1 - The Equestrian laws, and how our systematic society renders capital punishment unnecessary.
I should start by pointing out that Equestria is widely regarded as being stoic and stern. We as a nation pride ourselves on respecting all ponies and all ideas, but drawing our proverbial line at actions taken which infringe upon other ponies and their ideas. Though you know this already, it is important that I point it out, on account of it being the foundation upon which I pose all subsequent points.
Most other nations in the civilized world, among them the Griffon Empire, hold in their law books a concept referred to as 'thought crime'. In other words, they consider the planning, devising, or otherwise consideration of committing a crime, to be equal to committing the crime itself, and being worthy of punishment equal to having committed it.
The average Equestrian citizen will likely regard such a law as barbaric, and indeed an abuse of power by the ruler of such a nation, for it expresses a desire to control and dominate, to a degree which is not necessary for retaining basic command. And true enough, Equestrian society is almost free of crime without such a law. With an average of two homicides every year, and less than 500b worth of property reported stolen each year, our crime rates can be called exemplary. However, this does not explain the persistent crime rates in surrounding states when their laws provide preventative measures to ensure thoughts of crime never evolve into crime.
The answer on our end, as to why capital punishment is unnecessary, manifests itself in our everyday lives. Our system perpetually provides new jobs, so that our 1.1% unemployment never rises, and no citizen is a part of that demographic for more than a month or so. Theft is almost never regarded as a necessity. And though the occasional murder is an unfortunate inevitability among conscious beings with emotions and desires, we as a society encourage ponies to seek help and, when possible, avoid pressuring anypony into staying quiet about a problem.
This, in and of itself, may be a definitive answer to the question posed. Freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of congregation, are all liberties which encourage a clear mind, both individually and collectively. When freedoms are restricted, ideas sit and fester, fermenting into stronger, more potent, more caustic ideas. But when ponies are allowed to freely speak their minds, the pressure is removed from such dangerous ideas, and they quickly dissipate. With liberty comes experience, the ability to rationalize an idea vocally and understand if it is truly worthwhile, or simply a nonsensical fabrication of one's imagination.
So it can easily be said that in outlying states where thought crime is punished, true crime is unintentionally encouraged. By suppressing ideas and forcing citizens to stay silent, a state will inadvertently further the idea into something far more dangerous than it was before. A prominent example of this can be taken from the Braybelonian records and documents - during that era in Equestrian history, thought crime was punishable here, as well. And in that time, records show that large-scale murders yielding victims in the double digits were not only heard of, but relatively common. We were a warmongering state which feared those who spoke out, much like other surrounding states are today.
At this point you might regard the matter as settled. It would seem that there is nothing more to our success than our tolerance of ideas. But that is not the truly important question. The question we must be asking ourselves is how we can further this train of logic. It would be naïve, perhaps even arrogant, to assume that there is nothing more to be gleaned.
Let me then ask the question; what is freedom, at its core? The concept is quite subjective, because it requires a line to be drawn, and therefore a margin of error to be given. The Equestrian state is not truly 'free', it merely manages itself in such a way that it can afford its populace an above average number of liberties. It must therefore be noted that absolute liberty is absolute anarchy, and therefore paradoxically absolute slavery. All that is done by removing law is the shifting of fear. In an absolute state of freedom, one would live in fear of the crimes of others, and would therefore have less reservations and likely more need to commit crimes themselves. Conversely, an absolute state of law would cause one to feel strangled by regulations and impending punishments, to which one may respond by committing crimes simply to get by - the logical process being that if one is to be jailed for a crime eventually anyway, they might as well become good at committing crimes, to free themselves.
Extreme and unlikely as those examples are, they simply go to demonstrate that the idealism of our society is not in a perfect freedom. It is in fact due to our balance of law and freedom.
Neighcolo Machiavelli to Princess Celestia of Equestria
In gratitude of your recent audience with me, it is my honor to present to you these writings as a gift. Though I acknowledge it to be rather uncustomary - as traditionally one would bear jewels, precious metals, fine silk or other valuable fruits of their particular trade - I confess that my only trade is information, and therefore, information is all I am able to give you. I hope these writings will be sufficient, and may prove in some way useful to you.
I hope in giving you such a gift, I do not come across as dubious or tactless. In no manner do I doubt your wisdom nor your intellect. Indeed, it is not the place of someone such as myself to think or act with such audacity. However, it is worth noting in that same stroke that while you, as royalty, have learned to understand your subjects and their role in your duties, I as a commoner have come to understand leadership, and the role in my life and the lives of other commoners that you as royalty have come to play.
I trust, therefore, that you might take this gift in the spirit in which I present it - not as a criticism to your work thus far as Princess, but simply as a record of what one humble stallion has come to observe, of both the past and the present, and the future it might soon lead to. This is simply what I have seen. What you make of it is yours to decide.
