(no subject)
Sep. 16th, 2006 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vicarzI can kill you.
It's not that big a deal. I have the power to kill anyone that I know through work or social situations. I can overcome many people physically, and know a fair number of techniques that cause fatalities. For those where I could not overcome them physically, I can legally purchase a firearm, learn to use it, even get a license to carry it concealed, and kill them. I could actually kill many more people than that - almost all high ranking executives. Oddly enough the people that might be hardest to kill are a few hundred political leaders, and celebrities.
Now, while I could kill most anyone, I couldn't kill everyone that it struck my fancy to eliminate. Sure I could kill, but I could not kill with impunity. Once I had killed, I would most likely be quickly apprehended because social and work ties are easy to discover and research. Because murder is a fairly disruptive activity, I would most likely be prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced for a long time. This would prevent me from killing large numbers of people, unless I planned for it far in advance. The planning itself runs great risk of detection and subsequent interruption.
Similarly, you can kill me. Anyone that can read this, and a great many who can not, can kill me. There are many more skilled in physical combat than myself who could kill me at will. There are many more who could acquire firearms and dispose of me. However, most of those that would probably would do so based on social or work ties, and therefore be easily found and prosecuted. If they were to act on their desire to kill me, they may well have others that they desire to kill, but will unable to do so. I would have to be high up on their list of wanna-kill'ems to wind up a fatality.
This is no threat. I have no desire, nor do I foresee a desire, to kill anyone. Even for people I don't like, I typically find that threat of criminal prosecution and the likelihood of detection and capture are enough of a deterrent to prevent me from killing. I'm also not terribly scared of being killed, for most people have similar feelings regarding killing and being prosecuted for such.
What is interesting is that the power to kill appears greater in lower socioeconomic classes. I have decades of work invested in my current living situation, work that would be utterly wasted if I was locked up or killed. I have worked long and hard for my position, and am heavily invested in my expected future positions. Take a 20 year old person from a troubled home life and unschooled background, and the chance of them feeling the deterrent value of law is far less. I have a lot to lose, while they have little. Many of their friends and relatives may be in jail, so its not an unexpected place to be, and a fairly reputable reason to go. For this reason the idea that giving everyone a gun will make crime go away seems absurd to me - equally armed, someone with less to lose holds more power. Even if everyone is armed, the element of surprise, raw aggression, and strength in numbers quickly alter the playing field.
It's not that big a deal. I have the power to kill anyone that I know through work or social situations. I can overcome many people physically, and know a fair number of techniques that cause fatalities. For those where I could not overcome them physically, I can legally purchase a firearm, learn to use it, even get a license to carry it concealed, and kill them. I could actually kill many more people than that - almost all high ranking executives. Oddly enough the people that might be hardest to kill are a few hundred political leaders, and celebrities.
Now, while I could kill most anyone, I couldn't kill everyone that it struck my fancy to eliminate. Sure I could kill, but I could not kill with impunity. Once I had killed, I would most likely be quickly apprehended because social and work ties are easy to discover and research. Because murder is a fairly disruptive activity, I would most likely be prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced for a long time. This would prevent me from killing large numbers of people, unless I planned for it far in advance. The planning itself runs great risk of detection and subsequent interruption.
Similarly, you can kill me. Anyone that can read this, and a great many who can not, can kill me. There are many more skilled in physical combat than myself who could kill me at will. There are many more who could acquire firearms and dispose of me. However, most of those that would probably would do so based on social or work ties, and therefore be easily found and prosecuted. If they were to act on their desire to kill me, they may well have others that they desire to kill, but will unable to do so. I would have to be high up on their list of wanna-kill'ems to wind up a fatality.
This is no threat. I have no desire, nor do I foresee a desire, to kill anyone. Even for people I don't like, I typically find that threat of criminal prosecution and the likelihood of detection and capture are enough of a deterrent to prevent me from killing. I'm also not terribly scared of being killed, for most people have similar feelings regarding killing and being prosecuted for such.
What is interesting is that the power to kill appears greater in lower socioeconomic classes. I have decades of work invested in my current living situation, work that would be utterly wasted if I was locked up or killed. I have worked long and hard for my position, and am heavily invested in my expected future positions. Take a 20 year old person from a troubled home life and unschooled background, and the chance of them feeling the deterrent value of law is far less. I have a lot to lose, while they have little. Many of their friends and relatives may be in jail, so its not an unexpected place to be, and a fairly reputable reason to go. For this reason the idea that giving everyone a gun will make crime go away seems absurd to me - equally armed, someone with less to lose holds more power. Even if everyone is armed, the element of surprise, raw aggression, and strength in numbers quickly alter the playing field.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 12:34 am (UTC)Because murder is a fairly disruptive activity, I would most likely be prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced for a long time.
stellar line.
and. burp.
--kelowna
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 11:54 pm (UTC)