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A comment on Letter from Union Pacific to LA District Attorney re: train thefts, safety [pdf]. Parent comment

Re:Letter from Union Pacific to LA District Attorney re: tra... by smogcutter on Tuesday January 18, 2022 @09:11PM (#29989015)
> the big picture purpose that law enforcement and justice system has played throughout civilized history. The primary purpose is to promote economic growth by reducing societal costs by deterring crime and fraud (including 'civil' fraud like breaking contracts) in an orderly manner.

Citation needed...

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Re:Letter from Union Pacific to LA District Attorney re: tra... by namlem on Tuesday January 18, 2022 @09:26PM (#29989136)
Yeah, that's just not true. I'd say it's at least somewhat true of the past 300 years or so, but for most of the history of civilization, economic growth was negligible and generally not an important consideration for governments.
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Re:Letter from Union Pacific to LA District Attorney re: tra... by aeternum on Tuesday January 18, 2022 @10:01PM (#29989401)
More than 300 years ago it was more like economic survival vs. growth. Adam Smith talks about the supply of labor being limited basically due to human starvation.
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