It seems paradoxical to enforce social distancing rules…
…by trying to strangle someone:
A doctor in Louisville, Ky., was arrested and charged with strangulation after a fight ensued with teens over not following social distancing measures amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) was alerted Monday to a video showing a group of teens being cursed at by a man while he shoved them and put his hands around the neck of a girl, according to local CBS affiliate WLKY.
I assume the strangulation wasn’t successful, or the charges would have been somewhat different.
The paradox here is a double one. One element is that this is a doctor: “first, do no harm.” Another is that in order to strangle someone – unless your arms are very long and you are wearing protective gloves – you ordinarily have to get up close and personal.
But it illustrates something I’ve noticed, which is the spark of anger people often feel nowadays when someone comes too close or otherwise violates the rules. Once things go “back to normal,” I wonder if some of this feeling of danger when strangers are near will linger, and whether the sense of a safe amount of personal space will have permanently changed.
Surprised this hasn’t happened sooner. When you have an authoritarian state you’re going to get these type of people who are just an extension of the people snitching on their fellow citizens for walking on the sidewalk too close to someone.
I have also noticed how many people who want to control the behavior of others have come out of the closet recently.
I commented on a community forum relating to the successful efforts of some to get a popular hiking venue closed, that many of the scolds–and tattle tales– reminded me of why I would never buy into a neighborhood with a HOA. They give petty authoritarians a vehicle to abuse their privilege. This situation is providing the same opportunity on a grand scale. The comment was received with predictable mixed reactions.
I agree with Oldflyer – I have noticed the inner totalitarian coming out in a lot of people. In between sharing their favorite methods of constructing face masks out of underwear and T-shirts, and discussing whether leaving clothing in the garage for several days after wearing it reduces your chance of being infected, they are outraged that other people are not going to the extreme lengths that they deem necessary. Some of these people are social creatures who can change direction like a fish in a school of fish (the lefty types in particular) who will be at a party 15 minutes after they get an “all clear” from some trusted source and start mocking people who aren’t out already “doing their part” to accomplish today’s agenda. But I fear that some will need therapy after this.
Doctors are not automatically of sound mind; they are simply human beings and heir to the ills that can afflict us all.
This does not deserve any public attention whatsoever.
But of course the media will report this, though largely overlooking the increase in crime associated with our lockdowns. Have you seen the boarded shop windows in NYC?
When the going gets tough, the thugs get going.
Stranger danger feeling among humans predates fire.
I figure this doc is of the same ilk that decides to block the passing lane because he considers it his job to ensure people don’t speed, even if doing so causes an accident.
Oldflyer & Kyndyll – our one non-negotiable requirement when we moved to Colorado was to shun HOAs like the plague.
One time our Number-Two-Son, who was renting a house with a roommate, left his car in the driveway over Christmas vacation so the roommate could have extra room in the garage.
The HOA threw a hissy fit and he had to mail his keys home so the roomie could move his car.
He was gone all of 3 days when the Politzei swooped in.
I think that, back in the beginning, so many people running HOAs allowed their inner-fascist to come out and were operationally unopposed (despite being universally griped about), and then their dictatorial behavior (all for the good of the members, of course!) became the new normal, so that their petty tyrannies were the first small domino that led through increasingly virulent levels of PC to things like this.
https://www.thenewneo.com/2020/04/07/rip-john-prine/#comment-2488940
”…if the last gigantic domino in a row crushes you… did you die of the last one, or the first small one that started the progression?” – Artfldgr
I hold a county office. My constituents come to me when a neighbor’s property gets too annoying, hoping some county official can shut the behavior down. I come from a background of fighting out-of-control HOAs, so I’m awfully skeptical of calls for enhancing code-enforcement powers, but I find myself also wishing someone could swoop in and deal with the worst offenders. It’s not an easy problem, crafting the rules so that they’re effective against really intolerable scofflaws, but can’t be used to make ordinary people’s lives miserable. Due process is like that. People in the unincorporated areas of the county could always choose to live within the city limits, or in an HOA, but then they’d have to pay city taxes and HOA fees, not to mention exposing themselves to the tender mercies of code enforcers.
WOW!
“One time our Number-Two-Son…”
HOA was absolutely right, there are so many red flags I can’t believe the car wasn’t towed, the two “renters” fined, and the actual “home owner” (was there a mortgage?) doxxed .
HOA. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Just like with “progressive” gub’mint.
I wonder if there are any Aesopian tales concerning guests to community that refused the “customs” of the locals? (an rightfully found themselves shivering, starving, and homeless)
Texan99
I hold a county office. My constituents come to me when a neighbor’s property gets too annoying, hoping some county official can shut the behavior down.
I don’t know how things go in your rural area. I have had success in calling the local police about noise. I have called the local police about noisy neighbors three or four times in the last 30 years. One time the policeman told me that he had knocked on the door, but no one opened the door- most likely couldn’t hear him knock. I informed our landlord of the problem, who told me he would take care of it. Which he did.
I live in an HOA. A neighbor is the self-appointed “Condo Nazi,” often harassing neighbors over alleged violations. ( He doesn’t like to be reminded that due to his once hiring an unlicensed plumber, the HOA went without water for 8 hours.) Over the years his confrontations with other homeowners have often turned into shouting matches that can last up to a half hour or more. One time I made the mistake of trying to mediate such a disagreement- I was on the HOA Board. That was a mistake, as my neighbor did not listen to me- continually interrupting me. I learned my lesson. The next time I heard a shouting match, I called the police. I later heard from the HOA manager that the police had called her, informing her that the police had received several calls complaining about the neighbor. All I know is that was the last prolonged shouting match I heard.
All orgs have some set of rules. The goal of the rules is to provide borders, so that there is freedom of action within the borders.
Life is full of times when it’s better to go outside the usual boundaries. Like speeding to a hospital, as patient or doctor. Is roommate convenience really enough of a reason to Violate The RULES? Hmm, maybe; but maybe not.
Part of my dis-enchantment with Libertarians is the reality that neighbors can, and sometimes are, quite annoying – when they’re exercising their freedom in a way you, or I, (or one) doesn’t like.
I usually speed, at about 10-15 km/hr faster (about 10 mph) than the limit. Often my wife thinks I’m a too too fast, especially on small windy roads. Yet I get angry at cars going even faster than me! Since I think I’m going as fast as is safe, so faster than me means too fast to be safe… I do smile/ laugh in those occasional times when I see such speeders pulled over by the police getting a ticket. And I always am afraid of the law giving me a ticket (I’ve had 2 in the last 10-15 years).
Our own condo-Nazi had our entrance changed so it has to be electronically unlocked, from the inside, in person. No remote unlocking. No unlocking when leaving without a key – visitors must be escorted. My wife and I disagreed with it, but were overruled, but since it really is unsafe, they installed a hammer to break the glass in case of emergency need to leave the building.
We wear masks outside now. We go to the forest so that on trails we can take the masks off, but as we see others coming, we put them back on. It’s annoying. And I’m even more annoyed if I see others not wearing masks.
There’s something about obeying an inconvenient rule or law, that makes one (like me) want to insist others obey that rule, too. Somehow even more than the laws one finds easy to obey.
That doctor looked on the drunk side to me, in the short video they have in the article–but I could be wrong. Either way, the story is awful.