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> The "snitch" concept is [...] harmful. That's the point. The idea is that one should 'fall on the grenade' to protect his criminal comrades. When he instead
by pyre 12y ago
> The "snitch" concept is [...] harmful.
That's the point. The idea is that one should 'fall on the grenade' to protect his criminal comrades. When he instead throws them to the wolves to save himself, people get up-in-arms about it.
Though it's not all that surprising. It's sort of like whole 'honor among thieves' ideal. When you throw in with a bunch of people that are willing to 'colour outside the lines,' sometimes the lines that they cross will not just be the lines drawn in the sand by the law, but the lines that you yourself draw in the sand.
- sillysaurus3 12y agoThe idea is that one should 'fall on the grenade' to protect his criminal comrades. When he instead throws them to the wolves to save himself, people get up-in-arms about it. I guess I'm missing some context. Whose idea was the first sentence?
- pyre 12y agoIf you are part of a group engaging in illegal activity, and you (specifically you, not the whole group) are caught by the authorities, you are considered a 'snitch' if you rat out your associates rather than refusing to give the authorities any information and just 'doing your time.' @codesuela called him a "snitch," which has a negative connotation (e.g. phrases like "snitches get stitches"[1][2]). [1] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snitches+get+stitches http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snitches+get+...! [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Snitchin%27 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Snitchin%27
- rhizome 12y agoWhen he instead throws them to the wolves to save himself, people get up-in-arms about it. Well, there's a reason why it's called "defection" in the Prisoner's Dilemma.
- smsm42 12y agoPD doesn't apply here though - Monsegur got much better deal than if he had not cooperated.
- rhizome 12y agoThat's part of the premise of PD, though. Am I misunderstanding something?
- smsm42 12y agoNo, PD is that if both cooperate, the result is negative. That's what makes it a problem. But in the case of Monsegur, if any of the others would cooperate with the FBI too, it wouldn't do much difference for him, as he already did his job in catching them, so there's no downside in cooperating.