Subway Fracas Escalates Into Test Of the Internet’s Power to Shame
Apparently she had to drop out of Uni because of this. There’s a fierce debate on the expat forum about it. Some feel it’s just desserts, others are like, technology’s run amok, no one deserves this.
I think everyone is missing the point. It has nothing to do with deserves or not. When an individual decides to give the proverbial finger to his/her society and its norms, then society will deal with the offender in its own (and unpredictable) way. Very Hobbesian and reasonable in terms of the social contract theory. Does the “punishment” outweigh the “crime”? Maybe so, but we live in a world where the power of technology applifies things and more than ever before, one needs to have their heads screwed on right, lest they become the next Internet chain mail topic.
Things to learn from:
1. The world is not your ashtray.
2. Golden Rule – Just Do It ™
I’d say she was severely punished for her stupid act. Sure, please, clean up after yourself or face the consequences. Or, simply put, don’t have a dog if you can’t take care of it. Did she think no one would mind if she did that? (I mean, really – witnesses! No one would want to sit next to you. So on and so forth.) Where’s the civility on her part and others, since shaming her on-line is overkill? The social contract’s been violated, to put it in Hobbesian terms.
Anyway, I have wondered what people do with their pocketbook dogs – but to do what she did, well, that’s just vile…