[quote=esmith]Of course, no mention of women and children who starve to death because of Americans’ refusal to pay ransom.[/quote]
Provocative.
It’s probably true that paying ransom will save some women and children from death caused by starvation or disease. Some people will consider that a good reason to pay the ransom instead of killing the pirates. I will take a wild guess that most folks in this category generally vote for one of our two big parties, and consider moral hazard considerations optional. Others will bristle at the idea that people would be rewarded for antisocial behavior that breaches the norms. My guess is that these people mostly vote for the other big party, and consider moral hazard considerations nearly mandatory.
In the long run, the moral hazard arguments win. If you don’t make an extra effort to punish those who sap your energy, then you will become weak as more and more people take advantage of you. Sometimes that means being harsher than we want to be, but evolution tends to weed out overly weak behaviors, and that applies to countries and cultures as well as species.
