On Being a Danger to Oneself
We don’t hear it enough. A person can sometimes be a danger to him or herself. It’s really a sign of mental illness.
That we characterize at least two people — Pretti and Good — as heroes is, I think, misguided and inappropriate.
They had in effect become a danger to themselves. Their confrontations with the law were fueled by rage and a sense of invincibility that was way out of proportion to a simple protest.
Those behaviors were compounded by the presence of a gun in one, and the use of a vehicle as a weapon in the other.
Logic tells us that these folks needed help, not martyrdom. Yet martyrdom is what many people have chosen.
To me, that’s not helpful. What’s worse, the whole situation now borders on mass psychosis. Reality is being misperceived and people are acting on it to their detriment. They are skipping school, work, family time, etc., for heroes that in reality are not heroes.
It’s best for everyone to step back and take a deep breath. No one is going to hurt you unless you impede, yell profanities, physically block, or threaten them. Once you do that, all bets are off.
..gc..