Welcome to BoingBoing, comrade. Notices of disappointments should be directed to jlw.
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One punch can be fatal more often than one would think. Though usually it’s hitting the ground that delivers the lethal blow. One reason not to let anyone lay hands on you.
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Man literally engages in hate speech, thrown drinks, and attempted assault (the racist swung first). Some BoingBoing readers react with shock that @SeamusBellamy could be so cruel/heartless.
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In fairness, even without legal repercussions, this driver is dealing with some serious shit right now. Taking a human life is a big fucking deal whatever the circumstances, and if you have the moral and ethical grounding God gave a cockroach, you will be seriously affected by it. I am glad for him that he was not charged, because legitimately defending yourself should not lead to charges. (Note the “legitimately” In that sentence.) But I agree that this is not really a good outcome. I am all for punching Nazis, but worth keeping in mind that we humans were killing each other long before we developed tools to do it more efficiently, and are still equipped to do serious damage even when we may not intend to do so. As one whose job is to undo such damage, I would heartily appreciate fewer calls for my skills in that area.
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In fairness, even without legal repercussions, this driver is dealing with some serious shit right now. Taking a human life is a big fucking deal whatever the circumstances, and if you have the moral and ethical grounding God gave a cockroach, you will be seriously affected by it.
One of the reasons why this not a good news story or one to celebrate.
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“The joy built upon successful slaughter is not the right kind of joy; it will not do; it is fearful and it is trivial.”
—Ursula Le Guin
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Of course, Mr. Warren’s other option was to instantly retract all the melanin out of his skin and into his body - a bit like an octopus. Shame he didn’t try that first.
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Wow, he was faced with extremely limited choices then, I suppose.
The racist dude punched him first. His intent wasn’t to kill the guy, but to defend himself.
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Well, yeah. There are other ways, but that doesn’t matter now.
I don’t blame the guy for his actions.
I just take no joy from them.
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Writing as someone who has been called a faggot numerous times and been punched in the face:
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He absolutely did have to get out of the truck. Expecting people to not confront that sort of abuse directly is awful and unreasonable.
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The way the post is structured, the joy is that law enforcement took the driver’s side. We can all imagine the situation going otherwise.
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He accidentally killed someone who had willingly relinquished their humanity. I’m not rejoicing in his death per see, but having been the subject of similar attacks, it’s overall a good thing. I’m personally indifferent to calls for tact and tastefullness regarding his passing.
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Given Ms. LeGuin’s politics, I’m not convinced she would not have enjoyed some of the same private satisfaction most of us are feeling over this.
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If someone punches you (or me), we’re well within our rights to defend ourselves.
That’s fair enough.
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This. It’s important to note that people who are part of some or other minority in the US (people who aren’t white, christian, cisgendered, hetero men of means) are regularly expected to live up to a higher standard of behavior while regularly suffering abuse of some kind (from small acts of demeaning behavior to outright violence up to and including murder). We’re all human, and it shouldn’t be unexpected when people do lash out to defend themselves physically and emotional. Some people are criticized more strongly for doing so, and it’s not the people on top who get criticized.
I agree here. It’s good that the guy who now has a death on his conscious isn’t also being prosecuted for simply defending himself. Given that black men are still regularly gunned down for no reason, this is a good thing.
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He wasn’t executed by the state. It was a fair, if fatal, fight.
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100% wrong. Fights by their nature are not fair. The guy punched the driver, not fair. He was forced to defend himself, not fair. His defence of himself means he has to live with having killed a man he never wanted to harm, not fair.
“Fair fight” is toxic macho crap.
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It would seem that the shitbucket was a bit outmatched.
Perhaps he should have thought of that before deciding to throw a punch.
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Still no word on whether Fedex decided to fire him. I hope not. If it were up to me, Warren would get Employee of the Month.
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I disagree. Some people create so much misery that them dying is a net positive on society.
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Yep. Simply falling over can be surprisingly deadly. Even when it’s not deadly, it can still have serious medical consequences.
A cousin, when he was in high school, got into a fight with some dude, an adult. Punches were thrown, the dude fell over, ended up paralyzed. My cousin ends up on trial (and got off only because, apparently, his public defender was so inept the jury ended up feeling sorry for him).
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