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My thoughts meandered to a financial analogy, prompted by the phrase "zero lower bound". One sees the phrase "zero lower bound" in the context of macroeconomics and interest rates. Governments like to stimulate the economy by cutting interest rates, but once they are cut to zero, they cannot go any lower. They have reached the zero lower bound.
Ordinary men have a similar problem with reducing the amount of rape they do. They are on board with the message "Don't rape" and would like to help women by raping less, but they are already at the zero lower bound. To do less, they would have to find a way to go negative and unrape. Ordinary men just aren't in charge and cannot actually do anything, just like ordinary men dislike money printing and inflation, but aren't consulted and cannot say "No!".
Okay, but the margin is what matters.
Every man, woman and child starts out at the zero lower bound. Some of them will get the opportunity to divert and take a nonzero policy. It’s reasonable to “teach” those specific people whether doing so is a good idea, even though their current decision is the zero bound.
“Teach men not to inflate” is silly not because of the lower bound, but because of the upper. Most men will never have the opportunity to steer the Federal Reserve. “Teach economists not to inflate” is more defensible, and “teach (or tell) the chairman not to inflate” is just normal politics.
Most men will have the opportunity to commit a rape. They won’t, because they’ve been taught that it’s immoral and/or will be punished. That seems like the correct mechanism to me.
Besides, most men will have the opportunity to shame, discourage, mock or halt rape. "Teaching men not to rape" also includes "teaching men to teach men not to rape", and I'd wager the impact of that second-order teaching is higher.
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