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What are y’all thoughts on looting?

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
It's only complete and utter treachery when someone says "Trying to be neutral is actually picking a side, and not the one people should be taking". The planet itself doesn't care what we fleas do, yet all sides of an argument act like they matter to the very core of the Earth. That's how stupid this fighting is. One side (in which you people have already cemented on your "side") will always tell you the other side is garbage. And I'm not listening to either.

Do you remember the Twix commercials about "picking a side"? They claimed to have "Left Twix" and "Right Twix" and even have packs that are only "Left" and "Right". That's as asinine as what we have going on now. I'm not picking a side because of politics and movements. I'd rather die than do that.

...Comparing a candy bar commercial to matters of human rights is a bit of a stretch.

So maybe you should move on from this thread because if "People suck" is all you have to contribute then there's nothing more you can say that would actually contribute anything meaningful to this discussion.
 

dementeddurian

Love Ball Lover
...Comparing a candy bar commercial to matters of human rights is a bit of a stretch.

So maybe you should move on from this thread because if "People suck" is all you have to contribute then there's nothing more you can say that would actually contribute anything meaningful to this discussion.
Agreed. I am done with this. Bye.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
I think there's room for debate as to whether or not looting is the answer to this problem but to deny that there fundamentally is a problem to begin with for the sake of fence-sitting is asinine. Personally I'm skeptical there is an answer to this problem. I'm a natural pessimist but I don't see a solution that doesn't result in violence and, when it comes to the possibility of violent revolution, I'm hesitant to bet on the side of your average Joe protestor, many of whom have rarely if ever fired a gun in their lives, against the most well-funded military force the world has ever seen.

The idea of Donald Trump being a modern day Julius Caesar has something morbidly comedic to it, but I'm increasingly less optimistic that America as we know it will exist for much longer. It can't exist as it is for much longer; there's far too much sociopolitical pressure and something has to give. In that way, while I don't condone the riots and I sympathize with the small businesses and minorities who have been negatively impacted by it, I can at least understand why they happen. I do think there's a certain class of people who latch onto these protests and use them as an opportunity to loot and vandalize despite caring nothing for the cause; these are the true parasites and opportunists.
 

Auraninja

Eh, ragazzo!
I'm not for the idea of looting, and if you are doing it to take advantage of the situation, then you should really evaluate yourself.

However, there is a cry to create change among legislators to end police brutality, especially among minorities.
Some people might be doing this as a resort for that, which makes this situation rather complex.

Before people say otherwise, I am not saying that any body should loot from stores, even if they are corporate.
I don't condone the activity, and I think there are better ways to make yourself heard.

That being said, there is a real problem in the current atmosphere, and something has to give.
 

Sadib

Time Lord Victorious
That's as dumb as how many religions and political movements say "if you're not with us, you're the enemy and should be vanquished." I just want the fighting to stop. That's probably not going to happen soon, though, given how stupid all sides are right now.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” ―Desmond Tutu

After reading your other posts, it is clear that there is something very wrong with you.
 

Missingno.Fan

Well-Known Member
The looting makes me sick. What does destroying someone’s store have to do with police brutality? Absolutely nothing. It’s just hooligans just taking advantage of the situation.
 

chess-z

campy vampire
Wow, it's been a while since I've seen the debate forum this active, which shouldn't be too surprising to me.

I think to focus on looting is the wrong thing to do during a mass political uprising against police violence, but if we are deadset on discussing whether or not it is moral to loot, I think it would be productive to pull back and look at the societal and systemic factors that would make looting appealing to people. If you're too poor to do anything but steal, of course you're going to take what you need to survive. Not only that, but the first Target that was burnt down in Minneapolis was refusing to sell protestors milk and water for the pepper spray and tear gas. I will not lose any sleep about an imperceptible dent in a multinational corporation's profits.
 

KingstonUponHulbury

Well-Known Member
Oh, sorry, I assumed it was obvious. Looters aren't stealing 'what they need to survive' as per your post, they're stealing things they want.
 

Auraninja

Eh, ragazzo!
I think some people loot as a demonstration.

There are, however, people that would loot just because they feel like they can get away with it among other looters, and I think that is not right at all.

Although it would be hard to judge everyone's intention, I believe some morals are kind of like that; are you doing this for the right reason?
 

Vernikova

Champion
It should be discouraged. While there are big retail stores that are being looted that won't miss anything, there are much smaller stores that won't be able to recover as easily. Even worse is that I view these looters and rioters as separate from the actual protesters themselves, so I think the police should focus their efforts towards curbing the looters than the peaceful protesters. In the eyes of many, this may just give them a reason to try and resist the reforms that the protesters are trying to push in various locales.
 

KingstonUponHulbury

Well-Known Member
Overreaction. Had it been a white man or woman killed by police for little to no reason it wouldn't have blown up this way. It's black people's persecution complex that's at fault, and police officers are actually no more likely to shoot black suspects if they're white compared to officers of color.

I thought it was at least neat that you provided a source, but I actually happened to read it.

minority suspects are disproportionately killed by police

So... 'persecution complex' away.
 

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
If the argument is that black people are overreacting to a black person unjustly killed by police and that no one does it when it’s a white person, you’re just providing the argument that white people should stand up for the injustice, but they don’t for whatever reason.
 

SBaby

Dungeon Master
As much as I agree with the protesters, the thing that concerns me is, what happens if an innocent person is killed or worse yet, kids get caught in the middle of it and end up hurt or dead? What do you think will happen?

While I agree with the message, and I do agree that there is a lot of racial injustice in the US and in the whole world, if the protests become too violent and people start getting killed, it will not only give the other side a way to validate their argument, but in the worst case scenario, it could provoke a military response. There are politicians (and not just Trump as people would be led to believe) that are trying to find an excuse to do this right now.
 

bobjr

You ask too many questions
Staff member
Moderator
The inverse of that is innocent people being killed without any direct action in response, with people treating that as an acceptable cost.

The U.S. has a history of disproportionate military and police response at home and abroad. If someone in power wants to use it they will, it’s just more and more we have the means to see how bad that actually is, and inspire more to take action.
 

jaden767

Amphetamine
If black on black crime is a thing so is asian on asian crime and white on white crime.

Well of course that exists why would anyone try to deny that these things really do happen? I don't think it's fair to discredit the idea that black on black crime happens just because it goes against the idea that white police officers target black people. Both happen.
 
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