Watch what the guy says at the end of the clip:

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2007/05/13/dennis.mi.91.year.old.beaten.wdiv

No vengenace in him - only advice, stalwart and grounded advice. This is guy is from another time when America's people understood how to hit the grindstone and just generally be a good member of society. Hell, that even applies to me - if this had happened to me (and presuming I were unable to fight back), I'd say put this dude away for ten years and make him pay for every cent of the medical care required. I'd be worried about the practical setbacks I was about to endure. That was not this guy's first impulse. We're losing touch in this country, I say.

5/14/2007 4:54:44 PM

lost touch

it happened as soon as ww2 was over

civil rights movement was a plus, though

5/14/2007 4:59:32 PM

That dude's a tough old codger, no doubt about it. But the problem I see from this is wtf were those people doing just standing around? If you see some thief beating up an old person, why wouldn't you go to help, or at least call 911 on your phone and yell that the police are on the way. Those people just looked the other way like nothing was going on.

Also, with the way technology is now, you'd have to be a real idiot to steal cars. That, or have a lot of hookups who can chop the stolen car and export the parts to Asia or something. Cars are so easily traceable now that it's such a stupid thing to steal.

5/14/2007 5:02:57 PM

I don't see what the civil rights movements have to do with this, but maybe I didn't explain well enough.

I believe in pure justice - an eye for an eye. Steal my car, and then once you are caught I get my car back plus a monetary sum to compensate the inconvenience I went through. If you sue me and then rightfully lose, you pay for all of my lawyer's fees, plus reimburse me for my time. Etc.

But this guy comes from a generation that knows that pure justice doesn't exist in this world. He's seen and done things as a vet that I'll likely never have the courage to do. Then again, perhaps his tolerance merely comes with age and wisdom and not necessarily the times he's been through, but I contend the former.

[Edited on May 14, 2007 at 5:06 PM. Reason : ]

5/14/2007 5:06:09 PM

Quote :

"Then again, perhaps his tolerance merely comes with age and wisdom and not necessarily the times he's been through, but contend the former."

probably more the case.

5/14/2007 5:07:03 PM

^^

i'm just lettin you know that the time for "losing touch" started in the 1950s

and that we've "lost touch" a long time ago

but that i thought the civil rights movement was a positive since the 1950s

but then again i read this book once called 'generation of vipers' that was written in the early 40s that said we were getting fat and soft

so i guess it's all perceptual nostalgia anyhow

[Edited on May 14, 2007 at 5:13 PM. Reason : +]

5/14/2007 5:11:15 PM

STOP SNITCHING

5/14/2007 5:13:44 PM

My guess is you don't live that long still being healthy enough to get around on your own if you hold grudges.

5/14/2007 5:15:07 PM

Haven't watched the video, but if I had to guess the on-lookers didn't stand around with thumbs up their asses out of malice. It's a psychological phenomenon known as "diffusion of responsibility." Basically, when something bad happens or somebody needs help, people just automatically assume that someone else will help or is already in the process of helping, eg those on-lookers just assumed that somebody already called 911. The more people that you are aware of in the vicinity, the stronger the effect, so you're probably more likely to help if you're the only person around than if you're in a large crowd of people. I don't really know what causes this effect, though. It may be that people don't want to risk getting in the way or making things worse, and so they hope that somebody else will take care of it.

5/14/2007 5:22:32 PM

basically a handful of guys are standing next to the car right next to them as the young guy punches the old man over and over. they don't even look concerned.

5/14/2007 5:29:39 PM

fucking hippies

5/14/2007 5:45:50 PM

I would have introduced that boy to the sharp side of my machete.

5/14/2007 5:46:39 PM

^^^^^ Spot-on observation.

^^^^ Spot-on explanation.

[Edited on May 14, 2007 at 5:47 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on May 14, 2007 at 5:47 PM. Reason : ]

5/14/2007 5:46:55 PM

God damn, what ever did happen to the good old days when we didn't have violent crime?

5/14/2007 6:26:51 PM

^ Completely missed the point of the thread. Never said anything about the amount of crime occuring - just the general population's response to it.

5/14/2007 6:38:42 PM

Okay, so it's better to live in a place where crime rates are twice as high if those crimes are done out of necessity and people will help you out when it happens?

I'm not saying it isn't...

5/14/2007 6:42:49 PM

^ Again, completely out of the context of this discussion, but also, I may still be somewhat unclear.

...and there is no such thing as a crime done "out of necessity." And if by "help you out" you are referring to the two hypotheticals I posed earlier, then you are mistaken. Monetary (or other) compensation where it is due is not "helping out," it is simply the correct thing to do.

5/14/2007 6:57:11 PM

on cnn, they said he wanted the assailant to be charged for attempted murder. that video made me mad...who's gonna beat up an old man? thats like hearin about people rapin old women. its hard to fathom somebody actually thinking that attacking a 80-90 year old person is okay.

5/14/2007 11:25:28 PM

Quote :

"If you see some thief beating up an old person, why wouldn't you go to help, or at least call 911 on your phone and yell that the police are on the way. Those people just looked the other way like nothing was going on."

See: Kitty Genovese, murder of

5/14/2007 11:31:33 PM

not to be a dick, but why is this in the soap box?

5/14/2007 11:55:27 PM

^ The possibility of the typical left and right to and fro? The tough-on-crime versus the weak-on-crime political dichotomy? The sociological implications? I could go on.

5/15/2007 12:07:47 AM

crazy senile is hard to follow

5/15/2007 12:10:06 AM

From the video

Quote :

"get a job"

lol

5/15/2007 12:21:59 AM

animal

5/15/2007 12:25:39 AM

that video makes that old dude look really strong until you notice that the car door has him stuck standing up there, without the door it looks like he's just like "ya is that all you got you little punk?"

I do think that there should be some punishment for onlookers of this sort of thing, like the
good samaritan laws some states have.

5/15/2007 9:43:05 AM

Quote :

"But the problem I see from this is wtf were those people doing just standing around?"

Seriously, its not like it was one person who might be afraid the guy would turn on them (and even then they could call the police). There were about 5 of them, you can't raise a hand to help an old man? I like that tough old bastard, didn't even seem angry, just pitied the pathetic piece of shit who did this and told him to get a job, haha.

^ Maybe no criminal charge but some kind of community service at least. Something is wrong with them.

5/15/2007 10:59:39 AM