Judge Dredd & Unemployment

[The Adventurer]

Post Chaos Day Dredd did seem pretty keen to sentence as many minor offenders as possible to work crews. Seemed to be a mix of both necessity and Dredd 'softening' in his old age (if they're not staving, they won't commit more crimes).

[OccamsRagr]

On a more topical note I always wondered if the Judges deliberately kept the unemployment levels so high so as to keep the cits isolated in their apartments (watching game shows and partaking in wacky hobbies.) You are less likely to create an environment for sedition if the masses are prevented from freely associating in the workplace. Divide and rule.

Considering the correlation between unemployment and crime, from an economist's point of view that would be pretty dumb. Granted, the Judges don't seem to be great economists so its possible.

[Bubba Zebill]

I was reading the other day that crime rates seem to be dropping across the western world, no one seems sure why. Netflix maybe

[Frank]

On a more topical note I always wondered if the Judges deliberately kept the unemployment levels so high so as to keep the cits isolated in their apartments (watching game shows and partaking in wacky hobbies.) You are less likely to create an environment for sedition if the masses are prevented from freely associating in the workplace. Divide and rule.

Considering the correlation between unemployment and crime, from an economist's point of view that would be pretty dumb. Granted, the Judges don't seem to be great economists so its possible.

MC1's an incredibly violent and crime ridden place; there are stories about it most weeks. You're presuming that the aim of Justice Department is to reduce the high incidence of crime - the very thing which legitimises their iron grip on power - rather than to reinforce that same iron grip on power. Present day UK politicians perpetually promise to crack down on criminals and demonise the unemployed; both groups are very useful to anyone cynical enough to exploit folk's fear and prejudice for their own ends.

[TordelBack]

It's pretty clear that a lot of MC-1's laws exist specifically to create criminals, whose punishment is then used as an example to others to behave.  I doubt anyone really objects to Dredd saving them from Nosferatu or standard-executioning a gang caught in the middle of an ARV, or even halting dangerous boingers® or low-level skysurfers, but whose interests are being served by hauling people off to the cubes for a 2-stretch after finding a few grams of sugar and a sachet of synthi-caf during an unprovoked 59C?  Please list your own preferred contemporary parallels for maximum satirical effect.

The concept of 'criminality' is a useful one - as Dredd says in 'The Graveyard Shift', "Nobody's innocent, citizen - we're just here to determine the level of your guilt".  When everyone is a 'potential criminal' they'd best keep their head down.

[Frank]

It's pretty clear that a lot of MC-1's laws exist specifically to create criminals, whose punishment is then used as an example to others to behave ... whose interests are being served by hauling people off to the cubes for a 2-stretch after finding a few grams of sugar and a sachet of synthi-caf during an unprovoked 59C?  Please list your own preferred contemporary parallels for maximum satirical effect

Current UK policy objective is to turn being unemployed into a low level criminal offence which carries the same penalties as public disorder or vandalism.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8877282/Jobseekers-unemployed-for-two-years-face-community-work.html