Neighborhood Logic
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 2:57 pm
I cannot subject myself to reading social media from the local area. Cannot, must not. But it bubbles through from time to time and my self-mastery is not great enough to wipe it from my mind. This is the situation:
If someone parks a car or puts lawn and garden items on their own driveway for more than a week, it is important to call the police and enforce the rules on the person. They will have to get rid of the car/items, pay to license differently, or otherwise suffer some negative consequence, but without rules, what is a civilized society? But if the landlord or property owner says that it is a rule not to fly flags off your balcony, that's communism and no one should comply. If you want to put a flag on your curb and let it drag in the mud, however, that is patriotism, and you should feel free to plant those flags in anyone's yard as well. If your dog is outside on the deck by his own free choice and it is hotter than 85 degrees, then you should be forcibly dipped into a vat of hot lava so you can understand how the dog feels and do better. However, if someone rings your doorbell or knocks on the door and you aren't expecting their presence and do not want them present, you should grab your gun and be ready. If the person attempts to knock on your door by opening the screen door, this is not just a party foul but in fact is license for the homeowner to kill them. Rules are complicated here!
I remember having this ongoing debate with my husband about when it is acceptable to shoot an intruder. His argument was that unless they're threatening you directly with a deadly weapon, you cannot do it! And legally he may be correct. But my argument was that if I'm alone/with the kids and a person invades the home and will not retreat, the person is already a deadly threat to me and I have to assume they will do me violence. If they run away or back off, fine - people can be drunk, in the wrong house, burglarizing in what they thought was an unoccupied home, etc and I don't want to kill them. But if someone's coming in and not leaving when I tell them to? Yes, I feel justified in using force! My neighbors, by contrast, will not wait this long and expect to immediately kill whoever, whenever they appear outside the house.
If someone parks a car or puts lawn and garden items on their own driveway for more than a week, it is important to call the police and enforce the rules on the person. They will have to get rid of the car/items, pay to license differently, or otherwise suffer some negative consequence, but without rules, what is a civilized society? But if the landlord or property owner says that it is a rule not to fly flags off your balcony, that's communism and no one should comply. If you want to put a flag on your curb and let it drag in the mud, however, that is patriotism, and you should feel free to plant those flags in anyone's yard as well. If your dog is outside on the deck by his own free choice and it is hotter than 85 degrees, then you should be forcibly dipped into a vat of hot lava so you can understand how the dog feels and do better. However, if someone rings your doorbell or knocks on the door and you aren't expecting their presence and do not want them present, you should grab your gun and be ready. If the person attempts to knock on your door by opening the screen door, this is not just a party foul but in fact is license for the homeowner to kill them. Rules are complicated here!
I remember having this ongoing debate with my husband about when it is acceptable to shoot an intruder. His argument was that unless they're threatening you directly with a deadly weapon, you cannot do it! And legally he may be correct. But my argument was that if I'm alone/with the kids and a person invades the home and will not retreat, the person is already a deadly threat to me and I have to assume they will do me violence. If they run away or back off, fine - people can be drunk, in the wrong house, burglarizing in what they thought was an unoccupied home, etc and I don't want to kill them. But if someone's coming in and not leaving when I tell them to? Yes, I feel justified in using force! My neighbors, by contrast, will not wait this long and expect to immediately kill whoever, whenever they appear outside the house.