3 ms·
Ideally we should all stand up to injustice, but maybe try to avoid senseless loss of life over trivial things. If nothing else consider the opportunity cost of
by yibg 7y ago
Ideally we should all stand up to injustice, but maybe try to avoid senseless loss of life over trivial things. If nothing else consider the opportunity cost of not being able to standup later when it might really matter.
Obvious loss of life is extreme and trivial things is subjective, but I think the point stands. There is a practical consideration to be made about what the risk profile is and what the degree of crime is. Clearly charging a man holding a loaded gun because he swiped some gum would be silly. Charging a man with a loaded gun because he’s about to shoot a kid, different set of equations.
- perl4ever 7y ago"try to avoid senseless loss of life over trivial things" I do, thanks. I just think it's distasteful, dare I say boorish, to call other people's sacrifice "trivial" when it probably benefits me, even if slightly. I don't think we live in a world where armed robbers are categorized as gum-stealers and child-shooters and never the twain shall meet. Some people are suspicious of even non-criminals having or using guns, believe it or not. I'm not saying worship every vigilante as a hero, just accept that disproportionate reactions to antisocial behavior are never going to go away, are a fundamental part of human behavior, and can be stupid from an "economically rational person" perspective and beneficial to society, including you and me, some of the time. If you call something another person is willing to risk their life for "trivial", you really don't care about their life. It's transparently an insincere reaction to feeling badly about being passive.