How does change in the cost of security change the world?

By Mati_Roy @ 2020-08-30T21:53 (+5)

If it got 10x or 100x easier, or 10x or 100x harder to steal in general, what impact would it have on our society?

It doesn't seem obvious to me whether stealing will become more or less expensive over time.

Mati_Roy @ 2020-08-30T21:58 (+1)

Just some thoughts.

If stealing got easier, to compensate we might need to increase punishment, decrease punishment delay, increase surveillance (decrease privacy), increase spending in security, decrease long term planning, decrease owning some types of assets (and vice versa), decrease exchanges / agreements / contracts.

IskanderBlue @ 2020-08-31T05:51 (+2)

Also, day-to-day behavior would change.

More labour wasted on guards (and surveilling the guards), sturdier barriers, traps, defensive training and tools, etc.

Low-trust societies where interactions with strangers are risky mean clannishness / arms-length exchanges decrease, partially compensated by more transactions with trusted parties (family and allies).