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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   14494 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026

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I'll admit that I may have phrased my argument poorly (as I said in the wellness thread, I was under pressure to meet my self-imposed deadline). The argument I was trying to make is that, in the hypothetical world in which it could be established that Ross's shooting was justified beyond reasonable doubt, it wouldn't matter if Good had been a scrupulously law-abiding citizen prior to the altercation. Conversely, in the hypothetical world in which it could be established that Ross's shooting wasn't justified, it wouldn't matter if Good had had numerous criminal convictions beforehand. I probably shouldn't have bothered getting into the weeds of what either of these hypothetical worlds might look like, as they weren't relevant to my argument.

Also showing a pretty crass misunderstanding of the Floyd situation. Chauvin got railroaded on vibes for performing a maneuver that was expressly taught to him by the police force, and one that doesn't lead to positional asphyxiation unless the victim happens to be having a drug overdose despite having horrible optics.

What about the Floyd situation did I misunderstand?

Chauvin got railroaded on vibes for performing a maneuver that was expressly taught to him by the police force, and one that doesn't lead to positional asphyxiation unless the victim happens to be having a drug overdose despite having horrible optics.

Given that Floyd was having a drug overdose, you realize you basically just admitted that Chauvin shouldn't have used that manoeuvre, and hence that the jury of his peers was right to convict him of murder? That's one hell of a "railroading".

It may not matter legally, in court, but it absolutely matters to society at large. Any criminal justice system will be ragged around the edges, all states are organized violence. It matters what group the mistakes and violations run against in general.

If the cops unjustifiably kill someone with forty felonies, run the legal process, but don't ask me to give a fuck. Society is better off no matter how cruel or unjustified the actual police behavior is. That has to be balanced against the costs imposed by the dead criminal.

If the cops unjustifiably kill some random law-abiding productive citizen with a family and community, that's much worse. It not only means that the police are poorly trained, but that they are being aimed at a part of society they shouldn't be. Mistakes will happen, but it isn't difficult to make the judgement between these sorts of cases.

Of course, in the media we are constantly told that the second scenario is happening, which on inspection turns out to be the first.

If the cops unjustifiably kill some random law-abiding productive citizen with a family and community, that's much worse.

Agreed, but that wasn't the comparison I was making. I was comparing an unjustified killing of someone with forty previous felonies with a justified killing of an erstwhile law-abiding citizen.

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