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I agree with the problem, not sure about the solution. We don't have a good small/middle ground crime punishment. I actually don't hate the idea around the Chinese social credit score system (China's use of it is abusive, horrid, and dystopian). giving people points and taking some away for minor crimes that then spill over to privileges or benefits of society seems like a decent idea, one better than hitting them with sticks.

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Interesting that you're ok with some system of social credits. Even in the ideal scenario, I see two major issues with it:

1. People often don't perceive purely numerical losses properly, just like credit cards make people overspend compared to cash.

2. It sounds like in order for it to be effective, it would need to have very low forgiveness. If the punishment has a high duration, it makes rehabilitation difficult.

We do need to figure out deterrents for minor bad behavior in modern society, and first need to have a list of criteria by which to judge these deterrents.

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