Social isolation

The cultural 'unison' (not an 'unity' via a concerted effort,... to form a union-like or so...)...

that was there in ancient times.... had one amazing tool....

'isolating' a wrong-doer from the social-cambric (the inter-weave) of the society (society includes all classes of that society 4-varnas)...

this tool was used with utmost sense of discretion, by people well-known for their potential at discerning judiciously ! (usually ... a group of 'elders'! Elder by wisdom, not necessarily by age!)

The purpose was simple.... (for deploying this 'tool')..
Laws are of two kinds, broadly (while law itself is for 'some-kind-of' social order.. when people live as-a-society.. hence , spiritual seekers relocate to a recluse, to keep others insulated from their own 'inadvertent-non-adherence' to these laws!... as one of the objectives of such solitude-dwelling)..

Codified laws, where implementation can be by reference to a clear , unambiguous codes, written down, after a 'general-consensus'...

Non-codified laws, which are 'moral/ethical' by nature, usually, and which are of greater importance than the codified ones, when mutual-trust is 'really' a priority for that society :)

Now, implementation of non-codified laws would be a great task, and formidable one too...
apart from the complexity of its 'justification' since each situation needs a fresh-perspective too!

So, the way-out was... just-isolate the 'fellow' who in the opinion of 'group-of-elders' who enjoy the unquestioned-trust of that-society, has caused a social harm due to an act of commission/omission, consciously!

Today, we find
corruption,

scams,

rape,

abuse (of child, women, etc)...

violence (including fanaticism fanned by religious sentiments)
and all such acts...

going 'scott-free' (it is the honest-idiot who feels isolated :-)) instead of a wrong-doer)

only due to absence of a tool of a social boycott !

Yet 'nature' takes its own course...
when a religious sect fails to isolate its own wrong-doers, the other around (even globally), start isolating that very-sect/community, even without a concerted-unification-program or so...

nations sponsoring violence are slowly 'sought-to-be' isolated, with huge diplomatic efforts...
Yes, the phenomenon is painfully-slow, when allowed to take its-natural-course, but when it snowballs, the impact is beyond anyone's imagination... it takes proportions of a natural-calamity..!

During ancient days, spiritual concepts could be 'interwoven' so effortlessly into the way-of-life, when this tool of isolation was 'in-place' .... Yet the very same 'weave' became the main factor of eroding this very tool, when experience failed to impress a blind-adherence to spiritual-oriented prescriptions, being inter-woven into routine life! (so called 'religious-rituals' are just that !!!)

exclusively yours,

psn (9th October, 2015)