Right and Wrong

“Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.” That is a quote from W. Clement Stone, a self-made insurance mogul from Chicago who became wealthy, very wealthy. His company, Combined Insurance Company of America, was eventually bought by the Ryan insurance organization. For decades however, Stone was a major player in market niches unconquered by others. His dream came during the Great Depression. Once he had a tiny start, he just kept growing the model everywhere he could.

His life is also a beacon of Positive Mental Attitude, or PMA. Look it up. You will find many practitioners of PMA in print. Reverend Normal Vincent Peale was one, as were Napoleon Hill, and Og Mandino to name a few. Inspirational sayings came from these folks, and a lot of popular books were written on the power of being positive during times of challenge and bleakness.

One of those quotes, ‘do the right thing because it is the right thing to do,’ came from Stone. Think about that sentence. Doing the right thing sets into motion many threads, all of which are defensible and positive. Even if the outcome is not as desired, we can not fault the intent of doing the right thing in the first place.

Like telling the truth, it is not difficult to remember what you said. Memory and logic support the truth; it stands on its own. Same for action. Doing the right thing makes sense, sense that keeps on producing more right actions.

Owning a gun is not a bad thing. Doing something with the gun could be right or wrong; it depends on the circumstances. Taking a gun with you into a hot spot of social unrest, is not a good idea. Especially true if you have no reason to be in the hot spot in the first place.

Kyle Rittenhouse was an immature young fellow, not a man, not a boy, 17 years old. He had ideas raging through his head. He believed in gun ownership. He bought a gun, an assault-type weapon like an AK-47. Twenty miles away in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a black man had been killed by police with suspicions of overreach by the police. A racial reaction developed in the community and violence erupted. Protection of property was the social call answered by Kyle. He responded as a vigilante to protect private property rights during civil unrest. Not his community. Not his property. But an opportunity to exercise his gun rights and civil rights and property rights. What could be a better test than that?

So, Kyle was driven from his small Illinois community to Kenosha Wisconsin and walked the path of vigilantism. A place of trouble offering the troubled a place to be more troubled. With a gun in hand, an assault rifle at that, trouble came easily.

To be clear, Kyle did not have the right to carry the rifle into public spaces. He was underage. He was not a citizen of the state of Wisconsin. He had no skills to offer to the civil scene where trouble was expected. So many elements of the situation were avoidable. None were avoided by Kyle.

The right thing to have done was to stay home. Not staying home, the right thing to have done was to observe from a safe point. The right thing to do from that safe point was not to be armed. The right thing to have done was to leave when violence flared, to have been uninvolved.

None of those choices were made by Kyle. Trouble came to him because he went into trouble. With a gun. An assault rifle.

Two people were killed by Kyle and his rifle. A third was wounded by him and his gun. He claims self-protection, self-defense. Yet, he created the need the unrest that came to threaten him. Those people present saw his gun and responded to the threat. A natural response. They felt threatened. They attempted to control Kyle and his gun. In that situation Kyle shot his ‘attackers.’

Kyle was the threat. Not the hero. He created danger for others who responded with self-defense. For their efforts, they were killed or wounded.

Now, who is the hero in this scenario?

What was the right thing to do at the time? Was that right thing done?

I think not. I think the would-be hero was found to be other than proclaimed. A vigilante is not a hero. He is the problem, the not-right-thing.

November 23, 2021

 

 

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