Justice Zone - Forcing the Silver Rule

Post Reply New Topic

In the Sci-Fi/Comedy show, Red Dwarf, in the episode Justice, the "Boys from the Dwarf" went to a penal colony space station, Justice World. In Justice World, there are no guards or bars, only the "Justice Zone." In the Justice Zone any action you do, particularly malicious actions, are done to you as well. Some actions mentioned/done in the episode are:

-Arson: Lister tried to light a bed sheet on fire, but his jacket ended up on fire instead.
-Thievery: You steal something, something of yours goes missing.
-Attacking: You attack someone, you feel the pain and force instead. And if you shoot/throw something at someone, the bullets or what have you would be redirected at you.
-Littering: In a deleted scene, in the ship's park, Lister accidentally littered, and a "Litter Bird" dropped its "cargo" on him.

So basically, the Justice Zone forces you to comply with the Silver Rule. Supposedly, the idea is that it becomes "second nature" when you've served your sentence in Justice World.

I am curious though, would such a system really work?

What differentiates the Silver Rule from the Golden Rule?

But yes, I think that would probably work in theory, even though it is totally impractical.

How did they manage to make crimes bounce back on the perpetrators?

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Red Dwarf has always been more concerned with getting laughs than scientific realism.

I assumed as much. I remember when they were in a situation where time flowed backward, and among other things, millions of people would spontaneously come to life following the second world war in reverse. When the cat went to do his business in the yard, he got a rude surprise when something shot up his backside!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer