LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Crime and Punishment #1” by Zvi


Listen Later

It's been a long time coming that I spin off Crime into its own roundup series.

This is only about Ordinary Decent Crime. High crimes are not covered here.

Table of Contents

  1. Perception Versus Reality.
  2. The Case Violent Crime is Up Actually.
  3. Threats of Punishment.
  4. Property Crime Enforcement is Broken.
  5. The Problem of Disorder.
  6. Extreme Speeding as Disorder.
  7. Enforcement and the Lack Thereof.
  8. Talking Under The Streetlamp.
  9. The Fall of Extralegal and Illegible Enforcement.
  10. In America You Can Usually Just Keep Their Money.
  11. Police.
  12. Probation.
  13. Genetic Databases.
  14. Marijuana.
  15. The Economics of Fentanyl.
  16. Jails.
  17. Criminals.
  18. Causes of Crime.
  19. Causes of Violence.
  20. Homelessness.
  21. Yay Trivial Inconveniences.
  22. San Francisco.
  23. Closing Down San Francisco.
  24. A San Francisco Dispute.
  25. Cleaning Up San Francisco.
  26. Portland.
  27. Those Who Do Not Help Themselves.
  28. Solving for the Equilibrium (1).
  29. Solving for the Equilibrium (2).
  30. Lead.
  31. Law & Order.
  32. Look Out.
  33. Perception Versus Reality

    A lot of the impact of crime is based on the perception of crime.

    The [...]

    ---

    Outline:

    (00:20) Perception Versus Reality

    (05:00) The Case Violent Crime is Up Actually

    (06:10) Threats of Punishment

    (07:03) Property Crime Enforcement is Broken

    (12:13) The Problem of Disorder

    (14:39) Extreme Speeding as Disorder

    (15:57) Enforcement and the Lack Thereof

    (20:24) Talking Under The Streetlamp

    (23:54) The Fall of Extralegal and Illegible Enforcement

    (25:18) In America You Can Usually Just Keep Their Money

    (27:29) Police

    (37:31) Probation

    (40:55) Genetic Databases

    (43:04) Marijuana

    (48:28) The Economics of Fentanyl

    (50:59) Jails

    (55:03) Criminals

    (55:39) Causes of Crime

    (56:16) Causes of Violence

    (57:35) Homelessness

    (58:27) Yay Trivial Inconveniences

    (59:08) San Francisco

    (01:04:07) Closing Down San Francisco

    (01:05:30) A San Francisco Dispute

    (01:09:13) Cleaning Up San Francisco

    (01:13:05) Portland

    (01:13:15) Those Who Do Not Help Themselves

    (01:15:15) Solving for the Equilibrium (1)

    (01:20:15) Solving for the Equilibrium (2)

    (01:20:43) Lead

    (01:22:18) Law & Order

    (01:22:58) Look Out

    ---

    First published:

    November 3rd, 2025

    Source:

    https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tt9JKubsa8jsCsfD5/crime-and-punishment-1-1

    ---

    Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

    ---

    Images from the article:

    Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    LessWrong (30+ Karma)By LessWrong


    More shows like LessWrong (30+ Karma)

    View all
    The Daily by The New York Times

    The Daily

    112,982 Listeners

    Astral Codex Ten Podcast by Jeremiah

    Astral Codex Ten Podcast

    132 Listeners

    Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

    Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

    7,292 Listeners

    Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

    Dwarkesh Podcast

    548 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,366 Listeners

    AI Article Readings by Readings of great articles in AI voices

    AI Article Readings

    4 Listeners

    Doom Debates by Liron Shapira

    Doom Debates

    14 Listeners

    LessWrong posts by zvi by zvi

    LessWrong posts by zvi

    2 Listeners