3 ms·

Unlike the rich and privileged college kids, the guardsmen had no choice in being there, nor did they have any choice about carrying loaded weapons.

InitialLastName 3y ago
Wow, if they were conscripted that makes the story even worse. Even so, they had a choice about using the loaded weapons.
aschearer 3y ago
You could say they were just following orders.
DFHippie 3y ago
Sure they had a choice. They had a choice whether to aim at the sky, the ground, or the protestors. And they had the same choice the protestors were exercising: whether or not to obey the authority ordering them to do stuff. But they weren't ordered to fire on the protestors. The guardsmen who did shoot at the sky or the ground, which was most of them, weren't prosecuted for disobeying orders. The more important choice was the first. That's the one for which they should have been charged with murder. P.S. How rich and privileged are kids who go to Kent State in Ohio? It's not Yale. In 1970 it was pretty cheap. And regardless, why does this justify the harm they suffered? The guardsmen were right to shoot the college kids because they weren't as rich or privileged? That's a really horrifying take on the event. That's another long tradition: portraying the victims of lethal violence as unsympathetic in some way as though this mitigates the harm they suffered. I assume most people reading Hacker News aren't at the bottom of the economic ladder. Does this make them fair game?
yardie 3y ago
Definitely had a choice in putting a round into the chamber. Definitely had a choice in placing the sight between their eye and the victims. Definitely had a choice in sliding a finger through the trigger guard. Definitely had a choice in disengaging the safety. Definitely had a choice in squeezing the trigger. They had plenty of choices that day.
the_only_law 3y ago
Damn didn’t think the CIA mind control tech was actually real.

InitialLastName 3y ago

Wow, if they were conscripted that makes the story even worse. Even so, they had a choice about using the loaded weapons.

aschearer 3y ago

You could say they were just following orders.

DFHippie 3y ago

Sure they had a choice. They had a choice whether to aim at the sky, the ground, or the protestors. And they had the same choice the protestors were exercising: whether or not to obey the authority ordering them to do stuff. But they weren't ordered to fire on the protestors. The guardsmen who did shoot at the sky or the ground, which was most of them, weren't prosecuted for disobeying orders. The more important choice was the first. That's the one for which they should have been charged with murder. P.S. How rich and privileged are kids who go to Kent State in Ohio? It's not Yale. In 1970 it was pretty cheap. And regardless, why does this justify the harm they suffered? The guardsmen were right to shoot the college kids because they weren't as rich or privileged? That's a really horrifying take on the event. That's another long tradition: portraying the victims of lethal violence as unsympathetic in some way as though this mitigates the harm they suffered. I assume most people reading Hacker News aren't at the bottom of the economic ladder. Does this make them fair game?

yardie 3y ago

Definitely had a choice in putting a round into the chamber. Definitely had a choice in placing the sight between their eye and the victims. Definitely had a choice in sliding a finger through the trigger guard. Definitely had a choice in disengaging the safety. Definitely had a choice in squeezing the trigger. They had plenty of choices that day.

the_only_law 3y ago

Damn didn’t think the CIA mind control tech was actually real.