Via Robb Allen, this offering right here. If this doesn’t ruin your morning, you’re untouchable.
I Was Mugged, And I Understand Why
Last weekend, my housemate and I were mugged at gunpoint while walking home from Dupont Circle. The entire incident lasted under a minute, as I was forced to the floor, handed over my phone and was patted down.
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What has been most startling to me, even more so than the incident itself, have been the reactions I’ve gotten. I kept hearing “thugs,” “criminals” and “bad people.” While I understand why one might jump to that conclusion, I don’t think this is fair.Not once did I consider our attackers to be “bad people.” I trust that they weren’t trying to hurt me. In fact, if they knew me, I bet they’d think I was okay. They wanted my stuff, not me. While I don’t know what exactly they needed the money for, I do know that I’ve never once had to think about going out on a Saturday night to mug people. I had never before seen a gun, let alone known where to get one. The fact that these two kids, who appeared younger than I, have even had to entertain these questions suggests their universes are light years away from mine.
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Who am I to stand from my perch of privilege, surrounded by million-dollar homes and paying for a $60,000 education, to condemn these young men as “thugs?” It’s precisely this kind of “otherization” that fuels the problem.
For full effect you really do need to read the whole thing – not that I actually recommend it.
There’s a phrase I wrote down on a piece of paper several months ago and have looked for opportunity to use ever since – I think this is as good a place as any.
Eloi (n) – That class of people for whom “Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss” comes as a message of hope and renewal.
Eloi don’t ruin my morning. Make me a little sad that so many of them manage to survive, but that’s one of the consequences of a nearly risk-free society.
I am having an unfamiliar feeling… I am experiencing the desire for this guy to get mugged over and over again- every single time he sets foot out a door. After all, I’m sure he’d want to help the poor darlings who want his stuff.
Oh, and he’s not as privileged as he thinks- he was apparently denied a brain and a spine by the cruel fates of evolution.
I don’t believe this cretin has ever EARNED anything in his life, probably not even “grades” in school. It’s just so easy to be generous and “compassionate” with other people’s money and lives.
He doesn’t get the concept of a bad guy with a gun being an implied or overt threat to him? My mama told me that if I couldn’t say something nice about someone then I shouldn’t say anything at all, so about this guy I’ll just say
He obviously doesn’t understand “threat.” He’s with the crowd that says, “give them what they want.” Guess he’s too “privileged” to have given much thought to the possibilities. Besides, he’s obviously very young and they tend to think they are immortal.
Well, I’m not about to give “them” my stuff, let alone my life, not if I can help it.
We’ll see how accepting he is of other people’s desire for his things after it happens to him enough times. That is, after all, the inevitable conclusion to his line of thought and way of looking at life, isn’t it? How many times would it be okay to get mugged before that was enough, and he’d paid his penance and was equal, once again, with all other men?
It is so funny to me that this guy stands there flagellating himself over his “privilege” and all of the “advantages” he’s had in life, and yet, he still hangs on to all of his material possessions to the point that other people are required to threaten physical violence against him in order to take them away. Why didn’t he just give those nice men his money without them having to demand it through threats of violence?
If he was really so interested in the plight of the needy, and giving and sharing, and disabusing himself of his “privilege” then why does he live in a million dollar home and why is he selfishly seeking a $60,000 education? Why not just give this stuff away to these disadvantaged people, instead of forcing them to take it from him at gunpoint? Why require violence, if what they did was just? Why not just give it all away?
I don’t understand.
Of course, after he gives all that he sees as “disposable” away, and all he has left is what he absolutely needs to survive, then I’ll bet he feels a little different about being mugged. It’s all a matter of perspective. A man will lose his first million dollars without batting an eye, but he will fight for his last grain of rice with every ounce of his being. We’ve made life too easy for these Eloi, for sure.
I just… I can’t… I mean…
Damn.
I joke that “speciation is well under way” a lot, but this guy doesn’t have to go trying so hard to prove me right. It’s actually a little uncomfortable to read. o.O
Ayn Rand says that they, the eloi, do not want to live, they want you to die. Anonymous Conser ativesays the a rabbits whose evolutionary tactics prevent them from seeing competitors as a threat. I say they are possessed
The comments on the Professor’s post are hilarious, and more than make up for his idiocy.