Maybe the humane Mikado was directly to something when he sang of eager to make the punishment fit the crime. The hassle with general punishments is that, if ghastly, they can deter but demean a civilised society, yet humane attempts at rehabilitation don’t necessarily act as a deterrent.
I have no idea about major crimes, but for minor wrongdoers what most people want is simply to offer them a taste in their own medicine.
Drivers who take heed to their mobiles can be made to spend hours taking note of political speeches through headphones. The television girls who make us feel even colder with their bare arms in winter must be made by popular acclaim to wear heavy coats in heat waves.
For parking a car illegally to fit your own convenience, towing is already a condign punishment, with its endless tiresomeness of having it back from the pound.
For any failure to pay a fine on time or renew a permit, it might not be too big an innovation just to make the miscreant queue personally for hours for a replacement.
I do not know the way you could condemn bad hospital managers to lie thirsty in shit-covered sheets for hours, however the genius who could harness sheer inconvenience as a primary deterrent for them would deserve a statue in his honour in Trafalgar Square.
