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[–] 143 points 1 year ago (84 children)

When US Americans get painted this way, it feels like a "Humans- Fuck Yeah" story. Like I'm just so used to us having our downsides highlighted that it feels special to be seen for a positive attribute

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  • [–] 123 points 1 year ago* (10 children)

    It's a bit like learning that Russian cargo ships don't get boarded by pirates because they'll just start fucking shooting.

    Say what you want about Russians, but that kind of rules.

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  • [–] 72 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    Russians are the scariest white people.

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  • [–] 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Finland slaughtered them something like with a ver lopsided ratio in the winter war. The Finns are pretty white.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    TIL Ukrainians aren't white

    /S

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  • [–] 66 points 1 year ago* (26 children)

    I feel like these stories provide second-hand catharsis, but I don't know if it's necessarily a positive light.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (25 children)

    Yeah seems like committing a violent crime in response to a petty crime to me.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (21 children)

    I don't agree with characterizing being robbed from as not a big deal, especially when it's as physically intimate as pickpocketing.

    Maybe it's no big deal to lose a bit of money if you're rich, but I would be truly fucked to lose my phone or wallet, and more than inconvenienced to lose money or objects which would need to be replaced with money.

    But more than that is the sense of violation. What gives someone the right to come into my home or put hands on my body and take my personal things? It's dehumanizing. It feels disgusting to be treated that way. Of course I'm going to defend myself.

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  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago

    Humans work off of incentives and risk. If there's essentially no consequences for pickpocketting and the incentive is quite high with expensive phones and cash potential, the balance is way out of proportion. A good chance of getting your shit rocked brings it a bit more in line.

    The possibility of getting shot or stabbed is way out of proportion the other way. That's the problem with America. You can't even give someone the bird when they nearly crash into you without fear of getting shot.

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago* (44 children)

    I interpreted it as a negative, like "Americans are violent," heh.

    Is it?

    I sympathize with the complex though.

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  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago (42 children)

    We have a hyper sense of justice instilled in us from a young age. It's like the basis of our country (or so we're taught).

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  • [–] 72 points 1 year ago (39 children)

    I’d say it’s more about retribution. There’s a craving for punishment against perceived wrongs.

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  • [+] 22 points 1 year ago (37 children)
  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I get it, but it has to be obvious how quickly this logic can spiral, though.

    If I come around a corner and find you putting the boots to someone begging you to stop, you're getting smoked by the biggest thing I can find. I don't know the context. Violence to stop violence is measured.

    Being wronged isn't a carte blanche. As soon as you introduce violence, suddenly violence actually becomes the measured response against YOU.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago* (17 children)

    So committing a crime yourself, assault (and/or assault with a deadly weapon), in response to the first crime, pickpocketing, is suddenly totes okay then? I don't get it. Seems like retributive extrajudicial punishment to me. Just because it's a real thing that happened and not just perceived doesn't suddenly absolve you of committing violent crime in return. If you hospitalize the pickpocket and give them a lifelong limp, you've given them far more severe and retributive punishment than just taking their wallet in return.

    I mean, who knew, maybe this is why we have laws and shit.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    It's not a crime. You can use force to reclaim stolen property. Legally, it gets 'interesting' when you involve a weapon in your use of force, because some areas allow the threat of deadly force far before it can actually be used and you're probably going to expose yourself to legal avenues if the police don't like you when they show up. But simply kicking someone's ass after they stole from you? Perfectly permissible.

    If you want to talk about the morality of it, that's a different conversation.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (13 children)

    If I beat the shit out of a pickpocket and give them a lifelong limp too bad so sad, they have a permanent reminder of the principle of fuck around find out or FAFO. I was minding my own business right until they decided to make themselves my business.

    Legality is stupid and does factor into 99% of my actions so I will disregard it as a decision making factor.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (13 children)

    You realise beating up a pickpocket is itself a stupid game that will get you in jail, right?

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago* (12 children)

    If the idea is that I can't defend my own property then I understand why pickpocketing is so rampant elsewhere.

    I don't want to kill anybody, but I'm not gonna just hand it over with a smile on my face.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago

    There's a significant percentage of Americans that wouldn't take that as a negative. As in, aren't just violent, but are proud of being violent and consider it to be a positive quality. Not all of us, but a fair few. Hence you get things like some gun people fantasizing about having someone break in to their house so that they have a justification to shoot someone and feel righteous about it.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I think that's a positive. Americans, in the absence of law enforcement, will fight to defend themselves and their property (and vicariously, the property of others).

    Stopping thievery, is, unto itself, a just cause.

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