There's really too many ideas up above... and too many concepts... I don't think your conversation will stay on target...

So let me just answer one of your final questions.

What keeps you from breaking the law?
The consequences of getting caught... and mostly the consequences to my family. Pure and simple. How do I know? I had to weigh the pros and cons of getting caught doing a murder. The person I considered killing certainly deserved it, I was concerned he was a psychopath and would hurt my wife, (I already knew he was a sociopath.)

One difference between the "common criminal" and someone like me is I'm smart enough to know I'm probably not smart enough to get away with it. So my decision to do the deed or not had to include presuming I'd get caught. I chose not to put my wife and family through that pain.

Now just so you realize how serious the situation was... it turned out I was absolutely correct. He was a psychopath. He ended up doing a contract murder (at least one...) and himself died in prison.

Maybe if I killed him myself all those years ago, a mother and baby would be alive today... but then again... there are plenty of people who think they're smart enough to not be caught... and the husband would have found someone else to do the deed.

I think there are a lot of people who ride the fine edge of law abiding because they don't want to do the time.

PS. I think being a criminal is harder work than being "gainfully" employed. I therefore think a lot of people who commit crimes feel they are forced to do so because they can't get gainful employment. (So I guess I addressed more than one concept.)