I fear vigilantism and “lynch law” are about to make a comeback, because in the absence of the even-handed, objective rule of law, there’s little alternative.
When the “rule of law” makes no sense, vigilante law takes over – Bayou Renaissance Man
Peter is right. The work I have been doing lately has shown me that Peter’s words are right on the money, but he is missing something: People will enjoy lynching too much and will do anything to keep it.
Lynching today is but a nasty historical fact that is taught is school. What it is not taught is what took to curb that very well established custom and how long it took to make it stick. This is from the famous child murder of Mary Phagan in 1915:
Leo Frank was not some poor black sharecropper who stole a watermelon and got murdered by the Klan, but a White factory superintendent who murdered 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. Mob rule was strong enough and its lure insidious enough that they managed to overpower and corrupt established Law and Order so they could satiate their thirst for revenge. Again, the whole local justice system was compromised because the population did not find Vigilantism barbaric, nor there was a fear of punishment for engaging in such behavior.
And you will say that why I am giving a break or having feelings for a child murderer: I don’t, but “exceptions” to the rule of law soon become the norm and soon enough it is not being hung from the nearest telephone pole for murder but for a cross word or a perceived insult.
We can’t complain that the Opposition has different rules and different laws according to the political belief and at the same time glorify extra-judicial killings.
Frank was a Jew, and was innocent of the crime. Get your facts straight.
OK people, you can safely disregard the post. Apparently I seem to be mistaken and thus the whole point is not valid.
Jack, what is the only rule to comment in this blog?
There you go….
Yes, you are breaking it. STFU.
Miggy,
Regardless of the particular incident that you found, the point that you make is valid.
I remind everyone that the existence of mob rule goes back into pre-history, and may have been one of the reasons that humans invented laws in the first place.
As we see today, the “peaceful protesters” turn into angry mobs quite easily, and inhibitions that people normally have, controlling their behavior, evaporate quite easily.
My advice is, stay away from mobs, even if you consider that this particular mob is “on the right side.”
One would think that this advice is obvious, that nobody would want to foolishly court injury or death, when staying away would be safer…. and yet, they do, as we’ve seen for the last couple of months.
I do not condone or encourage vigilantism, nor rule by Judge Lynch. I would say that in many (but not all) cases in the past it was less bloodlust but rather the leaders being corrupted by power that led to a reign of terror. I will say that in the frontier west, where the law was either nonexistent or corrupt, some of the vigilante organizations were disbanded when legitimate law enforcement was established 1856 San Francisco Vigilantes, and Montana Vigilantes for example).
I fear “defund the police” and partisan selective prosecution will lead to neighborhood enclaves being defended by armed residents with tragic consequences. I don’t think the fascist Marxists running theses cities have a clue as to what they are unleashing. It won’t be Kristallnacht here, the antifa goons will pay for their useful idiocy in blood. Again I don’t encourage this, but I do tend to remember history.
Whether you think vigilantism is OK or not is irreverent. It is the inevitable outcome of defund the police. It is going to happen. Summer follows spring, night follows day, and people taking justice into their own hands follows removal or neglect on the part of the police.
Our Justice System Isn’t.
We see it Nationally with the double standard of leniency for Progressives and Democrats; and prosecutorial abuse of Republicans. Read the post about this above.
We see Democrat run cities being looted and destroyed.
We see people being threatened and ruined for daring to speak their minds.
We see Communism and perversions taught in our schools.
We feel isolated, scared and alone. Politicians are using the Chinese Coronavirus as an excuse to keep us isolated, and to increase their own stature and power. We see too many “Karens” completely willing to give all control to these people in return for false safety.
When the Man on the Strong White Horse shows up, how many will want to follow?
Thank the Lord that the Democrats and Republicans have no one with Charisma intheir leadership.
I agree. I do not favor aortic rupture, but it commonly follows a free fall from a height.
Similarly, retail level violence is bad. When there is no level legal playing field, however….