On the part about psychopaths being hard to determine ("no way to spot them"). In large communities I suppose that might be the case. One odd fish in a whole bunch of ordinary fish, as it were. But small communities are different.
In my life I have known, for sure, 3 true psychopaths (all males) and they were easy to spot if you paid attention. One committed a murder and got away with it, but ended up in prison later for lesser atrocities. One apparently committed suicide at age 17 (fresh from a lengthy stay in juvie) by hitting a railroad crossing concrete bollard at high speed with another young man and two young women in the car with him. All four died.
The third managed to physically damage many people (all women, youngish children, or the very elderly) for at least two decades. (I only knew him the last 15 years of his life.) He also seriously threatened many people with physical harm, and scared many others. He was killed from ambush early one morning as he stepped out on his back porch. His killer was never found. Personally, I don't think anyone wanted to find 'him', other than maybe to give him a medal. When asked about suspects, the local County Sheriff in charge of the investigation (county of some 15,000 people) told a nearby urban newspaper, "I suspect everybody who ever met that rotten son-of-a-bitch." A feeling shared by all who knew him.
Look. All three of them were obviously vicious, no conscience or shame bad people the whole time I knew them. They had no "stop point" other than true physical force (or the credible threat thereof).
I knew the youngest from the time he was 2. As a 2-year-old he was a rotten, mean, vicious child. And it got worse as he got older. In all three cases it appeared not to be a question of will they kill, but when will they kill, and how many? Just about everyone who knew them seemed to me to share that feeling. (Along with, "If I just stay away from him, maybe I'll be safe.")
What do you do with such individuals *before* they cross the line to murder? And after they murder is life imprisonment the correct response? I don't think so.
Those who are the human equivalent of rabid dogs must be at the very least separated from the rest of humanity BEFORE they kill, if we can, but certainly "put down" after killing. No exceptions.
"If I just stay away from him, maybe I'll be safe."
Sure, that would be the standard reaction. Nobody wants to contemplate dealing with the sort of issues likely to arise in dealing with even your ordinary, garden-variety psychopath.
However, there is one way to separate them from the rest of humanity before they kill - and that is to kill them the moment they make an attempt to kill you. Some might say that strategy itself is psychopathic in nature, but cultural hygiene says otherwise.
True. In the case of the young man above, I was in the military when he was 'released from juvie. He returned to our hometown of some 350 people and immediately instituted a mini Reign of Terror by, among other things, just walking into the homes of widow ladies and stealing whatever he wanted. He stole less brazenly from others. (Oh. He was born and raised until he went to Juvie at age 9 or so, by a very decent, caring family. He was just a psycho.)
Most of the locals were scared spitless of him, and the Sheriff, for some reason wouldn't do much.
Anyway, someone noticed that he left my family strictly alone, and asked my then 16-year-old brother why that was. My brother told him, "It's because I looked him right into those creepy snake eyes and told him that if I even *thought* he had stolen anything from any of my family, or had hurt or scared them, I'd kill him. I meant that, and he knew I meant it. I also reminded him that if anything happened to me I had two older brothers, a father, a couple of uncles, and some male cousins who would "take care" of him in that case. I can't protect everyone, but he knows I'll protect my people."
That word kind of got around, and the terror lessened as others confronted him. Not long after that he hit the bollard at more than 70 mph, taking 3 other lives along with his own. I can't really say that bothered me much, although I felt for the girls' families,
Apparently it annoyed some people. I lost about ten (free) subscribers. But hey - if they can't handle the downsides of their shibboleths, they should just go and contemplate the Tree of Woe.
Great read, with one exception. According to my information, the Commandment is "Thou shalt not commit murder."
Yeah, the arguments about interpretation have been going on for centuries.
On the part about psychopaths being hard to determine ("no way to spot them"). In large communities I suppose that might be the case. One odd fish in a whole bunch of ordinary fish, as it were. But small communities are different.
In my life I have known, for sure, 3 true psychopaths (all males) and they were easy to spot if you paid attention. One committed a murder and got away with it, but ended up in prison later for lesser atrocities. One apparently committed suicide at age 17 (fresh from a lengthy stay in juvie) by hitting a railroad crossing concrete bollard at high speed with another young man and two young women in the car with him. All four died.
The third managed to physically damage many people (all women, youngish children, or the very elderly) for at least two decades. (I only knew him the last 15 years of his life.) He also seriously threatened many people with physical harm, and scared many others. He was killed from ambush early one morning as he stepped out on his back porch. His killer was never found. Personally, I don't think anyone wanted to find 'him', other than maybe to give him a medal. When asked about suspects, the local County Sheriff in charge of the investigation (county of some 15,000 people) told a nearby urban newspaper, "I suspect everybody who ever met that rotten son-of-a-bitch." A feeling shared by all who knew him.
Look. All three of them were obviously vicious, no conscience or shame bad people the whole time I knew them. They had no "stop point" other than true physical force (or the credible threat thereof).
I knew the youngest from the time he was 2. As a 2-year-old he was a rotten, mean, vicious child. And it got worse as he got older. In all three cases it appeared not to be a question of will they kill, but when will they kill, and how many? Just about everyone who knew them seemed to me to share that feeling. (Along with, "If I just stay away from him, maybe I'll be safe.")
What do you do with such individuals *before* they cross the line to murder? And after they murder is life imprisonment the correct response? I don't think so.
Those who are the human equivalent of rabid dogs must be at the very least separated from the rest of humanity BEFORE they kill, if we can, but certainly "put down" after killing. No exceptions.
"If I just stay away from him, maybe I'll be safe."
Sure, that would be the standard reaction. Nobody wants to contemplate dealing with the sort of issues likely to arise in dealing with even your ordinary, garden-variety psychopath.
However, there is one way to separate them from the rest of humanity before they kill - and that is to kill them the moment they make an attempt to kill you. Some might say that strategy itself is psychopathic in nature, but cultural hygiene says otherwise.
True. In the case of the young man above, I was in the military when he was 'released from juvie. He returned to our hometown of some 350 people and immediately instituted a mini Reign of Terror by, among other things, just walking into the homes of widow ladies and stealing whatever he wanted. He stole less brazenly from others. (Oh. He was born and raised until he went to Juvie at age 9 or so, by a very decent, caring family. He was just a psycho.)
Most of the locals were scared spitless of him, and the Sheriff, for some reason wouldn't do much.
Anyway, someone noticed that he left my family strictly alone, and asked my then 16-year-old brother why that was. My brother told him, "It's because I looked him right into those creepy snake eyes and told him that if I even *thought* he had stolen anything from any of my family, or had hurt or scared them, I'd kill him. I meant that, and he knew I meant it. I also reminded him that if anything happened to me I had two older brothers, a father, a couple of uncles, and some male cousins who would "take care" of him in that case. I can't protect everyone, but he knows I'll protect my people."
That word kind of got around, and the terror lessened as others confronted him. Not long after that he hit the bollard at more than 70 mph, taking 3 other lives along with his own. I can't really say that bothered me much, although I felt for the girls' families,
He probably enjoyed their screams of terror in the last second of their lives.
Great essay - with two of my favorite passages (Starship Troopers and Napier) no less!
Apparently it annoyed some people. I lost about ten (free) subscribers. But hey - if they can't handle the downsides of their shibboleths, they should just go and contemplate the Tree of Woe.