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Originally Posted by Andrew H.
What are these "measurable costs" of personal safety and psychology? How much are they worth? At what price is investigating burglary too expensive? $1,000? $10,000?
In fact, these claims *are not* measurable at all. Which of course doesn't mean that they aren't real, it just points out that trying to add up monetary costs of enforcement vs. monetary costs of crime doesn't work.
And I would imagine people who have had their hard work stolen and offered for free might feel differently about the costs of piracy than someone who is not a victim.
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Exactly. And the major part of the savings that law enforcement provides for society is crime prevention. A lot of people think twice if they are afraid of getting caught and the crime rate is being reduced -- greatly lowering the overall damage to society.
So the simple calculation "how much is spent on bringing a criminal to justice vs how much is the monetary value of the damage in that particular case" just doesn't make sense.
Law enforcement is like an insurance contract. Everybody in society pays for it through taxes and shares in the benefits of security. People here are, in effect, arguing that they are not getting your money's worth unless they have been a victim and the authorities have to make an effort on their behalf.