this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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I'll say upfront that I'm glad someone started this conversation because I've had a lot of questions about how a solarpunk society would answer these questions, but haven't made it very far in the fundamental philosophy stuff regarding prison abolition, anarchism, etc. So I could be totally off base here.
But it strikes me that exile would be a strong temptation as a solution, because it offers a lot of freedom, but a dangerous one - it could mean that a person who has already made themselves enough of a problem to get to the point where their community is presenting these options, is now on their own, possibly holding a grudge, and either able to encounter strangers on the road, in a low-enforcement situation, or able to show up at another community who won't have any warning (unless there's an overarching identification system which could turn any exile from one place into a way more damaging experience). Depending on what got them kicked out and what causes it, they may just learn how to hide warning signs better before escalating. Or they might form motivated groups akin to bandits.
In a society with a strong drive to internalize externalities when it comes to things like manufacturing, I feel like they'd feel it was irresponsible to cast people out to kind of stew in exile, but I have no good answers.
The whole goal of prison abolition and what to do with people who present a legitimate threat is massive, and I don't know enough about anything involved to try and suggest solutions. But I feel like whatever they come up with will need to be somewhat workable in a smaller scale in order to be practical while a society is transitioning, probably unevenly, into being solarpunk.
Sorry I don't have something more useful, I'm glad they brought this up and I'm grateful to all of you for discussing it.