Prudence for Dummies: There is only one thing worse than vigilante justice

Thursday, September 8, 2011

There is only one thing worse than vigilante justice

Nazareth covers Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man".

Now I hate Woody Guthrie, but I love this song. I used to have it on vinyl and an 8-track and cassette. Now I have an MP3. My favorite line is, "Why does that vigilante man carry that sawed-off shotgun in his hand? Would he shoot his brother and his sister down?"

In a word, yes.

Because the only thing worse than vigilante justice is no justice at all.

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The PFD Recommended Viewing and Reading List --- Suggestions are welcome

The Secret of Roan Innish -- suggested by Farmlog's John Lien
The Incredibles
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Secondhand Lions
The Book of Eli Finally got around to watching it myself. "It's ca-at."
The Road -- I haven't seen the movie, but I can recommend the book
Blackhawk Down -- The modern battlefield
Last of the Mohicans (1992) -- "Find yourself a musket."
The World's Fastest Indian -- Ingenuity and determination and motorcycles
Iron Will -- "Run longer. Sleep less." And, finally, a use for fruitcake.
The Apostle -- Because redemption is real
Jeremiah Johnson -- I cannot believe I left this one off.
Walking Tall -- I prefer the original based on the short life of man who just wanted to do the right thing.
Treasure of Sierra Madre -- Gold will change a man. Fruit trees are better.

Quotables

Don't believe them, don't fear them, don't ask anything of them -- Solzhenitsyn

Tyrannos omnes oportet perire — “It is fitting that all tyrants perish”

The true Christian should not resign himself to the inevitable: he should trust in the impertinence of a repeated prayer. -- Don Colacho

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort. -- Robert A. Heinlein

When law and morality are in contradiction, the citizen finds himself in the cruel dilemma of either losing his moral sense or of losing respect for the law -- Bastiat

The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy.

If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military. The hired servants of our rulers.

Only the government -- and a few outlaws.

I intend to be among the outlaws. --Edward Abbey from “The Right to Arms”