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About this quote

What does it mean?
Tucker states they oppose not punishing thieves and murderers but oppose the conditions that create them.
In plain terms
Punish crime but fix what causes it.
What can you take from it?
Address the causes of crime rather than just punishment.

Where it applies

  • criminal justice
  • social reform
  • crime prevention

Putting it to work

  • reforming penal systems
  • addressing root causes
  • critiquing punishment

Questions to consider

  • What causes crime?
  • Should we stop making criminals?

Another view

It does not specify how to fix the causes without state power.

More from Benjamin Tucker

  1. The Anarchists never have claimed that liberty will bring perfection; they simply say that its results are vastly preferable to those that follow authority.

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  2. If the defenders of privilege desire to exclude from this country the opponents of privilege, they should see to it that Congress omits the taking of the eleve…

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  3. Voluntary taxation, far from impairing the 'State's' credit, would strengthen it. In the first place, the simplification of its functions would greatly reduce,…

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