Deterrence

Lose it and you have Anarchy

This is an interesting word. If you look up the various definitions, they all essentially define deterrence as something that prevents actions from occurring. According to Merriam-Webster, deterrence means:

“: the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear, especially of punishment”

I love to use the analogy of why we can drive at high speed toward each other. Because we all agreed to abide by the rules of the road. You stay on your side. I stay on mine. Everything works as expected.

Inherent in this analogy are several examples of deterrence. First, is the obvious deterrent of driving on the wrong side of the road. A high-speed collision is unlikely to end well. For either of us. Second, is the deterrent of getting crossways with the police. Dependent on how egregiously you break the rule, a ticket, or jail is the result. Both serve as incentives and deterrents to stay within the rules of the laws.

Look around, deterrence is everywhere. In many, if not most cases, it is merely a matter of common sense. Don’t touch the hot stove, at least not twice. The pain and the blisters are cause and effect. A deterrent from doing it twice. Same for many things we learn in life. Pain is a great deterrent to doing stupid things that hurt.

In order to have civilization, we must agree to the rule of law, codified, and then enforced. Deterrence is the method we put in place to maintain order, and therefore civilized rule. We have our Constitution detailing what our government must do for us. Perhaps as important, it also shows what they cannot do. This is further strengthened by a Bill of Rights, where we lay out rules we and our government agree to abide by for our functioning society.