I wait for the WALK sign, I keep it to no more than 5 mph over the speed limit, I use my blinkers, I never jump the line, I keep to the watering schedule, pass the SMOG test every other year, file accurate tax returns…
Champ…or Chump?
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You’re neither champ nor chump. But I would advise you to be a little less rigid because some laws SHOULD be broken. I even had a judge once tell me this. I was arrested for a misdemeanor for providing food and water to the homeless when I was living in Arizona. I was careful not to resist knowing that this fight belonged in the courtroom. At the time I could not afford a private attorney so one was assigned to me who advised me to plead guilty and accept the fine and 30 days in jail. Thankfully, the judge overseeing my arraignment simply dismissed the case out of hand. His words were
Off the record - Young man, some laws are meant to be broken. I applaud your for choosing the right one. On the record - I am dropping the charges and dismissing this case. Furthermore, I am ordering that the arrest record be sealed by the court. This young man presents absolutely no danger to public health, safety or morals. In fact, he did the very charitable thing to help those in need and this is an American value that has no business being criminalized. I do not see making employment difficult for him based on a charitable act.
They have a law against giving food to homeless people? That seems like a conflict with the ICESCR, which the U.S. has signed.
The US violating international law? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.
This was quite a few years ago. It was 2008 so things might very well have changed.
If you are capable of breaking the rules when it’s necessary, then you’re not a chump.
But if you follow the rules out of an inability to think for yourself, that does make you a chump.
I follow the rules until it’s irrational to follow them. Society needs a common framework for cohesion, but also we need intelligent people not robots.
I agree in theory. But then I see people breaking the rules when it doesn’t “make sense” (as far as they could see) and then nearly fucking things up. My rule is “if I break this rule and it turns out that I didn’t actually have all the important info such that I really should have followed the rule… Well, that’ll be on me. So how confident am I that I really do have all the relevant info?”
But who decides what is irrational? Seems like a common sense philosophy, maybe one most of us live by… but so do some of the reckless rule-breakers we love to hate. Because their irrational rule may be essential to our safety.
Maybe the metarule should be “assume an established rule makes sense until proven otherwise”. I feel like it’s hard to go wrong with that in a remotely fair society.
Yeah that’s a good rule of thumb.
Do you have an example? I’m struggling to understand and appreciate this
Blanket rules, like:
Slow speeds around schools. Great during the day, pointless at 3am. Same with waiting for the green light. If there’s a bunch of dudes coming up to the car and I’m the only one around, I’ll be gapping it through the red light.
Hmm another traffic example. Motorbikes don’t trigger the light sensors. Sometimes you have to run the red because otherwise you will be there until a car shows up.
I can’t think of the other side where an irrational rule is also essential for safety, it’s easier to think of rules that make you unsafe in certain circumstances.
5 mph over the speed limit
You’re not following the rules.
Rules should be there to make everyone as equal as possible. Then following the rules should be awesome!
But some rules are nothing but evilness… not taking an abortion because “following the rules” is shitty for example.
IMHO
There should be other options.
Like Chomp, chimp etc.
Champ & chump are not the only options, and I’d say neither
It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it :)
