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The State Should Shame People Who Pee in the Street

Pee here, not on the street (photo by Flickr user kerryanndame)
August 27, 2014

Noted squish Mark Hemingway posted this in horror earlier today on Twitter:

After libeling me as a "soft* fascist," Hemingway explained that he felt the punishment didn't fit the crime: "Against posting video to YouTube where the humiliation could easily be disproportionate to the crime."

The problem with street-peeing is that you don't have many reasonable options when it comes to punishment. A paltry fine will do little to deter street-peers and prison seems like an exorbitant waste of resources for those who have committed a nonviolent offense such as street-peeing. I'm reminded of the dilemma over what to do with those awful people who steal from restaurants. In that case, I suggested bringing back the stocks. But the solution suggested above—and roundly dismissed by prominent anarchist Mark Hemingway—is far, far more elegant:

If the state catches you on camera peeing in the street, the video of your crime should be put on the Internet for a period of no less than six months.

This provides both the shame of the stocks and the immediacy of the Internet. Would it put a dent in your Google rankings? Well, yeah. That's practically the point. If people are actually afraid of breaking the law**—if they will suffer an actual consequence for it, one that, as a bonus, costs the state very little to levy—then fewer people will break the law.

Much like stealing a copper mug from a restaurant, peeing in the street is largely a problem of impulse control. It demonstrates that the person in question does not think before he acts. If you give him a reason to think before he acts, however, perhaps the problem can be overcome. Sometimes it's the smallest nudges that are the most effective.

*I am a well-known hard fascist, thank you.

**Some will scoff "But it's just a little pee!" To them I would reply, "Have you ever lived next to a urine soaked alley? GROSS."