Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
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Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#2[dead]
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#3If you haven't already, read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the best biographies I have ever read.
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#4> The men he was chasing were armed and dangerous. How might you have reacted to the theft of a replaceable boat when capturing the thieves was so time-consuming and dangerous?
This might sound a bit self-helpy but I've found one of the best indicators of a great people is their passion for caring about things most other people wouldn't bother to put effort into and then turning that basic caring into something bigger and interesting. Like how this turn into one of his many legendary life stories.
Most of us have a capacity for a few things to care about but some people have an ability/energy to cast that broadly. The small details add up in life and it's what communities (and businesses) are built off of. Basically a dedication to principles and making the world you want to see not just consuming it.
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#5> The men he was chasing were armed and dangerous. How might you have reacted to the theft of a replaceable boat when capturing the thieves was so time-consuming and dangerous? This might sound a bit self-helpy but I've found one of the best indicators of a great people is their passion for caring about things most other people wouldn't bother to put effort into and then turning that basic caring into something bigge…
The notion of objects being replaceable and therefore you shouldn't do much when they're taken is.. I think?... an invention of risk departments at modern corporations. Like sure if you're a department store you don't want to risk your employees getting hurt stopping a shoplifter, the downside far exceeds the upside. But as a person? That's your stuff, and it makes total sense to want it, not a replacement, and to want to punish the thief in the process. You're fully within your moral rights (imo) to try to take it back.
.. I mean, within reason. Don't do anything stupid.
Anyway this very human urge is why e.g. rampant property theft in certain US cities is so frustrating. I want to live in a world where the government protects not just my life and rights but also my stuff and the coherence of the world. Within reason.
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#6If you haven't already, read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the best biographies I have ever read.
+1 to this.
That book has a few sections describing policy arguments on the floor of the New York Senate which are so well written that they are absolutely riveting! It sounds ridiculous to say that political arguments (from 100+ years ago) could keep you on the edge of your seat, but they do. It’s why this book the Pulitzer Prize.
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#7If you haven't already, read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the best biographies I have ever read.
Going to go look for an audio book
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#8> The men he was chasing were armed and dangerous. How might you have reacted to the theft of a replaceable boat when capturing the thieves was so time-consuming and dangerous? This might sound a bit self-helpy but I've found one of the best indicators of a great people is their passion for caring about things most other people wouldn't bother to put effort into and then turning that basic caring into something bigge…
The notion of objects being replaceable and therefore you shouldn't do much when they're taken is.. I think?... an invention of risk departments at modern corporations. Like sure if you're a department store you don't want to risk your employees getting hurt stopping a shoplifter, the downside far exceeds the upside. But as a person ? That's your stuff, and it makes total sense to want it , not a replacement, and to…
Agreed, and at the risk of saying something inflammatory, it really grinds my gears when I hear people argue against lethal defense of property with comments along the lines of, "Is your X really worth more than someone's life?", as if the moral and ethical burden should fall on the victim and not the aggressor.
Property and ownings aren't free, you often cannot replace them without cost or replace them at all if they are sentimental. The money I spent to buy them, and the money I will spend to replace them, did not come from nowhere, that represents time wasted out of my life, that I will never get back. In a sense someone stealing something from you is not just about the material value of what was stolen but the transfer of all the hours of your life you wasted to afford it to someone who didn't. In an abstract sense it is an indirect assault on your lifespan. The real question to thieves should be, is YOUR life less valuable to you than my possessions?
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
The notion of objects being replaceable and therefore you shouldn't do much when they're taken is.. I think?... an invention of risk departments at modern corporations. Like sure if you're a department store you don't want to risk your employees getting hurt stopping a shoplifter, the downside far exceeds the upside. But as a person ? That's your stuff, and it makes total sense to want it , not a replacement, and to…
Agreed, and at the risk of saying something inflammatory, it really grinds my gears when I hear people argue against lethal defense of property with comments along the lines of, "Is your X really worth more than someone's life?", as if the moral and ethical burden should fall on the victim and not the aggressor. Property and ownings aren't free, you often cannot replace them without cost or replace them at all if the…
Well, I mostly agree although I think lethal force is often not in the 'within reason' clause of my stance. Depends on the circumstances but Americans love to jump to talking about lethal force way too fast and it's creepy. Not to mention that it results in, well, a lot of death.
But it is really more than just the hours it took, or sentimental value. It is also the coherence of the worldview that "one's stuff is theirs and they'll get to keep it and the world will agree". That worldview in its own has value: it causes things to make moral sense; it's necessary for our lives to function. I would not allow it to be compromised without a defense.
Re: Teddy Roosevelt pursues the boat thieves (2015)
#10If you haven't already, read The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the best biographies I have ever read.
+1 to this. That book has a few sections describing policy arguments on the floor of the New York Senate which are so well written that they are absolutely riveting! It sounds ridiculous to say that political arguments (from 100+ years ago) could keep you on the edge of your seat, but they do. It’s why this book the Pulitzer Prize.
I think I took note of that exact passage:
> Some insult to do with the pea jacket (legend quotes it as “Won’t Mamma’s boy catch cold?”) caused Roosevelt to flare up. “Teddy knocked him down,” Hunt recalled admiringly, “and he got up and he hit him again, and when he got up he hit him again, and he said, ‘Now you go over there and wash yourself. There was a broken chair in the room, and I got a leg of it loose and put it down beside me where it was not visible, but where I might get at it in a hurry if necessary I then put the bill in my pocket and announced that I would report it anyhow. This almost precipitated a riot, especially when I explained … that I suspected that the men holding up all report of the bill were holding it up for purposes of blackmail. The riot did not come off; partly, I think, because the opportune production of the chair-leg had a sedative effect, and partly owing to wise counsels from one or two of my opponents.