[ SECRET POST #1839 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1839 ⌋


Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 07 pages, 156 secrets from Secret Submission Post #263.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeats ]
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

As a member of society I wouldn't want people I don't know/trust/didn't accept as authority out there doing what they please to appease their own morals. I don't really care that they believe they're just - what I care is how it affects me and the society I live in. And vigilantism inherently has a huge margin for making things worse. Because vigilantes are human, they're not necessarily stable mentally and even if they are they don't necessarily stay stable and sane; there's no guarantee that their morals won't change with time, or that their power won't get to their head, that they won't harm innocents in their attempts to remain anonymous, etc. etc. It's a very slippery slope, and once you step on it it's guaranteed not to end well.

It's not a question of appealing to the masses or not. If we get down to it, it's about all the things that can potentially go wrong, and ordinary people not living in fear or at least uneasiness because there's a murderer on the loose - a well-intentioned murderer, maybe, but a murderer all the same. (And if he starts being less well-intentioned and more concerned with his own purposes, it's even worse.)

I'm not saying that vigilantism is necessarily wrong by default, but vigilantes resorting to the heavy end of violence and murder? I can't condone that. There are just way too many things that can go wrong.

[sandor051.livejournal.com]

Ah.

See I actually think we agree, sort of.

You're right in that those are very much real issues, and why almost always vigilantes are a bad idea.

It's just where I think we differ, is that in a select number of extreme situation they're an unpleasant necessity, and that for anything below that they're not acceptable*.

The monopoly on violence in a society needs to remain in the hands of the state, except when situations develop where the state is unable to self regulate. However, the number of those situations is intensely rare, and every time has to be balanced against the moral evils of engaging in vigilantiism.

I suppose one could make a more compelling argument for it, but like you said it's very similar to the issue with autocracies, fundamentally if you have it functioning with moral drive and purpose, it is far more effective (slightly more nuanced then that but eh), except the system always, and inherently falls apart or becomes corrupt, which leads to a negative situation far outweighing the good done through it.

*If batman wants to go around beating up poor people and minorities, he can join the police. I find the idea that 'oh, as long as he doesn't kill them it's cool more then a little problematic'.