This is the reason why early Chinese history is filled with rebellions. The only difference now is people can flee at the first sign of problems. Fleeing won’t be an option soon, though.
It was unique in that it was an actual recorded uprising and was started by a pair of generals (Chen Sheng and Wu Guang) who were to be executed for being late due to flooding. The rebellion wasn’t successful but it snowballed into other rebellions that ended the Qin dynasty.
Contextually, it’s a comparison that if the crime of putting someone to death over something benign is the same as something extreme but has a chance of survival, people will start doing the extreme.
Same reason there are issues with kidnapping, rape, and other charges being on par with murder, which just leads to more murder because first off it removes the witness, but second the penalty is already going to be the same.
“What is the punishment if we are late?”
“We get killed.”
“What is the punishment for a failed rebellion?”
“We get killed.”
“I guess we are going to start a rebellion.”
This is the reason why early Chinese history is filled with rebellions. The only difference now is people can flee at the first sign of problems. Fleeing won’t be an option soon, though.
Yet no one else's is? The state has always used violence and death for control. What's unique here?
It was unique in that it was an actual recorded uprising and was started by a pair of generals (Chen Sheng and Wu Guang) who were to be executed for being late due to flooding. The rebellion wasn’t successful but it snowballed into other rebellions that ended the Qin dynasty.
Contextually, it’s a comparison that if the crime of putting someone to death over something benign is the same as something extreme but has a chance of survival, people will start doing the extreme.
Same reason there are issues with kidnapping, rape, and other charges being on par with murder, which just leads to more murder because first off it removes the witness, but second the penalty is already going to be the same.