I always thought that being a mirror to everyone would always be better and fair. The good get good back, the bad get bad back. Reward the good, punish the bad.

And come to think about it, this is how nature works. While interacting with the environment, the good experiments (ie new technology) get rewarded with more resources, the bad experiments (ie: getting your armed shopped) are punished with less resources, and usually the level of good or bad is propotional to the size of the carrot or stick. No second chances, tit for tat.