November 8, 2023 THOMPSON, blog.

Anthropology Politics Those Poor Darling Thieves

I Know, Let’s All Pretend That Behaviour Doesn’t Matter

November 8, 2023 30 Comments

Lifted from the comments, a difference of opinion:

This is the easiest bullet to bite: yes, I value my stuff more than I value the life of a thief I’ve never even met. https://t.co/h4QVDNz2xX

— wanye (@wanyeburkett) November 7, 2023

As I posted in reply,

Flattening values, such that the criminal and their victims are somehow equal in moral worth, is a staple of progressive schtick. But it seems to me that the decision to try to steal someone’s dog is precisely how you know that that person’s wellbeing is of very low importance.

A slightly different perspective:

The better way to understand this is that the thief himself values your stuff more than his life. He’s the one who made that decision.

If an example of the aforementioned schtick is needed, this comes to mind:

To recap. According to Mr Ford, our “proud SJW,” the lone woman being attacked at a bus stop on her way to work shouldn’t have defended herself – because, we’re told, “If she had let him rob her, even at gunpoint, both likely would have survived.” And apparently, the well-being of the mugger – who was mugging while on probation – trumps any desire for self-defence, even if the victim fears for her life.

At which point, I think one has to ask an obvious question. In the case of the mugger, survived to do what? Continue mugging women, presumably. Which, in turn, raises the question of exactly how many assaults and armed muggings, or worse, a mugger’s survival is worth.

Answers on a postcard, please.

In the archives, you’ll find many variations on this theme. As when we were told – by Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender – that a dislike of having your home invaded by feral, malevolent predators, and having the lives of your family put in mortal danger, “comes from a place of privilege.”

Or, this rather nightmarish example of antisocial liveliness:

What would you do in this case?

https://t.co/w2joaaDoSx

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 4, 2023

Following which, I added:

It’s perhaps worth noting that egalitarian assumptions don’t exactly help on this front – say, the belief that such creatures are just like us, only more oppressed, and that their wellbeing is somehow a matter of great importance. A conceit that is not only wrong, and insulting, but which is often disabling when it really matters.

If, for instance, someone with a big, shiny knife is breaking into your home in the middle of the night, you should not, ideally, be distracted by any great concern for whether or not your attempt at self-defence results in them getting injured or ceasing to be. Not least because their ceasing-to-be would be a very good thing. A gift to the world.

Among our betters, however, all manner of contortions can be performed:

Readers may wish to ponder the implicit conceit that the burglars – the ones brandishing carving knives – are the real victims and should therefore be spared any meaningful consequence of their own chosen actions, their own sociopathy. Because, apparently, one should sympathise with the people breaking into one’s home and driving off with one’s stuff. In one’s own car.

Though perhaps these are skills only available to more elevated beings, including, obviously, Guardian columnists.

Update, via the comments:

Reading time: 6 min

Written by: David

I Know, Let’s All Pretend That Behaviour Doesn’t Matter

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