Remember the last episode of 'Seinfeld', where Jerome, Cosmo, Lainey & George "T-Bone" Costanza were arrested for watching the fat guy get robbed & did nothing but videotape it & make "fat guy" jokes?
[tony's note: yeah, don't front like you've never watched it...]
They were charged with breaking the imaginary "Good Sumaritan Law", which made it illegal to witness a crime without making any attempts to stop it. For the sake of the show, it was a means to an end, signifying the last hurrah for the 'Seinfeld' cast & crew. &, it was funny to see the morbidly obese man squeeze his swollen body from that compact car. Not that morbid obesity is comical, but, you smell my cologne.
Now, to parallel that with reality, a 15 year old student at Richmond High School, in San Francisco, CA was robbed, beaten & raped after the school's Homecoming dance last Saturday. Ironically, she was crowned Homecoming Queen. The West Contra Costa Unified School District has had it's fair amount of controversy lately, with a truancy rate of 69%, & last year's homicide total at 19. Investigations at Richmond High have revealed that only a small number of the school's surveillance cameras are operable & numerous fights on school grounds have been posted on YouTube.
So far, for the reported crime, a 19 year old ex-student & a current 15 year old student &a few more kids have been formally charged, with more arrests undoubtedly to come. Which in essence, sounds about right, but considering the fact that roughly 20 individuals participated makes that horrifying event that much more appalling. Reports say that about half of the participants were witnesses who did nothing to aid the girl, & perhaps some even videotaped it on their cell phones. That's more than likely, given America's voyeuristic approach at life. Eerily though, a very similar situation happened recently in Chicago, IL, to a young man named Derrion Albert, which resulted in his brutal, possibly avoidable murder had someone just stepped in. You may have heard about it. Instead, people either stood around, joined in the barbaric activities & recorded the event for prosperity. Perhaps the one good aspect of the paparazzi mob mentality is that criminals are stupid enough to get caught on tape red handed, some even amplifying their idiocy for the camera man.
We've all been there at least once, where we found ourselves in the midst of something that seemed to be going to far, yet waited on the next person to intervene or hoped it would just go away. Maybe it did go away, it probably didn't, but we see what happened in the cases of this young lady & Derrion Albert. No one said anything, which, at the very least leveled the playing field between witness & perpetrator. & if it didn't, it should have. Otherwise, only prison walls, as opposed to mental stability, truly separate the criminals & the civilians.
Currently, California has no laws that makes it illegal for one to witness a crime without at least notifying the authorities. They do have the "accessory" charge, but watching doesn't necessarily translate into "helping", as much as driving the car or signaling if someone approaches. Maybe they should implement such an ordinance. Granted, it wouldn't sit well with the boisterous "no snitching" ethos that shadows the inner-city, but life exists outside of the fabricated world of gangster politics & subversive criminal activity, so it is a possibilty.
The victim was rushed to a local hospital for her injuries, yet the mental scars of "multiple offenders, multiple people raping over [a] prolonged period" will still be fresh wounds even when stitches are removed & bruises disappear.
No shots, but very few things separate the human race from the rest of the animal kingdom. Judging by the news & urban legends, that line dwindles daily. At this rate, jail will literally be just another version of the zoo, if one doesn't consider it that already. That's not to say that all the dudes who ever experience jail are sub-human, but, again, you smell my cologne. We need to take "Love Thy Neighbor" a little more seriously, folks. If "we" don't like/trust the police, & the government is secretly plotting to destroy our shallow existences with hidden agendas & conspiracy theory actualities, than the least we can do, as a race, is watch each other's collective back. This isn't to say that everyone needs to don a cape & become hero's to anonymous prey, but super powers aren't needed to dial 911. How much of a douche nozzle are you really when you don't feel the incessant need to help keep another person safe? Although, I guess that's beyond douchery. That's more like evil, pathetic cowardice. Without dwelling too deep beneath the surface of societal ailment, there's always two sides to a story but usually only a singular outcome.
[tony's note: sorry for the lack of "comedy". i don't find anything funny about this bullshit.]
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8 comments:
You hit a bullseye when you brought up the fact people live by the no snitching ethos, problem is, they only use that way of thinking when it suits their own personal needs. Also, like you said, not everyone who had the pleasure of experiencing a state sponsored vacation is sub-human. There's alot of good dudes that are down right now, I know this from first hand experience. On the same note, there's plenty of people in the bing who flat out deserve to be there, also witnessed first hand.
Now as far as today's youth... Why the fuck are they all running around filming incriminating evidence? Someone needs to tell 'em this is snitching in it's finest form. People throughout the ages have done a bunch of dumb shit, it's part of the growing up process. Problem today is there's no type of guidance. A case of too many indians and not enough chiefs. No role models, and lackadaisical parents. Sometimes all these kids really need is a kick in the ass and a stern talking to.
I've even tried to school some younger heads, shit, my friends' kids too. Let 'em know life ain't a fuckin rap song or bullshit ass hood flick. Hopefully some figure this shit out on their own before another generation winds up damn near flushed down the drain, just like the bulk of dude's born in the mid '70's to early 80's. Any grown man in that age bracket either been to prison, lost their life over petty nonsense, or knows someone who's been through some real shit. Each one teach one, and fuckin soon before the cycle of generational destruction repeats itself again. Ain't shit funny neither. We're sitting back watching, wondering what the fuck is going on instead of actually making a difference.
Fuck me, must've come down with a case of "Writeritis". Good shit Grand$, keep coming with that food for thought.
Cap G!
Never "writeritis", you kicking knowledge as usual...
My uncle is the perfect embodiment of everything you said, good & bad. He was heavy in the dope game, HEAVY. This dude saw his best friend/partner gunned down, didn't "snitch" in order to retaliate himself & almost died behind that same dude's anger/hatred/jealousy. Twice. Then he get locked up, because he has all the wrong niggas around him, broadcating his business & running their mouths (might as well have been videotaping), all the while he was a real decent cat that got caught up without any proper guidance. Now, here's where it gets fucked up. Nigga got like 9 kids, about 5 boys, & don't tell them SHIT about how real life is. No guidance begat no guidance. Real type, their just waiting to go to jail on some "I don't even give a fuck" shit. I tried, but I have my own shit to do. & that shit bothers me because this world can give a fuck about a strong smart successful dude, so cats with no prospect @ future betterment don't stand a chance. Shits enough to give a dude a headache.
I believe a lot of niggas have to go through shit, including me, because God wanted us to have that/these stories to tell. Not like prophets per se, but messengers, so don't stop trying to school the youngsters. You have that intelligence & experience that these lil dudes need, man. God blessed you with life experiences to share that blessing.. If @ least one young dude listens, thats a link in a chain that theoretically can go on forever.
I was tripping off of some teenagers all on their phones texting, taking pics, etc, & it just hit me the direction that the youth are going in man. In all reality, it's probably way bigger than us cats who can lead the sheep to the pasture. Way bigger...
Man listen.
Remember "I'ma Get U Sucka"?
"What happened to the Revolution? We were like a hundred strong!"
"They marched to the state building with a purpose, and came out with jobs".
While we worked, we left the kids home to be programmed by cable. So now they actually believe what they see on TV to be right & exact.
Whatever we lack from whatever they saw to them means we weren't qualified to have it, or weren't good enough to get it.
I know kids who called the cops on their parents because they couldn't get a Playstation for Xmas. Who killed(poisoned) their relatives because they couldn't go to the movies or borrow $20 or get that leather coat.
And since it's pretty much against the law to discipline your kids you can't tell them what to do. You can't tell them cell phones are more of a tracking device than a means to call someone. You can't tell them cell phones are radioactive nuclear powered cancer causing devices. You can't tell them rappers are lying about their success because they see money & cars in the videos. You can't tell them drug dealing has grave consequences when they see dealers on TV and movies "succeeding".
If you do all it means is that you're an old, bitter hater who's out of touch.
When they are the ones out of touch. Y'all know them types.
The ones who still believe nothing you say on an XXL site reaches anyone because they only see the number of comments, and not the number of page views. The ones who still believe record labels are searching thru the hoods for new talent to sign. The ones who believe Drake came from Canada & worked so hard to be a rapper and is so good at it that the record industry couldn't wait to throw money at him for a deal. The ones who don't know that you can be detained if you see a crime & are on the scene & don't report it(Law & Order utilizes this law all the time). THE ONES WHO THINK JAIL IS A BADGE OF HONOR FOR STREET CRED.
The ones who have no clue their rights are almost nil, as well as their Social Security & medical benefits & their Constitutional privacy. Man I can keep going.
They need to know they're on the tab for all the money that disappeared the last 2-3 for the NEXT 30 + YEARS.
This generation's position is soooo bad, you gotta snatch the ones UNDERNEATH THEM, and put them on to game. These 20-ish kids ain't listening. They're too thirsty for success like on TV.
Savages in the pursuit of a staged happiness.
Check out "District 9". Replace the aliens w/blacks & the hoods. That's how they will start/enforce the Copenhagen Treaty in 3rd world countries also.
"CampFema", a new jumpoff that just came out. It'll twist your wig.
And them dudes that made "The Obama Deception" have a new one out. I'll holler back with that title & info.
PEACE
Are you familiar with the unresponsive bystander theory??
@ Mr. O
"Are you familiar with the unresponsive bystander theory?"
^^^^Nah, I've never heard of it. It sounds like something you made up, but please enlighten us. I'd hate to think that you'd just drop a partial bit of knowledge in an attempt @ poor sarcasm & pseudo-intelligence without any effort to substantiate it. That would be a huge waste of time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Bystander_effect
Quite similar to the "no-snitching", "hear no evil, see no evil" hood codes.
What factors influence a person whether to assist another person in need? Expertise, compassion, curiosity, indifference, fears, does one truly know how they would react in any moment? Latané and Darley’s theories regarding Social Impact Theory and the process of Bystander Effect helpfully characterize human behavior Bystander Effect states, when people are in the presence of others; they are less likely to offer help than when they are alone. Derrion Albert a sixteen year old youth was slain on the streets of Chicago. Onlookers filmed the youth being beaten to death; he chose to reason with his unruly classmates while his peers stood by indolently. Whereas Horatio Cretin smelled fire and instinctively grabbed a ladder climbing four stories rescuing a four year old once on the ground he resuscitated the infant. When unexpected events transpire it is up to the bystander to decide whether to intervene or not.
Latané and Darley’s Bystander Intervention Theory is strongly sustained by the Derrion Albert Incident there is a substantial amount of confusion regarding why being African American and male causes this segment of the population to stand out in the most negative and distressing ways, both in school and the larger society. Social class and cultural context are essential elements to include when African American males are concerned. It is essential to address their genuine realities, if approaches to comprehend their behavior are to be exhibited,
the bystander effect was proposed to explain why people are reluctant to intervene in situations, where a person may require some form of assistance; particularly when other people are present.
This discussion has considered several situations where this phenomenon is likely to occur, such as when a person requires assistance in the community and a number of other people are present; when people are concerned that their altruistic behavior would be negatively appraised; when the costs of intervening outweigh those associated with not intervening; and when people are not able to identify with a person in need of assistance. These situations are important to consider, as they are likely to pose implications for initiatives to reduce the bystander effect and subsequently increase the likelihood of altruistic behavior.
You tapped into this complex theory, I was simpy wondering if you studied it.
(made it up)
This is one of the most profound theories taught because it is universal!
@Mr. O
I was just making an observation.
I actually had no idea it was such a more profound phenonmenon. Good looks.
But damn, we do we, as a people go from here? Sort of scary...
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