Poll: Vigilantes and the killing of mobsters

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Ghengis John

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Dec 16, 2007
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BobDobolina said:
I don't think that's a counter-example at all. Russia and Mexico have been quite spectacularly ineffectual against the organized criminals, and indeed both have legendarily corrupt law enforcement, significan tracts of which at any given time are in the pay of one cartel or outfit or another. Often that "shooting on sight" is basically just gang warfare in the guise of law enforcement, an organization eliminating its rivals. It got so bad in Mexico that they eventually had to bring the army in to deal with cartel violence in the North because the cops couldn't be trusted... and it's not even clear if that's worked yet.
You seem to have missed my second paragraph addressing that.
 

Ba22crow

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May 9, 2011
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Depends on how you do it.
Depends on the gravity of their crimes, and whether they will be caught and held accountable. Not every person will even get convicted with their crimes, and quite a few can dodge the justice system well enough to never get punished. Vigilantes are necessary. maybe not liked by all, but I would rather a man who goes around kidnapping raping and murdering children who the court seems incapable of putting in jail killed by someone who can do it with a clear conscience than be allowed to continue doing it simply because he is good at defending himself in court and covering evidence. suffice to say there are obvious criminals who get away with things every day, vigilantes are not there to give them what they deserve (aka death), they are there to prevent them from causing further harm. The vigilante is not there to "kill" them, but to protect others by ending the threat.
 

stupenderifous

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First of all, the Boondock Saints movies are probably the worst examples of vigilante movies around. In fact, the first one is my number one most hated movie. There are a lot of better vigilante movies than those. Watch Deathwish to see what I mean. It's not perfect but it is light-years ahead of those other inane religious crusader power fantasies.

Secondly, I don't agree with vigilantism but I can certainly understand why it would happen. Sometimes the law doesn't work so somebody would feel the need to do something about it. I can't really fault somebody for making a decision like that. Frankly, I don't know how I would react if the law failed me in a situation like the brutal murder of a family member.
 

guntotingtomcat

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b3nn3tt said:
No. Once you kill them, you become no better than them. If a vigilante starts fighting crime because they view it as intrinsically wrong, then by killing criminals they are also commiting a wrong-doing. There is no justification for vigilantes to murder people.
Your avatar is ironic in this context.
 

guntotingtomcat

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Basically, what we're asking is 'is Dexter ok'.

To be honest, I'd rather the killers were killing killers, rather than random members of the public.
 

SammiYin

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Mar 15, 2010
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guntotingtomcat said:
Basically, what we're asking is 'is Dexter ok'.

To be honest, I'd rather the killers were killing killers, rather than random members of the public.
Pretty much what I was gonna say, if somebody has the disposition to kill, then let them 'do their thing' to the people we don't want [I know that sounds facsist...but yea I'm that kinda guy]
If somebody murdered my family, and then a vigilante killed the bastard that did it, I wouldn't pout and go all pretentious like "oh you're no better than him you beast! All human lives are equal" <---Fuck that. I'd shake his hand.
 

Ghengis John

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BobDobolina said:
Places living under "the blanket of misery these men create" rarely improve by actions of more people with guns. To say so is not applying a "US standard" to anything; quite the opposite, since Americans often seem to have romantic notions about solving problems with guns
No, and I never claimed as such. To expect any sort of productive punitive action from government in many places, however, is applying a first world perspective to the situation at hand. I find it hard to impute anyone for violence in such a situation, from my relatively sheltered position in an orderly country. So, because of my moral compunctions I reserve judgment. As for your characterization of Americans I'd refrain from making generalizations a cornerstone of your arguments. We do have an anti-gun lobby in this country you know.

that people who have actually had to live with Mexican drug cartels or South African gangsterism wouldn't share.
I don't know how many Mexicans you talk to up there in Canada but you are quite misinformed. You are making some fantastic assumptions and presenting them as facts. (And as a Mexican American who regularly converses with immigrants I know to be patently false.) While the average person simply wishes that the violence were over there are many people in both countries who imagine that arming themselves is their only option. That is not an American phenomena, it is a product of fear. Before you pounce on me, imagining that my status as an American means that I'm just nuts about guns, I'm not saying that it's a productive sentiment, but it does exist.

It is, of course, understandable how these groups come about, as I said in the first post you replied to. That just doesn't make them desirable.
On that we agree. Perhaps I'm simply a more emotional person than you are though, but upon hearing the frustration in the voices of people who have lived under crime lords I find it hard to remain the imprimatur of morality.
 

Simonism451

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guntotingtomcat said:
Basically, what we're asking is 'is Dexter ok'.

To be honest, I'd rather the killers were killing killers, rather than random members of the public.
I'd rather the killers were killing no one at all.

OT: Since I am against the death penalty my answer is nooooooooooooooooooo!
But even if that above statement wasn't true, the answer still would be noooooooooooooo! since 90% of the "common men" are hysterical morons (myself included), who are utterly clueless on the fields of criminology, juristics and quite often enough firearm handling. Alone that last point would cause a hell of a mess.
And, we the public, are just too easily lured into outrage and taking accusations for facts. Just read about any rape-trial ever and you'll surely find voices demanding to "off that fucker" regardless of whether or not the accused was found innocent or the person making the accusations admitted to have lied.