Make the Law Favor the Law-Abiding

Laws are never perfect. They can either benefit good citizens or criminals.

Before U.S. Airways was gobbled up by American Airlines, it used to run flights between Tel Aviv and Philadelphia. We took one such flight on our way to Las Vegas. According to the booking, it was supposed to arrive in the City of Brotherly Love around 6:30 in the morning. Taking into account Customs and getting to our next gate, we didn’t have much time for morning prayers, which are much more easily performed in a terminal rather than on an airplane. I was surprised when I saw on the screen during the flight that our expected arrival time was moved up to 4:30 AM. This was great news. Then it started to slip and slip until it reached 5 AM, when we did actually arrive. As I deplaned, I bumped into the captain and asked about the changes in timing. “We had a really good tailwind that took off a lot of our flight time. As the Customs hall does not open until 5 am, I throttled back so as to arrive then.” His reasoning was impeccable.

All of us act according to rules and expectations. If I know a place where I can leave my car and there is no need to pay and parking authorities never visit, I can park there for free. We actually have free parking in our neighborhood; when it is not available, we have free parking in our parking lot-turned-bomb-shelter from 3 PM to 8 the next morning. I often plan my arrival home to be later than 3 and have a fixed phone alarm for 7:45 when I need to remove the car from the parking lot before being charged.

Western countries have lost their moxie. There was a time when they used to shoot, string up, or electrocute people in need of such punishments for their antisocial behavior. Punishment of the few meant a better life for the many. If we were a real country, we would allow people to do the following after appropriate single-digit warnings:

• Let border guards shoot people entering the country illegally
• Let security guards shoot thieves trying to move goods out of a store without payment
• Let home owners/property owners shoot criminals trying to take their belongings
• Let the same shoot squatters who refuse to leave the premises
• Let police shoot protesters who are destroying property or threatening life

None of what I wrote above was controversial in the past. Napoleon spoke of using “grapeshot” on protesters, and de Gaulle said to shoot over protesters after two warnings. We see today protesters in France dancing in front of security officials because the latter have a very small quiver of options for dealing with communist/Muslim protesters and destroyers. Water cannons, maybe some very temporary arrests, chasing and hitting with an ineffectual plastic baton. The left-Islam axis is prepared for these options and is unafraid of their use. I have seen police hit protesters multiple times with their batons, and the recipients of the blows remain on their feet and seem quite unfazed. The paid and organized troublemakers often come with gas masks against pepper spray and don’t seem overly intimidated by the recent use of French water cannons. Western governments have been cowed by media and courts into surrendering methods that, while extreme, produce results. The first intifada began in Rafah, both in Israel and Egypt. Israel responded in a Western manner, and the intifada continued for a few years. Egypt shot the stone throwers, and the intifada in its land was over.

Until Western citizens and police forces are authorized to use deadly force when required, the criminals will be ascendant. Picture the horrible spread of squatting in the United States. If those who wrongly grab property of others thought that the actual owner or some muscle he sent could put them in the hospital or in the ground, they would be very careful about whose property they take. If the French police opened fire on a group of protesters, the protests would end. Not just where the shots were fired, but everywhere. There is one ironclad rule with modern lefties and Muslims: they are cowards who are afraid to die for their cause. They will protest, throw on keffiyehs, and talk tough. Once bullets fly, they melt like butter on a car engine. As soon as a few are dropped, the rest will run for their lives and not return. They’re in it for the excitement, not for death or hospitalization.

The same would be true for illegal aliens entering Western countries or students wilding in some Chicago mall. Give a clear warning as to what’s about to go down. Do it again. Then open fire. This may seem cruel, mean, extreme, unconstitutional, but there are two flavors of ice cream in our world: either the criminals get punished, or you do. Just as a doctor may need to apply radiation beyond a tumor — because the option of doing less will allow surviving cells to grow — you can either err on the side of the criminals or on the side of law-abiding citizens. For 40 years, criminals have had the upper hand. Police who use force are prosecuted, made pariahs, or are thrown off the force. Look what happened to the cops who had to deal with criminals like Michael Brown and George Floyd. One quit the force, used an alias, and moved far away from Ferguson, Missouri. The other is rotting in jail. You can’t get this perfect. So do you stop violent protests, shoplifting, and home invasions, or do you let the bad guys get away with their society-destabilizing actions? There is no middle ground. It is a near-weekly event to hear about some murderer who had dozens of priors and was constantly released from jail. If he had previously been shot dead during one of his crimes or sent away forever, we would never have gotten to the final crime.

A similar solution can be applied to homelessness: all homeless people are removed and taken away. Those who can be treated and sent out to live normal lives should be given that opportunity. Those with mental or other problems that make them unable to live in society should be housed and taken care of — away from the streets of San Francisco and New York. We used to understand this stuff. But we used to understand that there are only two genders and that God created the world. We have forgotten much, and our societies are far rougher and less pleasant as a result.

While one might read this article and conclude that Bauer eats at Burgers and Bullets when he is in the US, the reality is that once you have established new rules, the other side plays by them as well. You won’t shoot and kill 500 shoplifters or squatters. Two or three will be shot because they will ignore all warnings, and then the other thousands employed in the same illegal trades will start to learn to code or how to use artificial intelligence or superintelligence. When Israel starts executing Hamas prisoners, future bombers will have to make new calculations regarding killing Jews. If they don’t die on the spot, they generally enjoy a good life in jail and a lifetime salary from the Palestinian Authority. Now, they have to wonder if they will hang instead. Punishments create societal borders for both the good and the rotten in our world. The West has abdicated serious policing and war-making. Israel dropped too small a bomb recently and only wounded a current leader of Hamas. Drop a bunker buster — kill him and anyone he ever knew. We are cowards, and societies are worse for it.

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