I feel the same way - I've had numerous opportunities in the past to commit larceny, both small and large, as well as assorted more heinous crimes with which I was pretty much assured of "getting away with." What stopped me was my own compass, not fear of getting caught. However, I unfortunately don't believe that this is what's true of most of the populace for most crimes, even ones beyond the niggling trifles like parking violations.GrahamKennedy wrote:I don't know that it would be something I would think. I mean, my main reason for obeying the law isn't that I'm scared of getting caught, it's rather that I agree with most laws. Under this system everybody can essentially have a single freebie - you can murder somebody, knowing that the only real consequence is that you'll never want to do it again. And yet... even so, I can't imagine myself murdering somebody because of that.
That's more than possible with most people, it's likely... especially without the mitigating presence of a tangible punishment.GrahamKennedy wrote:t's possible that my emotions would overwhelm my beliefs, I suppose.
