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The obvious point you're making is about a double standard -- rich people are unfairly given more slack than others. But an alternative framing amounts to evalu

The obvious point you're making is about a double standard -- rich people are unfairly given more slack than others. But an alternative framing amounts to evaluating a method by its results -- basically saying "I don't know why you're behaving that way, but for reasons I don't understand it seems to work for you." That obviously falls apart if you can cleanly separate their wealth/financial success from their behavior e.g. because they inherited the money.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mrtksn 5y ago
I was actually referring to the slack given to him for apparent murder and putting the police force on a payroll. “killing your neighbor, bribing the police and never serving a single day for it? What an eccentric person you are”
- Aeolun 5y ago
  That could still be eccentric depending on the situation in which you ended up killing your neighbor? E.g. he came at me with a fire axe. And I kicked him down the stairs.
  - mrtksn 5y ago
    McAfee terrorized him with his dogs, he killed McAfeed dogs, McAfee killed him. Is that in the eccentric free pass list? Can you put the list on GitHub?
    - bollihoo6622 5y ago
      Call me eccentric, but intentionally killing a dog is as bad as killing a person.
      - ZephyrBlu 5y ago
        At what point does killing an animal not really matter? For example, we squash bugs and don't feel bad about it but killing a dog is frowned upon. This is not a gotcha, I'm genuinely curious.
        fish45 5y ago
        At least part of it, though definitely not all of it, is that a pet dog is immeasurably valuable to its owner.
        vagrantJin 5y ago
        Valuable in what sense? It is interesting to watch dogs being treated like humans, almost like children and that sense of care does not extend to very human neighbours. I don't get it. Probably because its a cultural thing. Anecdotally, where I am from a dog is a dog and will never get more attention than a person. It's not allowed in the house because that's where people live and if you feel lonely you call up a friend or sibling - not cuddle a dog. One might get the impression that some cultures place more value in a dog than a person, which is bizzare since it is just an animal.
        BuckRogers 5y ago
        Western European culture has long placed a lot of value on dogs. The over embrace of dogs over humans recently though as you’re describing, is a sign of our societal collapse. People have gone absolutely bananas over animals and pets in general over the past 20 years. It’s the social upheaval and economic squeezing of the lemons. People are tense and always in fear and panic. So if you’re not very religious, you may find your non-human comforts in your pets. Especially because everyone else around you is also in constant fear and panic. It really started around here on 9/11. And it’s just a constant ramping up ever since.
        vagrantJin 5y ago
        > The over embrace of dogs over humans recently though as you’re describing, is a sign of our societal collapse I think you've summed up ,quite succintly, my suspicions about western hegemony. The west is like the Empire in Asimovs Foundation trilogy. Wveryone is too busy looking at their phones to realise everything around them is crumbling.
    - Aeolun 5y ago
      Kind of? What kind of person kills dogs?
      - tw04 5y ago
        I almost had to. A neighbor didn't think leashes or fences applied to his dogs and they cornered neighborhood children on more than one occasion and attacked one of them. The dogs went into another neighbors garage and attempted to attack him. He happened to have a rifle with him and gave them a warning shot. I'm not sure I would have, and I love dogs.
        BuckRogers 5y ago
        That was definitely a teachable moment for the owner had the dog been shot. It’s always the owners fault of course and not the animal’s but it’s pretty weird how some dogs are that aggressive and terrorize while others are no problem.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > Kind of? What kind of person kills dogs? The kind against whom the same dogs are used as a terror weapon by a “colorful, eccentric” rich neighbor.
        perl4ever 5y ago
        Have you read about Bill Gross and his feud with a neighbor? https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-legal-battle-sculpture-gilligans-island-theme-song-2020-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-legal-battle-scul... Or, Rand Paul: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rand-paul-attacker-sentenced-additional-prison-time-over-yard-assault-n1235013 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rand-paul-attacker... Without specific information, I'd expect that in any similar situation, both parties had reasons for doing what they did, and it escalated because neither of them would back down. Obviously it's not something that only rich people do. And beforehand without specific information, I would've assumed that Paul was at fault and Gross was not, based on public images and politics. But it was seemingly the opposite.
- selimthegrim 5y ago
  Belize cops seem to be manning the till quite frequently judging by the case of their ex Governor General’s relative and one of their own
- bigbob2 5y ago
  Don't forget about the rape allegations.
vmception 5y ago
The slack has a compounding effect Like, sure public perception isn't immediately bad when someone is perceived as wealthy But the immediate and long term consequences are very different whether people went along with it or not People can have louder and wilder public opinions when they aren't beholden to current/future employment or even advertising dollars Even convicted people that do not need employment are able to just go back to whatever they were doing. They are not marginalized. Even before conviction they can pay fines and settlements and make it orders of magnitude more expensive for prosecution to even mount a case
trident1000 5y ago
McAfee is sort of given slack because he was bat shit crazy and kind of hilarious while also being a bit of a tech pioneer with a debatable legacy. Im personally not giving him slack, I'm just saying thats why...above him being rich at one point in his life. Also when you have a personal presence in general (through social media) people feel they know you and you are humanized more than some news headline or mug shot.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

mrtksn 5y ago

I was actually referring to the slack given to him for apparent murder and putting the police force on a payroll. “killing your neighbor, bribing the police and never serving a single day for it? What an eccentric person you are”

Aeolun 5y ago
That could still be eccentric depending on the situation in which you ended up killing your neighbor? E.g. he came at me with a fire axe. And I kicked him down the stairs.
- mrtksn 5y ago
  McAfee terrorized him with his dogs, he killed McAfeed dogs, McAfee killed him. Is that in the eccentric free pass list? Can you put the list on GitHub?
  - bollihoo6622 5y ago
    Call me eccentric, but intentionally killing a dog is as bad as killing a person.
    - ZephyrBlu 5y ago
      At what point does killing an animal not really matter? For example, we squash bugs and don't feel bad about it but killing a dog is frowned upon. This is not a gotcha, I'm genuinely curious.
      - fish45 5y ago
        At least part of it, though definitely not all of it, is that a pet dog is immeasurably valuable to its owner.
        vagrantJin 5y ago
        Valuable in what sense? It is interesting to watch dogs being treated like humans, almost like children and that sense of care does not extend to very human neighbours. I don't get it. Probably because its a cultural thing. Anecdotally, where I am from a dog is a dog and will never get more attention than a person. It's not allowed in the house because that's where people live and if you feel lonely you call up a friend or sibling - not cuddle a dog. One might get the impression that some cultures place more value in a dog than a person, which is bizzare since it is just an animal.
        BuckRogers 5y ago
        Western European culture has long placed a lot of value on dogs. The over embrace of dogs over humans recently though as you’re describing, is a sign of our societal collapse. People have gone absolutely bananas over animals and pets in general over the past 20 years. It’s the social upheaval and economic squeezing of the lemons. People are tense and always in fear and panic. So if you’re not very religious, you may find your non-human comforts in your pets. Especially because everyone else around you is also in constant fear and panic. It really started around here on 9/11. And it’s just a constant ramping up ever since.
        vagrantJin 5y ago
        > The over embrace of dogs over humans recently though as you’re describing, is a sign of our societal collapse I think you've summed up ,quite succintly, my suspicions about western hegemony. The west is like the Empire in Asimovs Foundation trilogy. Wveryone is too busy looking at their phones to realise everything around them is crumbling.
  - Aeolun 5y ago
    Kind of? What kind of person kills dogs?
    - tw04 5y ago
      I almost had to. A neighbor didn't think leashes or fences applied to his dogs and they cornered neighborhood children on more than one occasion and attacked one of them. The dogs went into another neighbors garage and attempted to attack him. He happened to have a rifle with him and gave them a warning shot. I'm not sure I would have, and I love dogs.
      - BuckRogers 5y ago
        That was definitely a teachable moment for the owner had the dog been shot. It’s always the owners fault of course and not the animal’s but it’s pretty weird how some dogs are that aggressive and terrorize while others are no problem.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > Kind of? What kind of person kills dogs? The kind against whom the same dogs are used as a terror weapon by a “colorful, eccentric” rich neighbor.
      - perl4ever 5y ago
        Have you read about Bill Gross and his feud with a neighbor? https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-legal-battle-sculpture-gilligans-island-theme-song-2020-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-legal-battle-scul... Or, Rand Paul: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rand-paul-attacker-sentenced-additional-prison-time-over-yard-assault-n1235013 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rand-paul-attacker... Without specific information, I'd expect that in any similar situation, both parties had reasons for doing what they did, and it escalated because neither of them would back down. Obviously it's not something that only rich people do. And beforehand without specific information, I would've assumed that Paul was at fault and Gross was not, based on public images and politics. But it was seemingly the opposite.
selimthegrim 5y ago
Belize cops seem to be manning the till quite frequently judging by the case of their ex Governor General’s relative and one of their own
bigbob2 5y ago
Don't forget about the rape allegations.

vmception 5y ago

The slack has a compounding effect Like, sure public perception isn't immediately bad when someone is perceived as wealthy But the immediate and long term consequences are very different whether people went along with it or not People can have louder and wilder public opinions when they aren't beholden to current/future employment or even advertising dollars Even convicted people that do not need employment are able to just go back to whatever they were doing. They are not marginalized. Even before conviction they can pay fines and settlements and make it orders of magnitude more expensive for prosecution to even mount a case

trident1000 5y ago

McAfee is sort of given slack because he was bat shit crazy and kind of hilarious while also being a bit of a tech pioneer with a debatable legacy. Im personally not giving him slack, I'm just saying thats why...above him being rich at one point in his life. Also when you have a personal presence in general (through social media) people feel they know you and you are humanized more than some news headline or mug shot.