Prisoner dilemma part 2
Ok this has nothing to do with the classical prisoners dilemma. Its a completely different idea, I just thought the title was catchy, though I’m sure this question too has a fancy name I’m unaware of.
Its about the old question, is it better to jail ninety-nine guilty men and one innocent man or let them all go free. I have analyzed enough to reach an answer that I find satisfactory. As I am a fan of the libertarian ideology I say it is better they all go free.
My post here is to those who oppose this view, for those that agree this entire post will be somewhat moot. If one values individual rights (as I do) than setting all one hundred men free is the only option available to the reasoned thinker. Why? Because setting 99 guilty men free, along with the 1 innocent, violates not a single person’s liberty while jailing all one hundred violates one person’s liberty.
Doubtless, some will say those that have been victimized by the ninety-nine guilty men have had some of their rights breached by having their just vengeance denied them. To this I say that punishment is entirely subjective and as such any action against the guilty is possible including granting them their liberty. The desire for “just” punishment and vengeance is not sufficient cause to jail the innocent man.
What is undeniable and easily demonstrable is that jailing one innocent man is a direct violation of his liberty.
If indeed punishment is subjective as it has to be for there exists nowhere on the earth (known to me) that gives an objective accounting of crimes and their corresponding punishments. One only needs to read the penal code to see the wide range of possible punishments for any number of crimes to verify this. The potential release of the guilty men does not violate any actual liberties (or even rights) of anyone, just the seeming right of those victimized to some form of satisfaction. Is that satisfaction, of any number of victims, worth the liberty of even one man? I would say no.