4 ms·

It's only a superpower in theory. In practice, the IRS has sued people for benefits collected from a not-really-dead person [1] without restoring that person to

It's only a superpower in theory. In practice, the IRS has sued people for benefits collected from a not-really-dead person [1] without restoring that person to the land of the living. And then there's a case where a supposedly-dead person was given the death penalty [2]. If the state has an incentive to punish you, it will find a way. [1] https://loweringthebar.net/2014/08/feds-say-legally-dead-is-slightly-alive.html https://loweringthebar.net/2014/08/feds-say-legally-dead-is-... [2] https://loweringthebar.net/2014/09/legally-dead-man-sentenced-to-be-actually-dead.html https://loweringthebar.net/2014/09/legally-dead-man-sentence...

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
obviously the superpower would be functioning in India - and just as obviously at some point you would do something big enough that they would have to do something about it. Probably the something like what was done in the movie Brazil when someone was legally dead but still alive.
- candiodari 5y ago
  Why assume India's government is any different from any other. There is no India's government. There's 100000 government departments that barely work together. If you get one, responsible for enforcing the law, to punish you it is not going to make another department realize and admit its mistake and undo what they've done. It's just not. Not in the US. Not in France. Not in India.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    the implication was that if you did something big enough for some authority to say 'ok you are not dead you are alive' they would rectify the situation by expediently making you dead. Then you would not have the problem of other departments needing to admit their mistake.
    - candiodari 5y ago
      Except it'd be one department noticing you did something big enough and another department needing to admit it's mistake (and I might add: and now less inclined to do so it since you did something big) ...
- simonh 5y ago
  >obviously the superpower would be functioning in India The supposed kidnapping was a ruse, which the police saw through and just treated as a family dispute.
  - legutierr 5y ago
    Most kidnappings are intra-familial, at least in the US—mostly related to child custody disputes. Are you saying that the police shouldn't get involved in those cases, either?
    - ransom1538 5y ago
      ^ Sadly, kidnapping charges have huge consequences. They were designed to prevent a "kidnapping" in which a person tries to steal and keep a child. These laws were not designed to punish a parent returning a kid from a Yankees game late.
      - smeyer 5y ago
        >They were designed to prevent a "kidnapping" in which a person tries to steal and keep a child Aren't most of these kidnappings also intrafamilial? Even if you throw out the "parent returns a kid a bit late from an activity" cases, I think there are many more parents trying to take kids to another state to keep them full time despite a custody agreement otherwise than there are strangers just nabbing kids in parks or what have you.
    - ksm1717 5y ago
      Obviously they are saying that yes.
    - simonh 5y ago
      No, I’m saying the police did look into it, as they should, and found that in this case it wasn’t a serious issue but just a stunt. If there had been any genuine intention to harm or detain the child then of course it should have been prosecuted, but it seems that there wasn’t.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

obviously the superpower would be functioning in India - and just as obviously at some point you would do something big enough that they would have to do something about it. Probably the something like what was done in the movie Brazil when someone was legally dead but still alive.

candiodari 5y ago
Why assume India's government is any different from any other. There is no India's government. There's 100000 government departments that barely work together. If you get one, responsible for enforcing the law, to punish you it is not going to make another department realize and admit its mistake and undo what they've done. It's just not. Not in the US. Not in France. Not in India.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  the implication was that if you did something big enough for some authority to say 'ok you are not dead you are alive' they would rectify the situation by expediently making you dead. Then you would not have the problem of other departments needing to admit their mistake.
  - candiodari 5y ago
    Except it'd be one department noticing you did something big enough and another department needing to admit it's mistake (and I might add: and now less inclined to do so it since you did something big) ...
simonh 5y ago
>obviously the superpower would be functioning in India The supposed kidnapping was a ruse, which the police saw through and just treated as a family dispute.
- legutierr 5y ago
  Most kidnappings are intra-familial, at least in the US—mostly related to child custody disputes. Are you saying that the police shouldn't get involved in those cases, either?
  - ransom1538 5y ago
    ^ Sadly, kidnapping charges have huge consequences. They were designed to prevent a "kidnapping" in which a person tries to steal and keep a child. These laws were not designed to punish a parent returning a kid from a Yankees game late.
    - smeyer 5y ago
      >They were designed to prevent a "kidnapping" in which a person tries to steal and keep a child Aren't most of these kidnappings also intrafamilial? Even if you throw out the "parent returns a kid a bit late from an activity" cases, I think there are many more parents trying to take kids to another state to keep them full time despite a custody agreement otherwise than there are strangers just nabbing kids in parks or what have you.
  - ksm1717 5y ago
    Obviously they are saying that yes.
  - simonh 5y ago
    No, I’m saying the police did look into it, as they should, and found that in this case it wasn’t a serious issue but just a stunt. If there had been any genuine intention to harm or detain the child then of course it should have been prosecuted, but it seems that there wasn’t.