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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (94545)	11/7/2008 1:45:26 PM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541472

Machiavelli suggested long ago in the Discorsi (Bk 3, chap 1) that a salutary custom would be take a few of the "leading" citizens of any polity every 10 years or so and kill them to serve as an example to the others. That would be the only way to keep them honest. Pour discourager les autres? LOL, that would certainly silence those who claim that a 3% rise in marginal taxes is enough to demotivate the rich. Still, even at my most ranting I would put that in the "somewhat TOO extreme" bucket. By comparison I rather support the jail idea, combined with RICO to confiscate the assets (surely malfeasance on such a scale classes as organised crime... it's certainly in an organisation, after all). The profiteers should not be allowed to escape with the results of their crimes.