If You Can't Do the Time...

My initial idea for how to make the world a better place was to try to lower the crime rate. My plan for how to do that was to use the system of reward and punishment, and reward people who report crimes that are being committed, and to punish the people who are committing crimes. I want to say that the reward for reporting crimes would be something like extra money on tax returns at the end of the year. As for what the punishment would be for people who are going around committing crimes, I have to be honest and say that I’m on the fence about it. It could be jail, but jail might not be effective as all it would do is overfill the jails and then that would be a different problem. It could be a severe punishment like loss of limb or death which would deter some people but that seems a little bit too over the top. As you can see I’m a little stuck on the “How” part of my plan but I think that this would be a good idea in terms of making the world a better place because the ultimate goal would be that the crime rates would decrease. It would also do wonders in terms of decreasing the issue of the bystander effect, which is an instance where people see crimes or someone in need but don’t do anything to help or put a stop to the situation for various reasons. In other words, I feel that in rewarding the people who report crimes, it will motivate people to care about one another and help each other out if the need arises. While the “How” of my plan is a little rough, I’m open to suggestions on how to punish criminals without making the punishment as extreme.