jonny (nonvenomous)hiring a hitman is a complicated game theory problem because the hitman always has the option of just taking the money and calling the cops. you have to convince them that you are capable of hiring another hitman to come after the first hitman, but the very act of trying to hire the first hitman indicates that you don't have a second, more reliable hitman ready to go. so i guess the moral of the story is don't be a landlord. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-07/landlord-sentenced-20-years-in-prison-in-murder-for-hire-plots
David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)@jonny Many years ago, I came across a paper that proposed a fairly simple, way of ending political bribery: you remove all penalties from giving a bribe but place huge penalties (at a minimum, long prison sentences) on receiving one. Anyone who bribes a politician once can then blackmail them indefinitely with no risk. If you report the bribe to the police then the politician will suffer, but you won’t. This makes taking a bribe far too high risk for any politician with more than a couple of brain cells to consider.
I don’t know if anyone has ever tried it.