Ethics and the legislative* branch

[Reciprocality]

It is absurd to judge people based on either what they didn't know when they acted or what one can not within reason expect them to acquire of knowledge in some situation dependent again on what they already knew leading up to it.

Such judgements amounts to inconsistencies.

Since peoples knowledge varies enormously it is absurd then to jail different people equally long for identical crimes based on rehabilitation alone, instead the argument for use of this kind of governmental force must revolve around the jail time as a means not for the criminal itself but instead for the safety etc of the overall society.

Yet to my awareness, which to be honest is lacking a lot on this topic, more developed countries like those in northern Europe purport to be first and foremost jailing people for their "own good" yet fail to take into account the knowledge of the ones who committed the crimes in deciding the jail time for them, I have no clear data to back this up, I hate looking for something I may not find, but for arguments sake - engage me in theory, would it not be weird if the more developed countries had little to no care for this kind of subjective difference between criminals?

And on a more important note, have you recognised in yourself how often you judge people for what they did when they simply did not know any better? This is a reoccurring theme in my life, and it simply happens because I myself do not know what others did not know, some irony huh?

Edited June 3, 2023 by Reciprocality