ATTACKED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AS DRIVERS PASS BY
on 02/20/2008 at 11:18 AM
An awful story. Maybe if more Brits carried some kind of “equalizer” in their cars they’d be more willing to stop. Pity they don’t have Little League baseball over there; those kiddie size bats make wonderful clubs.
I would have thought that at least one of them would have called 999, even if they were too insulated to stop and help.
Here we go.
This is about our fondest wishes and beliefs about ourselves faced with a situation that we’re really unfamiliar with. Very few of us have any actual experience with real violence. Most of us here seem to be familiar with firearms and some of us have training in martial arts, but probably very few of us, even those of us who served in the military have actually dealt with violence face to face. Most of us have probably been in fights of one sort or another, probably back in our younger school days or early 20’s, but those were direct and personal. How many of us are tested by intervening for a third party? For most of us, when there is violence and danger, our natural reaction is to be somewhere else. We usually call that cowardice and don’t want to admit that it is part of our nature. It can be overcome, but I don’t think it is usually part of our nature.
I have twice faced down muggers, but neither incident was by my choice. I cannot claim any sort of bravery for what I did. What I did was a matter of survival, not bravery. To intervene, when you aren’t physically required to, carries a much different mind set. Your survival is threatened by going to the aid of another person. For a child, family member or friend, we may react and intervene, especially for our child or spouse, but a stranger is a very different matter. To defend the stranger is an ideal that we would like to have, but I really don’t think most of us are emotionally ready to do it. It requires a special mindset that usually needs to be developed. One of the most admirable things about any law enforcement officer is that when there’s danger, while most of us are running for the exits, the officer runs in.
Far more disturbing is the lack of involvement that often occurs in a situation like this. As soon as I read the article, it reminded me of the case of Kitty Genovese in New York over 40 years ago. Dozens of her neighbors heard the assault and her pleas for help. Not one of them gave her sanctuary or did so much as call the police. When the assault was over, she was dead. That is below cowardice. It is also an indication of a rot in our society where we have a total disconnect from our neighbors. At that point, not just the welfare of a single person is endangered, the survival of our society is in danger.
Last bit (and sorry Lyndon), the current state of British law, which discourages self defense and makes a criminal out of anyone carrying even a defensive weapon, would certainly discourage physically intervening on behalf of another person. So, where does Mr. Cook get off saying”
Frank Cook, the Labour MP for Stockton North, said:
“It is difficult to generalise, but I have to say if it had been me driving past I would have been compelled to stop.”
Of all the smarmy, two faced crap I’ve heard from politicians, that one’s pretty far down the scale.
Most people run away from the sound of gunfire. Few people run towards it. Depending on the situation they are heroes, helpers, or idiots.
I agree, the MP is probably full of it. You need a culture that venerates heroism, self-sacrifice, honor, and manliness to have even a 50/50 chance of a stranger jumping in to help in this kind of situation. PC, “sexism”, “feminism”, “equal rights”, and an ever increasing push to rely on the government for everything for the past 2-3 generations has lowered that 50/50 chance to 1/1000 at best.
No need to apologise Dr. Jeff I thought your response was excellent and really well thought through. Some years back my younger brother was in a nearby town when he witnessed a scumbag knocking his girlfriend around. The guy was a lot bigger than my brother, but he felt he should intervene. The clown and his friends then threatened my brother. Fortunately it didn’t come to blows but it could have been ugly.
This sort of thing happens all too often and I agree we would like to think that in such a situation we would do the right thing. However in today’s Britain the scales have been tipped in favour of the criminal and self defense is seen as wrong. Added to this a lot of thugs routinely carry knives and are prepared to use them.
Drew makes a good point in as much as the “citizens” or should I say “subjects” are increasingly reliant on the government for everything, and the control freaks in charge want it this way. I still think so many of the evils in our world today stem from socialism.
Frank Cook Labour aka socialist need I say more?
Sow leftist lunacy, reap
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But remember, the darkest part of the night is before the dawn....
I’ve been one of those people who rushed in before. To be fair, I’m also one of those guys who usually has a knife in his pocket, but still…
The problem I have with Mr. Cook is that I can’t help but think, “You would have stopped, would you? And you would have been okay with it when the attacker had you arrested for assault and expected a public apology? And *then* wanted to sue you into the bargain? Waitaminit, isn’t this the very kind of thing you people have been *trying* to make happen?”
Of course we’ve been disconnected from our neighbors. The law of the land makes it a crime now to be actually *involved* with your neighbors.
Indeed, good to see you again Tannenberg. For a while it’s seemed that only 4 of us have been commenting. Your viewpoint was always interesting and has been missed.
Thanks, guys. It’s good to be back. I’ve been tied down to my work for so long that I barely had time to deal with Emails. But things look better now, and I’ll try to be a more active participant. Kindest regards to all…
Maybe if the Brits would stop putting people in jail for fighting off the goblins, someone might be willing to help. As long as they are jailed or successfully sued for thrashing the criminals, they are not going to intervene. Neither would I under those circumstances. I would, however, call 999, as long as my identity was protected so I could not be sued by the goblin.
Posted by dragonbreath
02/21/2008 at 10:26 AM
Okay, it’s been said. But I’ll pitch in too.
The United Kingdom has taken long strides in the past ten to fifteen years to prohibit any subject from willfully resisting any unlawful attack on their person, property or life. The program seems to be working.
The pro-criminal legislators should be so proud.
