So, National has joined the "hang 'em high" brigade, announcing a law and order policy consisting of two shallow slogans: "Life means life" and "no parole for violent offenders". It will do absolutely nothing to reduce crime - a 1997 study from the Ministry of Justice found that there was no correlation between severity of punishment or incarceration rates and crimes rates - but it will play well with the tiny band of vindictive, bloodthirsty sadists for whom no punishment will ever be enough to compensate them for their loss (an attitude which fundamentally misses the point of punishment).
But these knee-jerk policies have consequences. Firstly, they mean more people in jail, which means more prisons. And as National has constantly reminded us over the last nine years, prisons are expensive. But more importantly, they also mean no incentives at all for those in prison to improve their behaviour, and no incentive for them to stay out of trouble when they get out (meaning: higher reoffending rates, and even more people in prison). And that's the real problem. We cannot afford to waste billions of dollars a year warehousing society's failures like this. But that is what National is committing us to. It is fundamentally misconceived, and aimed at pandering to society's worst instincts - but that's what you get in a society where the media systematically overreports crime because its easy, lurid, and gets ratings.
It's also a great distraction from National's yawning policy gap elsewhere. "Details? We don't need policy details. Just focus on the outrage, and pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. You'll find out what we want to do when we get elected..."
