Context: a broken step is someone or something within your community which only the locals know to avoid.
Suppose we have a confederation, and someone within the confederation is accused of being dangerous to others in some way. If we kick them out then what stops them from going somewhere else and repeating the pattern? Or coming back for revenge? Or, Stirner Forbid, they’re innocent? And even if they are dangerous, is that any reason to turn them away? We make considerations when it comes to wolves and cacti but draw the line at cousins? But they could hurt the community… you see my dilemma.
Edit: this is not a hypothetical, but I don’t want to get into details. We’re not going to beat anyone up because we can’t confirm anything actually happened.
Imo the only realistic option is rehabilitation and repair. Cutting people off from society is pretty hard-core and way more cruel than involuntary rehab.
100% agree.
Threat of social exclusion is a threat to material conditions. Practically noone can survive completely on their own. It invariably creates a toxic social atmosphere of mistrust, as the first priority of each individual must be self-preservation. If you feel like someone is out to get you excluded from the group, for any reason big or small, then you must be out to get them first.
Social cohesion is built via trust, trust comes when you believe the community at large has your best interests at heart. Preservation of the group becomes more important than preservation of the individual.
Its certainly a hell of a lot of mental and emotional labor to rehab problematic people, but the payoff is a system that’s sets people up for success.