Why would anyone need a gun?
Because karate worked out fine for Ron Goldman against O.J. Simpson and a knife, didn't it? (Going by that book..)
If that story is true, Ron packing a gun sure would have changed the outcome..
Strip away the government vs people or constitutional reasons, and you can't deny there's stronger people and weaker people in the world, and a weak person (who can't get away or contact the police) will be dead meat without a weapon.
So that's reason enough for me to allow carry and conceal laws. Sure, big guys can pack too, but at least it levels the playing field..
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-psychopaths-succeed-2016-6
According to article: About 1% of people are psychopaths, and psychopaths tend to be successful.
The question is, are people born this way, or does success breed psychopathy (The "power corrupts" theory)
One thing about heartlessly manipulating others: That only works if enough people have a heart.
See, if everyone was a psychopath, then psychopaths would have no one to exploit. Therefore, a lot of people should not be psychopaths.
The fact psychopaths tend to gain success from exploiting non psychopaths, and that they even have an awareness that empathy is something to be exploited, leads me to a fairly cynical world view that the empthetic masses exist solely to be exploited by the heartless few. That's the entire point, most people are "human resources", whether they know it or not.
And this "corruption of power" simply means you've made it to the master race. Congratulations, you heartless prick. 👆
And in a less rambling, slightly less cynical note:
The whole Weinstein thing. It marks a problem with modern society in general:
Morality is for the little folk. The big men in society simply don't have any, and no one's enforcing ethics at the top. You can see this everywhere, in every industry, from politics to wal-street to academia to hollywood to silicon valley to publishing to big media. Virtually every perch is occupied by some combination of fairly crumby people.
And that's a problem, because important people don't listen to normal folks. The only thing that can impose a moral center at the top, has to come from people at the top. And far as I can see, that's just not happening.
Remember "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"? A guy writes about the lessons he learned from a "rich dad" and a "poor dad". It sold a ton, captured the imagination of an era, And it turned out the story was fabricated.
The counter culture of the 60's, it all has roots from a single writer, who told kids they were being screwed over by their parents. They ate it up, and revolted.
The concept of corporations existing solely to pad the pockets of investors stems from a writer. That writer later claimed his work was taken to far greater lengths then he intended.
So I guess I believe the general public is pretty easy to manipulate, and tend to mobilize to a very scary degree at the drop of a hat.
Believing that, I also believe some particularly savvy writers know this, exploit the shit out of it, and we're all forced to deal with the fallout forever.
Why things like the Weinstein scandal happened, and why I'm not convinced the fallout will end well:
Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
Success = power.
Success and power is glorified.
Everyone chases after success.
Good man achieves success. Good man becomes powerful. Good man becomes corrupted.
Constant abuse of power leads to lawsuits.
Sexual allegations bring the powerful down.
Sexual lawsuits/allegations become a source of power.
Power is coveted. People chase power. Power corrupts.
Right now, I choose to believe every single allegation, and side with the victims. But I am also certain if a mere allegation proves successful in destroying careers, and there is no check on this power, it WILL be abused. it WILL be used as a weapon, and there WILL be an industry of blackmail built up over time based around false accusations.