Re:An unemployed trader who became a $700M exile
by lmm on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @08:56PM
(#25368589)
Ancient Chinese law worked that way; people whose acts were considered blatantly unethical would routinely be charged for violating an imperial decree. Not an actual imperial decree, but everyone acknowledged that the Emperor would have made such a decree if he'd been aware of the circumstances.
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Re:An unemployed trader who became a $700M exile
by chii on Wednesday December 09, 2020 @09:52PM
(#25369053)
selective application of the law (aka, a lynchmob) has a very chilling effect on the populous. They will not take risks, nor try new innovations for fear of such reprisals.
You end up with a "can't go wrong buying IBM" mentality, but for society.
Re:An unemployed trader who became a $700M exile
by lmm on Thursday December 10, 2020 @06:19AM
(#25372465)
It wasn't a case of lynch mobs - the court administration were properly appointed officials, and there were checks and balances in place (by the standards of the time). But the mentality that the rules had to be written down ahead of time and any loopholes were fair game just wasn't there.