MURDER RAFFLE

Right now it's possible to be killed without even wanting to be.

The usual outcome of this is a 420 DC$ fine for your killer -- but of course, you don't get anything back.

Here's my proposal --

We build a carnivalesque display with art from my gallery -- and at its center we have a big windup box where, once a month, the head of a snake pops right out and in the snake's mouth is a single sheet of paper -- a raffle ticket -- and on that paper is written the name of someone who was recently murdered.

One entry per murder -- I'm generous.

That person receives 420,000 DC$.

Consider the initial effects of this system. One -- if you decide to kill me, I'm going to be paid. Additionally, I have no incentive to kill you back -- doing so would cheapen my prize.

Police officers have strong incentives to prevent as many murders as possible while dying heroically in the line of duty almost constantly, probably multiple times a day if they can help it.

As the system develops, the server population will begin to game the lottery. The outcome will be "murder dyads" -- I appoint a friend to kill me and agree to do the same. This is our stable relationship: we bonk each other repeatedly; we generate lots of tickets; one of us gets paid.

I don't think the penetration of murder dyads will be that much of a problem. Because murder retains its 420 DC$ fine -- our incentive is limited. At one thousand murders, the fine incurred by my friend is larger than the marginal benefit of killing me an additional time -- so long as the fine is paid.

Note that the fine is increasingly necessary under this system. Because murder will have become a cash-equivalent commodity, additional legal structures may need to be made to prevent it from being counterfeited. That is, we may need to garnish murder itself by imposing a regime of forced nonviolence -- coin-operated guns, WiFi bombs that check the balance of your bank account.

I see this by itself as a form of austerity and would additionally propose a form of universal basic income -- everyone gets to kill one person once a day, no questions asked. Two if you work in customer service.

As a result of these changes and the existence of murder dyads, the player public will understand murder differently -- not as a violent crime but as a kind of charity whose main purpose is to distribute lottery tickets. Once it is seen as a form of charity, it will be a lot harder to motivate people to do it.

The only rational objections I can imagine are related to the ban on gambling ads. But you can't advertise a system like this. No one would believe you.

In the final development of the system, the economics will be similar to those of a federal bank. At 420,000 DC$, the murder target is about a thousand; if they reduce it to 42,000 DC$, the target will drop to about a hundred; then ten, then one. (for a single 420 DC$ prize)

When we're done with violence as a society, we can offer 0 DC$, turn out the lights, lock up the snake, and be rid of everything.