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I could easily steal my neighbor’s packages, and it has nothing to do with deterrence being why I don’t. I don’t steal from them because I am not envious of them and they are more or less my equals, and I have no need to steal from them.

If that ever stops being the case maybe solve that problem first and understand how to go back to when deterrence wasn’t even necessary.




I agree it's not only deterrance (cops cared just as little when my gps was stolen in a good neighborhood versus in a bad one). You still need to ability to compare risk versus reward sanely. People I've known who couldn't hold a job always had emotional/mental issues. They hated authority so much they'd rather be unemployeed than have a boss telling them what to do. If they did have a job they'd sabotoge it one way or another.

If you did lose your livelihood I suspect you would fare better due to the same impulse control and ability to delay gratification that led you to be temporarily wealthy in the first place.




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