Snitching

[sufi]

We all know what snitches get innit

Plutarch: The first messenger, that gave notice of Lucullus' coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that, he had his head cut off for his pains;

So Informer You know say Daddy me Snow me, I go blame A licky boom-boom down

Are you one? or maybe you got snitched up??

Is there an inherent moral dilemma??

regale us with accounts of your snitch related experiences below

 

[martin]

I was always getting snitched on as a kid - my takeaway was don't tell anyone anything. I even got snitched on for things I'd made up.

My oldest sister is a complete cunt and was always running to my parents to snitch on my other sister and brother whenever they did anything they could possibly get belted for. Apparently, she used to shriek and clutch her side whenever my brother passed her, pretending he'd hit her, just so he'd get a whacking. He figured that if he was going to get walloped anyway, he might as well smash her in the face for real.

Obviously people who grass up faredodgers, dole claimants working on the side, someone having a spliff in their garden, etc, are scum. I'd snitch on pedos or violent muggers, or if I knew someone was going to nailbomb Soho, I suppose. The anarchos say 'form a Citizens' Militia and dispense class justice yourself', but it sounds much easier to call the pigs for things like that.

 

[IdleRich]

I just fingered Dan for being the Long Island serial killer... but normally not my style - a kid who tells on another kid's a dead kid as they say.

Maybe it's ok if they are genuinely just murdering people though.

Snitching I always think of On The Waterfront, which Kazan made as a kind of justification of his giving up loads of "communists" to the House Unamerican Activities Committee... great film of dubious origin.

 

[Clinamenic]

I just fingered Dan for being the Long Island serial killer

You use the verb 'finger' as a synonym for 'snitch'?

 

[Clinamenic]

When they ask if you 'fingered' them, do you, in a panic, 'rim' them by assuring them it was someone else?

 

[version]

Is there an inherent moral dilemma??

I think so. Once you snitch on someone, whatever happens to them is partly your responsibility. There's also the ethical question of whether or not you should snitch on behalf of a victim who hasn't come forward.

 

[IdleRich]

I guess I'm thinking of the film with JP Belmondo... in English it's translated as The Fingerman or something

 

[malelesbian]

Snitching should be illegal. No criminal should get rewarded with a reduced sentence for cooperating with the police.

 

[sufi]

Snitching should be illegal. No criminal should get rewarded with a reduced sentence for cooperating with the police.

so what about Assange?

 

[malelesbian]

so what about Assange?

I was only talking about criminals cooperating with the police in exchange for reduced prison time, not whistleblowers.

 

[version]

I was only talking about criminals cooperating with the police in exchange for reduced prison time, not whistleblowers.

What about, say, a driver who rats out their mobster boss?

 

[linebaugh]

I dont know the full nuances of the argument but snitching in exchange for reduced prison time does seems like it encourages criminals to lie along with whatever story prosecutors are trying to push

 

[malelesbian]

What about, say, a driver who rats out their mobster boss?

It's fine to report a crime.

 

[version]

I dont know the full nuances of the argument but snitching in exchange for reduced prison time does seems like it encourages criminals to lie along with whatever story prosecutors are trying to push

There aren't too many options when bringing down serious criminals. I think prosecutors have to take what they can get, e.g. Capone getting done on tax evasion.

 

[linebaugh]

That seems right

 

[version]

A classic you see from kids all the way up to professional athletes is pretending you're also hurt when someone tries to snitch on you for hurting them.

 

[Clinamenic]

In certain bureaucratic settings, one tactic you can use to preemptively absolve (or partially absolve) yourself of liability for a particular decision, is to run the decision through a committee vote or some kind of referendum, because then you can just say that you were executing the will of some body of decision-makers with greater authority than yourself.

 

[Clinamenic]

Then it becomes the art of pre-configuring the parameters within which such a body of decision-makers can come to a decision, EG the particular steps involved in a voting process, such as who gets to propose alternatives, what the quorums are for overturning a decision, etc. Manifold ways to get away with decisions which one wouldn't necessarily be able to get away with, if it just required them alone to make the call and take full responsibility.

 

[linebaugh]

The one that comes up alot and seems to generate the most toxic discussions is wether to tell someone they are being cheated on or not

 

[version]

The one that comes up alot and seems to generate the most toxic discussions is wether to tell someone they are being cheated on or not

That's one with a very real chance of you becoming the villain if they refuse to believe it or side with the cheater.