Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org> writes:
I think it is more likely an us-vs.-them mentality, rather than the cost of educating the person in question. If someone much poorer than you is killed in a poor neighborhood, you don't feel as threatened - it is one of "them" - If someone of equal or greater socio-economic background suffers a violent death, you begin to think "it could happen to me, too."
I was reading the other day about the lessons learned from the one-time tax refund in 1975. Most consumers realized that this is a one-time deal and saved most of it, rather than spent it. On the other hand, after Reagan's tax cuts the consumers spent much of their newly retained income because they believed that the lower tax rate would continue for a few years. Likewise once an occasional gubment official in Mexico is assassinated often enough for the population to perceive public service as being a hazardous profession, they'll have trouble recruiting the replacements. Assassinations won't work as long as they're perceived by the public as zero-probability events. The public perception depends on other factors besides the numbers or the frequency of the hits. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps