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It was his lifelong ambition. Whether it was selfish or not is between him and his wife - let's not pass judgement on the dead.
by peterbraden 15y ago
It was his lifelong ambition. Whether it was selfish or not is between him and his wife - let's not pass judgement on the dead.
- samtp 15y agoIf you can pass judgement on the living then you can do the same to someone who has died. While putting the dead on a pedestal may comfort our own feelings about death, it doesn't escape the reality of their actions.
- yelsgib 15y agoYou shouldn't pass judgement on the living.
- jedc 15y agoHis family clearly supported him (based on a few other news outlets that actually interviewed them).
- wtn 15y agoHis family was enabling his narcissism.
- jedc 15y agoHaving actually known John in real life, I disagree with your description of him as a narcissist.
- samtp 15y agoSomeone doesn't have to be a complete narcissist to occasionally behave in a narcissistic manner. Hell, we all act narcissistically from time to time (some would even say all the time).
- CamperBob 15y agoHis family made a lot of money on that same narcissism, and derived a lot of security from it. Conversely, someone who can be talked out of climbing a mountain can also be talked into keeping his day job, and probably will be.
- gwern 15y agoSo? Are you seriously suggesting that if the family had disapproved of his mountain climbing, they would actually say so in a public interview? 'We're terribly upset and saddened and she'll never know her father, but while we're suffering in public, we'd like to mention that we were against the whole climbing thing in the first place. We told you so, John!'
- Entaroadun 15y agoOk this is kind of ridiculous. Really? Really? No I'm quite sure in this case it's definitely selfish, independent of what his wife thinks. And not passing judgement on the dead? Cmon man you have to be trolling.
- peterbraden 15y agoI happen to believe that criticizing people that cannot defend themselves is tasteless, and judging situations that I know nothing about is misguided. I'm sure there is a lot of this story that we will never know, criticism is not going to change anything and if anything is offensive to the bereaved.
- Entaroadun 15y agoTasteless? I don't think you're getting it. He risked his life completely unnecessarily while he needed to be a father. What he has done is categorically selfish. Your defense of his actions is that "It was his lifelong ambition." If you believe that then you already acknowledge that his action is selfish; <i>his</i> ambition caused him to abandon his responsibilities as a father and husband. I don't see it as much as criticism as it is a simple fact. I posted not because I wanted to make a change so much as because I was utterly surprised by someone defending this person. Furthermore, my comments are in reply to your post and not directed at any members of the family, but I would hope that at least the wife realizes the moral implications of her husband's decision at this point.
- vixen99 15y agoHow about that we remain silent.on matters of which we are ignorant? We are not party to this man's innermost thoughts and family conversations indeed such is none of our business and it is more than a touch offensive to offer up judgments. Let's leave the family to mourn their loss, shall we?
- jamesaguilar 15y ago"matters of which we are ignorant" Are not all the facts of this case known? Father of N, does something dangerous and unnecessary, leaves N children fatherless. Are there other relevant issues of fact that we do not know? True, it may be tasteless to call it out . . . but the internet is tasteless. :-/