Life's Incentives

slum dog

Whats incentives are there in life to do the right thing? Say for instance criminals who have gone through the penal system and no longer fear the consequences of their actions, what incentives would they have to do whats right?

Micky Dolenz

My Ma.

Shryke

Not going back to jail is a pretty good incentive.

southcentralts

thinking they can get away with it also usually works too.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Truth. Justice. Simon Cowell productions.

Pushtrak

It carries its own incentive. One does what they think is right. Even if it isn't so right in the end. As for trying to come up with an incentive for someone not to break the law, er, that is so broad as no answer could suffice.

Capt'n Midnight

Shryke wrote: »

Not going back to jail is a pretty good incentive.

not to people who have previous prison sentences

There are few financial incentives either. Once you can hire a good lawyer and accountant you can pay the fines for what you got caught for with the proceeds of what you got away with.

For the dodgy characters the chances of dying are probably higher than doing serious time for those who have been up in front of tribunals. If you are a whistleblower or protecting a witness then the opposite applies.

Helix

long term, not breaking the law is a way to a much easier life

flutterflye

If your personal code of ethics don't stop you, and the legal system no longer scares you, and you have no extra religious or spiritual incentive, well then - nothing is going to stop you is it.

Maybe if you get some long term intensive multi diciplinary assistance and guidance, then you may reassess yourself and your life goals etc...

Or maybe you should just be locked up for life.

Jimmyhologram

Over time, you gain enough experiences to be able to place yourself in the minds of other people.

The experience of violation when somebody does not respect your property or person makes it easier to imagine what it feels like for other people to experience the same thing, perhaps even on a much greater scale than you have personally experienced.

The experience of love for family and friends makes it easier to respect the integrity and lives of other people, and to be able to imagine the damage you do if you inflict pain or worse on others, not just to them personally, but to the people that brought them into the world and love them.

People who don't have this (for whatever reason) are, almost by definition, extremely dangerous, given the right set of circumstances.

“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” - Albert Camus

opinion guy

slum dog wrote: »

Whats incentives are there in life to do the right thing? Say for instance criminals who have gone through the penal system and no longer fear the consequences of their actions, what incentives would they have to do whats right?

I once saw a movie about a poor indian boy growing up in the slums. My he had his troubles - sh1t-slopping, organised beggars trying to blind him, his brother raping his woman and then becoming a ganster, working in a call centre (:eek:) and going on a game show with an evil host. But hs seemed to have an incentive or two ?
What was it called again ???? Oh yeah...."The Bus that Wouldn't Slow Down"....

Shenshen

slum dog wrote: »

Whats incentives are there in life to do the right thing? Say for instance criminals who have gone through the penal system and no longer fear the consequences of their actions, what incentives would they have to do whats right?

Are you confusing incentive with preventive here?
Fear (as in, fear of going to prison) at best might prevent someone from doing wrong, but it's hardly an incentive to go out of your way to do something right...