All crime is bad. At least that is what they want you to believe. Some crime really shouldn't be considered "crime." Don't you think?
Maybe some crimes could just be labeled a big "no-no." And why would you send someone to jail for a no-no?
And who gets to decide what delineates a crime anyway? If there is no victim, why do we need to be so severe?
Redditoru/Diamond_Silverwanted to discuss which illegal actions need to be examined a bit, by asking:
[Serious] What is a victimless crime?
Years ago I was arrested for shoplifting, and they were clearance items. Now, who did I injure? Macy's was insured. But no, they had to get all uppity. There was no bloodshed. I think they could've just let me return everything.
Pirates
johnny depp GIFGiphy"I would say: "pirating" any media that's out of circulation and only available from second hand offers. That goes from old SNES games, to music and books which are out of print, up to movies which aren't available on DVD or streams."
Rough Surf
"Dumpster diving."
"It's a liability thing. Let's say some bozo jumps into your trash and accidentally gets stuck by a incorrectly-discarded needle, they can sue. Whether or not they win is a different situation, but it's just easier to not let people go through my refuse."
Traffic
"Jaywalking where there's no traffic."
"Jaywalking is an American thing I think. I was kind of confused by the concept when I first went to the US. Where I am from (UK/Netherlands) you can cross where and whenever you like. Although there are crossings to help you get across in heavy traffic, you are not legally obliged to use them."
Street Funds
"Feeding parking meters. Illegal where I live, which is dumb, because the funds from parking meters go to the mayor's commission to end homelessness. Not only am I preventing someone from getting a ticket, I'm also helping the homeless population."
"Cities count on a certain amount of revenue from parking tickets. You are depriving the police their donut allowance, and the commissioners their pocket lining."
- Efarm12
And Pennies?
rich gold GIF by OffsetGiphy"Throwing a quarter in someone's meter... county/borough gets the money... saves someone a ticket."
- pgh613
That all seems like a bunch of nonsense. Who even has the time to sit around making up these rules? Seriously, there are better things to do with time and... the law.
movie theater GIFHands Up
"In Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, it is illegal to ride a bicycle without using both hands to steer."
"So, I'm a criminal defense attorney and I am going to share a sort of multi-year mental/philosophical battle I had relevant to this topic. When I was in high school, I took a criminal justice elective course. One day, during class, we discussed the topic of victimless crimes."
"Crime, obviously is something that is against the law. However, it is generally understand that a crime is an act harmful not only to some individual but also to a community, society, or the state. So, by it's very nature, there should not be a such thing as "victimless crime," because crime necessarily requires a victim."
"So, of course, we bring up that drug use, marijuana as a primary example, does not create a victim. My teacher's argument was that there are numerous "victims" of drug use: the user who may accomplish less than they would but for the substance use; children of the user who may receive inadequate care because of the use (or simply the parent having less money); friends and family of the user who may receive less attention or whatever from the user; etc."
"For a number of years I generally accepted that as a valid point, there ARE victims of drug use. For whatever reason, this stuck in my mind for a long time, and when I was in law school I was researching something of a similar nature when it finally freaking occurred to me: crime requires a victim. So, while a drug user may not properly provide care for their child, the drug use isn't a crime. The crime is child abuse, and the drug use is an aggravating factor."
"Which brings me back to the no riding a bicycle with no hands thing. Riding a bicycle with no hands does not necessarily create a victim, so it is not a "crime" (I mean it's illegal, but that is bullcrap for anyone who understands what crime is, philosophically). Failing to heed to traffic is a crime because negligence caused an accident that would not have otherwise occurred, creating victims. If you failed to heed because you were riding a bicycle with no hands, that is an aggravating factor, but the no hands thing is not a crime, it is an attempt to prevent other crime by prohibiting victimless behavior."
It's a plant...
"Smoking weed that I grew myself."
"UK here. You can legally buy everything you need to grow weed from legitimate tax paying businesses (seeds, nutes, lights, grow tent etc) the minute you germinate that seed you are breaking the law. It never ceases to amaze me. It's a plant. Considerably less harmful than alcohol (although still not 100% risk/harm free). I feel like you may as well arrest people for growing parsley."
No Harm
good mythical morning agree GIF by Rhett and LinkGiphy"A victimless crime is generally an illegal criminal act that does not have an identifiable victim."
"This generally includes actions that only involve the perpetrator or something voluntary between consenting adults. Victimless crimes are also known as crimes against the state that do not harm society."
- akisagr
Wrong is wrong. I suppose this will be an eternal issue. But who gets to say what's wrong? And does there always have to be a victim? Things to ponder. The cycle continues.
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"What’s the most amazing thing about the universe?"
Our Brains Are Like The Milky Way
"A single human brain has as many neurons as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy."
"Around 100 billion."
"Source: a neuroscientist filled with useless facts about the brain."- Afferent_Input
Where Our Deep Uncertainty Comes From
"This is one I thought about recently."
"I believe that Carl Sagan said that we, sentient entities, are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
"With this in mind, when we think about the end of our universe, whether it be through a big shrink, big cooling, or what have you, we get apprehensive."
"We probably will never see this end, many of us will be dead."
"Yet, we still get a cold fear in our hearts."
"We are also a way for the cosmos to fear it's demise."- TheClassyEngineer
A Little Perspective
"If you were on a planet 65 million light years away from Earth and had a really good telescope, you could see the dinosaurs."- Swimmergent
lisa simpson space GIFGiphyWhat Got Us Where We Are
"That every single random event since the dawn of creation."
"The birth and death of stars, planets and galaxies, the very genesis of life has led to you being here right now to ask this question."- Jesus_marley
There's Another World Out There...
"Imagine being transported to a parallel universe that was almost identical to our own."
"Somewhere out in the vastness of that universe, there is a tiny planet."
"This much is true in both universes."
"On this planet, there is a beach, and on that beach, there is a small stone."
"Once again, both universes are alike in this regard."
"Beneath that stone, however, there are several million grains of sand, and while they are all are in precisely the same location in each universe, one of them, a tiny speck of particularly clear quartz, hewn from a larger whole millions of years before, has a single atom that is positioned a fraction of a femtometer differently than its twin in the mirror dimension."
"You may think that such an insignificant difference would label these two universes as being functionally identical, and you would be right."
"In fact, they are so similar that the multiverse has long since combined them into one reality."
"That single atom in that tiny speck of sand on that lonesome beach on a distant planet merely occupies two spaces at once, seeming to an outside observer to vibrate back and forth at a predictable rate."
"That every atom in existence seems to do the same is probably a coincidence."- RamsesThePigeon
Loop Space GIF by xponentialdesignGiphySpeaks For Itself
"That it exists."- phillipsd001
The Age Old Question...
"It must be true that either it didn't exist, then it did."
"Or it has always existed."- realFraaErasmas
What Makes Our Brain Work...
"That somehow all the particles accumulated in a specific way and in specific quantities to give you conscious thought."- Sphyrwa
Stars Glow GIF by Erica AndersonGiphyThe Inevitable End...
That whatever our problems are, big or small, it won’t matter in 1,000,000 years (worst being a nuclear war or something). - Reddit
There are countless things about the universe no one will ever know.
But mysterious and, sometimes, unsettling as it may be, there's something oddly wonderful about the unending exploration and study to learn what is out there.
And all the discoveries we have yet to make.
"What fictional character's death still hits you hard no matter how many times you watch it?"
Dear, Noble Artax
"I have to say the death of Artax, the boy's horse, in 'The Neverending Story'."
"Watching him sink into that swamp was pretty awful."- powderkegpitbull
Bubba of Forest Gump
"'Bubba was my best good friend'."
"'And even I know that ain't something you can find just around the corner'."
"'Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in Vietnam'."- FlyingVI
Stoick The Vast
"Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk, Hiccup's father, from 'How to Train Your Dragon'."- Waldo_007
how to train your dragon animation GIF by Universal KidsGiphyThe Iron Giant
"The Iron Giant."- roo719
Noble Canine Companion
"Fry’s dog from Futurama."
"Another testimony to the fact that animators can be true storytellers, who don’t always need words to get their point across."
"The changing of seasons as the dog sits and waits in front of the pizza shop."
"Waits and waits for Fry, who never returns."
"No dialogue."
"Just the absence of the dog, eventually."
"Ugh."
"Gut wrenching."- iwokwuplikwthis
Animated GIFGiphySweet Ofelia
"The little girl from Pan's Labyrinth."
"In fact I just started crying even thinking about it"- choppcy088
Beloved Dr. Greene
"Mark Greene on ER."
"20 years later and I've never watched that episode without bawling like a baby."- LadyGreyIcedTea
A Hero's Death
"Wally West in 'Young Justice'."
"It’s been about a decade and I’m still mad about it."- Remarkable-Duck-2306
Video Game Laughing GIF by DCGiphyA Heartbreaking Escape
"When Brooks hangs himself in 'The Shawshank Redemption'."- Horror-School-6713
As the saying goes, those we love never truly leave us.
In the case of fictional characters in film and television, however, they are literally preserved for eternity.
Paving the way for new generations to be devastated and traumatized by their deaths.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/