[UA] Ayn & Kitty, Back On Topic.

[Greg Stolze]

Pursuant to the whole "Any Rand/Objectivism" thread, someone pointed out
that Rand wouldn't necessarily say that personal philanthropy was bad --
just philanthrophy by society, etc. etc.

My initial thought was "Yeah, but without structure, everyone will think
'Someone ELSE will do it' and it will never get done.  Like Kitty Genovese."

(For those who don't know, Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered in an
apartment building courtyard -- I want to say some time in the 1970s.
Despite the presence of dozens of witnesses, no one helped her or called
the cops, even after her attacker left, then came back... I want to say
twenty minutes later... to finish the job.  They didn't want to get
involved.)

This horrifying incident -- inexplicable at the time, but more
comprehensible in the light of the Milgram experiment -- gave me an idea
for a piece of UA background.

Now, if you were PCs and heard that someone had comitted this terrible
crime -- under the eyes of a crowd, none of whom reacted -- you'd instantly
think "Magick!  The bad guy must have had some kind of mojo to protect
him!"  And a lot of RPGs, if they incorporated the Kitty Genovese incident,
would have that be the explanation.

Now picture someone like Eugene LaRue or Dermott Arkane investigating the
case.  They find nothing paranormal.  Convinced that they've missed
something, they look harder.  Nothing.  They talk to all the wiitnesses.
Nope.  They finagle an interview with the captured killer.  No dice.
Finally, they call up Kitty Genovese's ghost, and SHE spells it out for
them; "PEOPLE ARE JUST THAT WAY."

Now, tell me THAT wouldn't make you cynical about humanity.

-G.

If the reinstatement of capital punishment was clearly doing nothing to
reduce the number of murders in those states permitting it, it certainly
appeared to be cutting down on the number of confessions.
        -Dr. Douglas Ubelaker

www.waylay.com
www.thehungersite.com



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