This is a really nice theory, but it do not always work in practice. Who teach? Parents right? And when they teach harmful actions? And if kids cannot understand?
Often suffering is caused exactly following this path. There are places in the world where people consider normal an high violent environment, and equally normal use more violence to try to put some order. It's an escalation without end.
A strong culture about kindness and value of lives is the final solution, but until this naturally arise some laws are necessary to agevolate the process.
Replies (2)
Harmful actions are actions and not words. I fail to see how this has relevance to the above point. Why are you mixing crime with words? One is already punishable.
So we need the nanny state because humanity is weak?
Laws don't prevent harmful action, they just standardize the consequence and centralize the enforcement of it.
No law will ever prevent parents teaching harmful action to kids. Also no law will ever prevent domestic abuser to hit his wife. Or whatever example you want to give.
There also used to be places in the world where I wasn't worried after every boarder crossing if I said something that offends the current regime in the western democracies enough to try to jail me for it.
Jailing people for wrong speak will not create a strong culture of kindness, just a culture of fear. Which is what is already happening all around europe.
With your reasoning we need to also police the thoughts (which you are effectively arguing for anyway) because thoughts can hurt you too. Imagine thinking something bad and getting upset by it? They should put you in jail because you're mentally harmful to yourself...
In a strong culture a man harassing kids gets punched in the face. Not written a citation for using words that hurt someones feelings because they grew up raised by snowflake parents who need their government to protect them from people who have opinions different than their favorite tiktoker.
