passages-deterrence-begins-price-yourself-expensive-harm

# Deterrence begins when that price changes, and... > Deterrence begins when that price changes, and deterrence should not be confused with revenge. {{Revenge asks what someone should suffer after harming you. Deterrence asks what they must expect to lose before they try.}} Revenge looks backward toward injury; deterrence rearranges the future by changing the environment in which another person's appetite must calculate. Documentation raises prices because denial becomes harder, witnesses raise prices because isolation becomes harder, allies raise prices because the target is no longer socially alone, independence raises prices because control can be escaped, mobility raises prices because captivity becomes uncertain, and enforceable boundaries raise prices because misconduct begins consuming access. {{A boundary is not merely a statement about what you dislike. A boundary establishes what access, privilege, relationship, or protection disappears when the line is crossed.}} This is why y{Y{ou do not make yourself expensive by becoming cruel. You make yourself expensive by becoming consequential.}} Threatening everyone is not strength, retaliation is not resilience, and becoming the more frightening animal merely reproduces the structure you were trying to escape. You have to m{M{ake yourself too expensive to harm.}} [[reminders/Antifragility/Make Yourself Too Expensive to Harm by Bryant McGill|∴]] **Source:** [[books/Chimping Out|Chimping Out]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Deterrence begins when that price changes, and deterrence should not be confused with revenge. Revenge asks what someone should suffer after harming you. Deterrence asks what they must expect to lose before they try. Revenge looks backward toward injury; deterrence rearranges the future by changing the environment in which another person's appetite must calculate. Documentation raises prices because denial becomes harder, witnesses raise prices because isolation becomes harder, allies raise prices because the target is no longer socially alone, independence raises prices because control can be escaped, mobility raises prices because captivity becomes uncertain, and enforceable boundaries raise prices because misconduct begins consuming access. A boundary is not merely a statement about what you dislike. A boundary establishes what access, privilege, relationship, or protection disappears when the line is crossed. This is why you do not make yourself expensive by becoming cruel. You make yourself expensive by becoming consequential. Threatening everyone is not strength, retaliation is not resilience, and becoming the more frightening animal merely reproduces the structure you were trying to escape. You have to make yourself too expensive to harm. ∴” — Bryant McGill https://bryantmcgill.com/passages/passages-deterrence-begins-price-yourself-expensive-harm ```