Libertarian Fiction is bad for you
Last night, after we attended a screening of "True Grit", we rode the BART homeward. When we left the station Ms. K & I watched a skate-boarder pull out a carving tool and start to deface the plastic that wraps the hand holds in the car. So I walked over and told the guy it was not cool. He looked at me and started again, so I told him again that it was not cool, and his response was that I needed to lighten up.
The thing is that there were probably 20 other people in the car, and most of them could have easily done the same thing. I wanted to point out to him that I could carve my initials on his stuff, or follow him home and pee on his bed. Which I saw a an equivalent response.
Of course this reminded me of my father's story about pushing a guy down Speedway in Tucson when he tried to make a left turn out of the center lane of traffic during rush hour.
I started a dialog a number of years ago with some people in Dallas about Personal Responsibility. The fact that we have allowed our cultural expectations to shift since WW II to allow "someone else" to deal with things like this. The way I see it we have a cultural and ethical responsibility to prevent this sort of stupid and pointless acts because they are a gateway to larger acts.
Or maybe I am just a cranky old guy. Your call.
Peace out y'all!
The thing is that there were probably 20 other people in the car, and most of them could have easily done the same thing. I wanted to point out to him that I could carve my initials on his stuff, or follow him home and pee on his bed. Which I saw a an equivalent response.
Of course this reminded me of my father's story about pushing a guy down Speedway in Tucson when he tried to make a left turn out of the center lane of traffic during rush hour.
I started a dialog a number of years ago with some people in Dallas about Personal Responsibility. The fact that we have allowed our cultural expectations to shift since WW II to allow "someone else" to deal with things like this. The way I see it we have a cultural and ethical responsibility to prevent this sort of stupid and pointless acts because they are a gateway to larger acts.
Or maybe I am just a cranky old guy. Your call.
Peace out y'all!