It is outcomes, not intentions, that define the effectiveness of policies against crime. Moral vanity and ideological narratives offer scant protection against violent crime and theft. Real safety demands policies that criminals understand clearly as reliable, swift, and severe. If we truly aim to protect communities, we must accept the hard truth, criminals will only respect consequences that clearly outweigh the perceived benefits of crime.

Fences are not just barriers, they are statements. They clarify, protect, and stabilise. In a world of uncertainty and complexity, clear boundaries provide essential order, reassuring citizens that society will actively defend the rights, property, and safety of the law-abiding majority.

Shame works because it addresses the fundamental human desire for respect and acceptance. Bringing back shame as a consequence for wrongdoing is neither cruel nor archaic, it is a rational, proven strategy to reduce crime and strengthen social cohesion. A society unwilling to shame harmful behaviour openly will soon find itself overwhelmed by it, paying the price in violence, disorder, and lost human potential.

We must reject the corrosive narrative that criminals are mere victims of circumstance. Every human being faces hardship, yet most navigate life without resorting to violence or theft. By refusing to indulge excuses and returning to clear standards of moral accountability, we can restore social trust and reduce crime.

To truly reduce crime, deterrence must mean more than empty rhetoric, a flurry of new unenforceable laws, or it must carry genuine, predictable consequences. When criminality becomes reliably painful, society once again becomes reliably safe.