Criminality in Illuminatia
The concept of criminality in Illuminatia is heavily skewed from that which might be familiar in the context of Earth. Thankfully crime is an unusual occurrence in Illuminatia and citizens generally have no reason to fear being criminally violated.
The governmental agency responsible for interventional activities that reduce illegal, illicit, and otherwise unjust activities is the Illuminatian Bureau of Punishment and Castigation. The BPC has the authority to inflict punishment, penalties, and other negative consequences upon persons without prior specific consent when established societal structures fail to respond adequately.
The two most severe punishments possible under the BPC include Permanent Seizure of the Person and Corporal Destruction, but these punishments are rarely administered. While the existence of these punishments serve as some deterrent to illicit and unnecessarily deviant activity, both penalties result in the same outcome—the permanent banishment to Supplicium Island, which the BPC administers as a penal colony. As such, capital punishment—strictly speaking—does not exist in Illuminatia, which is a position consistent with Illuminatian cultural values.
The rate of crime in Illuminatia is minuscule compared to that of the earlier modern days of Earth, thanks to an evolution of society's approach to personal liberty in relation to collectivism. Illuminatian society has experienced continued enlightenment in regards to methods effective at reducing criminality, preventing socially detrimental behavior, accepting diversity, and eliminating bigotry, racism, and xenophobia.
Other factors contributing to Illuminatia's microscopic rate of criminality include the strict absence of deadly weapons, the establishment of structures effective at disseminating political power, and the eradication of economic desperation as a motivation for criminal activity. Self-defense is no longer considered to be a justifiable explanation for inflicting harm upon another person as Illuminatia has eliminated all tools designed primarily for the purpose of committing or threatening homicide or grave bodily injury.
A culture instilling the importance of an individual's responsibility to society has successfully resulted in a sharp reduction of the use of personal liberty as an excuse for engaging in socially detrimental behavior. Common cultural values in Illuminatia impart the consideration of one's individual actions in relation to the consequences those actions have on others. The tragedy of the commons scenario is widely utilized as a model for considering whether one's liberties might be detrimental to the whole of society. The adoption of collectivist values early in the development of Illuminatian society was critical due to the limited resources and high level of interdependence on the Lucidus mission and the continued interconnected reliance as Lucidus survivors and descendants populated a new world.
Criminality in Illuminatia is associated most strongly with communities of persons with high net worth, excessive disposable income, and disproportionately high economic status. These persons normally operate outside the Illuminatian system of governmental incentivization and compensation for societally beneficial behaviors.
The BPC's Voluntary Punishment Program has been credited with further reducing Illuminatia's already low crime rate by way of an incentive program.
Non-criminal activities
Activities commonly considered to be deviant or criminal by various societies on Earth or frequently were subject to arbitrary restrictions or limitations on Earth, but which are not in any way considered criminal in Illuminatia, include, for example:
- Prostitution and the keeping of brothels
- Sales, distribution, and recreational use of mind and consciousness-altering substances
- Gambling, gaming, and betting upon outcomes of sporting competitions
- Operation of lotteries, raffles, and numbers games
- Suicide and suicide assistance
- Public inebriation
- Public nudity, indecency, and lewd conduct
- Public urination and excretory functions
- Panhandling and busking
- Hitchhiking
- Jaywalking
- Consensual cannibalism and vampirism
- Adultery, fornication, and sodomy
- Production, sale, and consumption of erotic performances or publications
- Consensual incest among parties capable of providing consent
- Most actions determined to be victimless
Deviant and criminal activities
Practices and behaviors that were widely accepted and tolerated on Earth but which are considered criminal in Illuminatia include, but are not limited to:
- Genocide and ethnic cleansing
- Extrajudicial killing
- Slavery in name, in practice, and in effect
- Exploitation of disadvantaged individuals and groups
- Sexual assault and harassment, and intimate interaction absent of fully informed consent
- Personal ownership or use of firearms and deadly weapons
- Governmental or personal stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction
- Discrimination, and racist and xenophobic actions or communications
- Intimidation, bullying, and harassment
- Systemic tax evasion
- Money laundering and secret transactions of measurable monetary value
- Institutionalized fraud
- Political gerrymandering
- Publishing or public mass communication of false information
- Obscurantism
- Ritual or non-ritual non-consensual male or female genital mutilation