Honesty Is The Best Policy, Or Not?

Is it delusion or plain stupidity that drives people to a point of no return? The hand is all open and things fall effortlessly.

Imagine a provision shop where payment is based on trust and honesty in people, there is no shopkeeper nor security cameras. Patrons are expected to pay for what they consume. Are human beings naturally honest or circumstantial? Well, if I dangle a carrot in front of a hungry bunny, I expect certain results. So would Socrates be correct that people are basically honest? And when trust is betrayed, what would it take to regain that? This is not plain Freakonomics, it's humans and their predictability vs unpredictability.

When the provision shop owner places the products in the shop to be consumed freely by its patrons, he/she would be totally vulnerable to invasions and hurt to know that people aren't as what he/she thought they would be. But without opening a window to subject yourself to pain, how would one know how wonderful some people or life in general can be? But more often than not, when given too much freedon, men in general do breach that zone. Taking the honesty rule for granted, takers think very little of the harm they are causing until they see the blood and tears for themselves. Or maybe until a day, the shop will no longer be there. Would the desire of convenience then prevail and guilt sits in?

Honesty is the best policy - An age old idiom that still holds water.

Packing up the shop and leaving might just be the best way for the shopkeeper albeit with much realisation and pain. The best way is also subjective. In this case, the shopkeeper is keeping the window of vulnerability open in search of hope.