Monday 12 April, 2004 at 9:05PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (17)

Pretty intense title, but I'm pissed off. I wrote a big post about a job scam I discovered that's operating on a national basis where people are getting ripped off every day by these assholes. I spent hours checking it out and I traced the apparent owner, and their address turned out to be right here in Brooklyn! I found multiple sites with writings from other people who had been ripped off by these people in the past but didn't know what to do about it (fortunately I realised what it was before getting sucked into it myself).

I was in the process of notifying Fox5 Problem Solvers who investigate this type of thing and get people busted for it (and televise it so everybody knows who the assholes are and what their business does, which no doubt allows a lot of people to file lawsuits against the scammers). Before I hit send, I called the other Weasel over to check it out. She went nuts at me and said I should not get involved or post about it or do anything about it because these people could try and sue me for slander (although they wouldn't have a leg to stand on, but the legal costs of defending myself would be huge regardless), or worse yet, it could get physical. I don't know who these people are, they could be 'connected', and they are only like 10 minutes drive away (which is a major coincidence) so I guess it's possible, but that didn't cross my mind. I saw a wrong and I wanted to right it, it's just a basic innate instinct to me.

Against my own desire to see justice, I capitulated, but I'm not happy about it. Me doing nothing about it (when I know I could) goes against everything I believe in. I'm basically betraying myself and it sucks.

I think the only reason assholes like these people exist is because others are too scared to speak up, and the more that happens, the worse this sort of crap will get and the more powerful assholes like these will become. I'm disgusted by the 'it's none of my business' attitude here in NYC, but that's just how things work here. You just mind your own business, it's somebody elses problem. If you do try and do something, chances are good it will end up costing you because of the ridiculous 'sue everyone' mindset here.

I saw a photo ages ago of a couple of gang type guys beating the shit out of some innocent civilian guy in broad daylight in the middle of Central Park just to get his wallet. There were dozens of people sitting around watching while they ate their nice little lunches while on a break from their safe little office jobs. None of them did a fucking thing. Not a one.

I guess this isn't just here though. When I was back in NZ I was sitting outside my work on a break. I worked on the main street in the central city where I lived. I looked around and saw a guy about the same age as me who had fallen out of his wheelchair while trying to tie his shoe. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He was laying on his stomache on the sidewalk struggling to pull himself along the ground towards his wheelchair. A few people looked at him and kept walking. Most studiously ignored that he was even there. I couldn't believe it. I went over and lifted him up and put him in his wheelchair and tied his shoe and made sure he was ok, but fuck was I angry at all the people who just walked past. I wanted to run after them and scream at them "what the fuck is wrong with you!". But I didn't.

No wonder there's so much strife going on on this planet. There's no honour, there's no compassion - hardly anybody gives a shit about anything but themselves, or if they do, they sure hide it well. That's just how it is? Pfft. If this is paradise, I'll take the bag.

End of rant.