I'm not involved in this thing in any way, other than that I know one of the people who was present during the event, and I'm a member of the greater community of geeks in the area. I have no idea who the alleged perpetrator is.
But the law is not what you think it is. The law is a baseline function that allows society to exist on some more-or-less functional level. But it is not a sufficient mechanism to have a functioning society.
Society must also have mechanisms such as social sanction -- which is to say, a way that communities can say, "This is unacceptable behavior. We do not condone this." Even for things that are not illegal.
Nothing that the person is accused of is necessarily illegal, from what I have heard. But the alleged actions ARE unacceptable in any healthy community. And we need to know that. We need to know who the people are who act in predatory manners, so that we can guard against them -- even when their actions are not illegal.
Not all unacceptable actions are illegal.
I don't want a just retribution. I don't want retribution at all. I just want to know who the guy is so that I can make sure not to put him in any position where he can do similar things here. I don't want to take this into my own hands: I want the entire community as a whole to be able to.
And isn't that how this problem got started in the first place?
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Date: 2011-01-27 12:15 am (UTC)But the law is not what you think it is. The law is a baseline function that allows society to exist on some more-or-less functional level. But it is not a sufficient mechanism to have a functioning society.
Society must also have mechanisms such as social sanction -- which is to say, a way that communities can say, "This is unacceptable behavior. We do not condone this." Even for things that are not illegal.
Nothing that the person is accused of is necessarily illegal, from what I have heard. But the alleged actions ARE unacceptable in any healthy community. And we need to know that. We need to know who the people are who act in predatory manners, so that we can guard against them -- even when their actions are not illegal.
Not all unacceptable actions are illegal.
I don't want a just retribution. I don't want retribution at all. I just want to know who the guy is so that I can make sure not to put him in any position where he can do similar things here. I don't want to take this into my own hands: I want the entire community as a whole to be able to.
And isn't that how this problem got started in the first place?
Not even remotely.