime for which the social repulsion outweighed the time in prison.

More knowledge will deter more people. That is one of my three reasons for this journal; why I hope my friends can post this stuff online. If it gets posted, I hope readers will post in those chat rooms I mentioned above. Since the government wants me as a sacrifice for the idol of deterrence and since I think the federal government utterly inept at carrying out its policy of deterrence, I might as take into my own hands getting out a message of deterrence.

Why I never saw the federal or state governments doing this, I do not know. My thoughts go along two lines: 1) they have no idea how the online world works; and/or 2) they do not care to actually suppress the trade. The first has a cure the second lacks.

But what of the pressure groups pressing for stringent enforcement of the laws? They also do nothing like my proposal. And my suspicious, cynical mind wonders if their reasons are not also what I attribute to the government.

sch