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I was in a fraternity. Did some people do some stupid shit, sure, it was college after all. But I have a hard time seeing how any crazy extortion schemes would
by viggity 12y ago
I was in a fraternity. Did some people do some stupid shit, sure, it was college after all. But I have a hard time seeing how any crazy extortion schemes would come into play as you described. I don't know how I could extort a brother because I once saw him puke in the street or streak thru campus. For someone as prolific on HN as you, I'm surprised to see you come off as a conspiracy nut. Or, maybe me living in the midwest where everyone is nice and cooperative in general has given me a warped view of the world (albeit a positive view).
- michaelochurch 12y agoSo, there's a wide spectrum of organization given the name "fraternity" and not all of them are bad. I'm talking about the abusive frats that (a) cover up disgusting and almost invariably illegal behavior by well-connected, privileged men, (b) disburse connections from the upper class into its next generation, and (c) are heavily responsible for the injection of bro types into the VC-funded founder ranks. There's a wide spectrum of "fraternity". Just look at initiations. There are some where initiation is being driven 5 miles off-campus and having to find your way back, and others where it involves bodily fluids, physical abuse, and dangerous levels of alcohol. When people complain about "frat boys" or "bros" infesting the Valley, we're not talking about guys who like to drink occasionally or streaked a football game, because none of that's a big deal. No one has a problem with an occasional game of beer pong. We're talking about entitled, well-connected people (e.g. the Spiegels and Duplans of the world) who've lived for decades in a world where there are absolutely no consequences for their actions.