When Breaking the Rules Becomes Cheaper Than Following Them

[slapper]

One of the things that I have been considering: we create penalties to help deter bad behavior, but what happens when the penalty is just another entry in the budget? As an example, suppose you are a company manager and you know that doing the right thing would cost you 5bn, but doing the shady thing and paying the fine afterwards would cost you 500mn. The math is obvious. The fine is no longer a punishment but a business cost. A fine on law-breaking that is well worth paying. And this happening everywhere:

- Banks that launder money and pay fines that are a fraction of the profits.
- Technological firms that breach privacy regulations since the fine is insignificant to the data worth.
- The companies that pollute and plan the fines of EPA in their quarterly estimates.

The funny thing is that all of the people involved know that they are doing this. Regulators know. Lawyers know. The companies are well aware. But the system continues to operate because... why? Because changing it would require penalties so severe to them that they actually hurt, and nobody wants to be the person who "kills jobs" or "stifles innovation"? Unless penalties are deterrent, they are merely the cost of entry. And as much as you can pay the price, you can do anything. Which means rules only apply to people who are too poor to break them

[Ucy]

Ofcourse, things like that are the norms in the system. You'll be hated if you try to change it with something more stringent. And they will wonder how you got to the top in the first place to be able to make the changes since the top is meant for very corrupt fellows. . So, if you manage to get to the top as the reformist, it's likely was by "accident" or miracle, and they would work hard to get rid of you if you do not be like them. You just have to play by the rules and don't bite more than you can chew. Besides, outsiders or bottom dwellers won't be smart enough to notice the loopholes or corruptions.  They will think you are are "law-abiding" or that the system is actually moral, and they wouldn't dare to break the law until someone deep in the system shows them how things really work.
No country is an exception in this case... it's just more difficult to detect in the more clever ones.


The whole thing operates like the prison system. With enough money you can live like a free person in the prison even though you are not supposed to. Usually the poor or ignorant live like real prisoners. But the higher or deeper you go, while following their way, the "freeer" you become. However it's better to remain at the bottom, suffer it and stand the chance of being saved by our CREATOR. Besides, reaching the top means you become soulless or like a zombies with little to zero empathy. I think that's what they call psychopath.


It's all about money or reward, which.is what is used to bait and promote people.

[Comeacross]

Are you from Africa? Because this is a typical example of what's happening in Africa. Anything man-made is meant to favor one party and harmful to other but natural law is fair for all parties, unfortunately, the evil minds develop the so called law that make way for them as long as they have money. Imagine someone stole billions of money but was fined to pay a unit or few tents of million. Tell me how corruption can be eliminate this way.

Yes, law is meant for the poors that don't have money to pay the fine. Reason why people don't hesitate to make money by all means possible, it gives you freedom that not even law can give you.

[Hewlet]

One of the things that I have been considering: we create penalties to help deter bad behavior, but what happens when the penalty is just another entry in the budget? As an example, suppose you are a company manager and you know that doing the right thing would cost you 5bn, but doing the shady thing and paying the fine afterwards would cost you 500mn. The math is obvious. The fine is no longer a punishment but a business cost. A fine on law-breaking that is well worth paying. And this happening everywhere:

this is gradually becoming a norm whereby, people count the cost involved in committing a particular crime and go on to do it knowing fully well that it is easy to go through the punishment and enjoy the benefit of their atrocity. it is just like someone that was convicted of embezzlement and knows fully well that the maximum punishment he can pay for such crime is that he gets to be locked three years behind bars afterwards he can get his freedom and enjoy his money. he will comfortably pay that sacrifice and spend the years in prison for the sake of the benefit he stands to enjoy afterwards. that is why some countries intentionally set strict laws that discourages criminals from thinking of certain crimes.

[Accardo]

Companies that poluttes the environment is a good example, the right thing for them to do is move away to a far location where people won't complain about noise or carbons, but doing that would hurt the nature of the business, so the right angle to place themselves is by paying whatever the law charges them to deposit every interval. Why are they not penalized? first of all they employ labor, second of all they give revenue to the government. The strict penalties goes to companies whose admins don't admit to pay fines.