July 6, 2021
This sort of thing isn't really that difficult to weigh. No, there should not be caps on the penalties for committing a crime. The potential future (and current) criminals should not be the ones deciding upon their punishment. How is this even a consideration? One would not allow a murderer to decide how long they must stay in prison.
In fact the current fines are laughably small. If I stole a dollar from a bank I would get 30 years, and yet a hedge fund manager who steals millions gets slapped with a small fine?
These criminal acts should be punished both with prison time and a fine that makes sense for the crime. The fine should always be over 200% of what was taken, or of what the mistake might have cost. It makes no sense to make the fine a cost of doing business unless those enforcing it are also in on the scheme.
Make the fines much higher than what might have been gained by the crime. This is how you repay the victims, how you punish the criminals, and how you dissuade others from committing the same crimes in the future.
History will cast light upon those who were complicit in the crimes currently being committed. People are finally starting to notice en masse the shackles of wage slavery inflicted upon them. If the government does not handle things now in an orderly way then the masses shall handle them later in a disorderly manner.
The world is watching.