Introduction to the Exchange

First, I wanted this scenario to be a bit of a blank canvas.  It could be a village in Gaza or Ukraine, or any place where war has broken out and the thin fabric of civilization begins to tear. 

It is based on the concept of Kantian Retributivism, the idea that civilization demands that the last offender in custody must be punished, even if it is the final act before society disbands.  It creates a scenario where punishment is potentially meaningless, raising the question of the purpose and meaning of punishment itself. 

The characters and the dialogue are artificial.  This would not happen.  It is a fantasy.  I wish that people could discourse in a civil way.  I wish that strangers could explore philosophical ideas together.  I wish that people could be persuaded.  I wish that people made a little more light in the dark world.

The Exchange

You are the police in a little town that is being shelled,

a large territory near your town is under attack,

your police station could be targeted,

you could be shot as a combatant,

even though you are old and that is not your role.

During a break in the shelling, you were patrolling the streets

where the few businesses and offices are located.

on a street corner you saw two men

do a hand to hand.

It was in out in the open.

You didn’t know what was being transacted,

but you had to find out. 

You drew your pistol,

ran toward them,

and arrested them both. 

Once they were both seated on the curb

with their wrists neatly zip-tied behind their backs,

you searched and found weed,

one package of a few grams in the buyer’s pocket,

and many packages and a thick roll of cash in the dealer’s pocket.

You booked them and held them at your station. 

It’s a small, spare, concrete block building,

illuminated inside with bare fluorescent tubes that hang from the ceiling.

There are two small cells that face your metal desk and

worn plastic chairs. 

You had to hold them for a couple of days

until the regional court,

ten kilometers away, opened back up. 

Normally, you would have driven them straight there,

but with all the shelling, the Courts were open

a couple of days a week, and only for a few hours.

You haven’t had to supervise overnight detainees before.

You figured that they would have to be fed,

but there were no plans for that,

or money from the regional authorities.

You brought in a hot plate and a small pot. 

You make a pot of lentils and rice

cooked with onion, carrot, and chicken broth,

and seasoned with cumin and salt and pepper.

You top it with fresh chopped tomato and parsley.   

The shelling nearby rattled the station,

As you shared the meal with your detainees

The dealer asked,

 “What is the point?  Really, this town won’t be here,

This station is likely to be rubble heap, maybe with us in it. 

All of this over a little marijuana?”

“Even if it is my last official act, even if this town no longer exists, even if we are blown up, it is my duty to get you to Court.”

“Isn’t selling a little weed, different when bombs are flying,

when we may all die anyway, isn’t that different, than during normal times?”

Don’t we have to be deserving of arrest, don’t we have to be deserving of

Going to court, getting sentenced?  We aren’t deserving of that, with

Everything that’s going on.”

“It is precisely now that it is most important. 

The structure of our community is literally being destroyed.

Chaos and disorder, and you add to it.”

The dealer vigorously points to himself and the buyer.

“But, you add to the misery. So many suffer put two more into the great pile of human suffering.”

“Maybe so, well at least as far as the buyer goes.”  You opened the buyer’s cell.

“You are free to go.”  He stays to finish his dinner and to listen.  You continue.

“But, you were free to choose what you wanted to do.  You made the choice to deal drugs and expose yourself to arrest while the bombs were dropping.  Maybe I am honoring your choice.”

“What?”

“If I didn’t arrest you, your choice to break the law would be meaningless.”

“But it is meaningless.  I am not harming anyone particularly by selling weed.”

“It is harmful, you make broken windows.”

“I didn’t break any windows.”

“You showed the people around you that the windows are broken, it’s a safe place to do crimes, there’s no enforcement here, so someone else gets the idea that he can snatch a lady and rape her and nobody will do anything. “

“The windows are already blown out, we’re in a war zone.”

“Exactly, people need to see that the law is enforced.  They will follow the law because they know that their forbearance will not put them at a disadvantage, everyone must forebear.” 

“Wait, you’re saying if someone sees a drug deal for some weed that doesn’t result in an arrest, then they will believe that things are lawless, and believe that they are at a disadvantage relative to other lawless people by following the law and that will make the rape a lady?”

“Exactly, sort of. You make an atmosphere of lawlessness where others will feel emboldened to break the law. Who’s to say what they will do.”

“That’s a stretch.  Maybe they would just think that some people like weed, and not draw any connection to the law.  I think most people don’t see it as a harm.”

“What is or is not harmful, is not for us to decide, and make up the laws as we go along.  Our government makes the laws and we must follow, or accept the consequences.  If you really felt strongly about it, you could have tried to change the law.  But you don’t actually feel strongly about it.   You want to make things up as you go along,”

“What about your choice in all this?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Through your choice to arrest us, you are exposing all of us, yourself included to risk of death, sitting in this station that’s going to be shelled.  And, not only that, you are going to use your time and the Court’s time to start a prosecution on a minor charge, when there are more serious matters the Court should attend to: acts of treason, rape, and murder.  You have exercised your choice poorly.  You should let me go, go home yourself, avoid getting killed, and live another day, so that maybe you can enforce a law that means something.”

You open the door to the dealer’s cell. 

“I’m not saying I agree with you, but you make good points.  I hope that you have also considered what I have said.”

The dealer nods.  The three of you finished the meal in silence.  After they left the station.  You shut off the lights and made your way home.