• 2 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 5th, 2023

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  • It’s absolutely essential. Otherwise every single defendant would claim “I’m sorry, your honor. I didn’t know that murder/rape/stealing is illegal”. It’s almost impossible to prove or disprove general knowledge so we must assume - at least from a legal perspective - that everybody knows the law if we want to apply that law at all. Of course that doesn’t mean that any random person on the street needs to be familiar with every single law that applies to forestry but that they are required to read up on those laws before they pick up a chainsaw and head into the forest. There may be a few obscure laws that could apply to you without your knowledge but those are mostly so low stakes that we can give people a warning for the first offense and then reasonably assume they will know and follow that law in the future.

    Now, that all applies to ignorance of the law. On the other hand, there is ignorance of your own actions which indeed can get you out of a conviction because it indicates a lack of intent. A simple example: if you visit someone and on the way out, you grab their jacket because of your own because they look similar, it’s very likely that you haven’t done anything illegal, it was just a mistake. Same if you’re not aware that something you’re doing might endanger others. Those might still get you in trouble for negligence but one could reasonably construct a case where you do something that looks perfectly safe to you but out of pure coincidence ends up killing someone. In those cases, you’re clearly not guilty of a crime.


  • May I ask how much that cost you? You say things are cheap there so if it’s in the range of what you would have otherwise paid for a hotel or for your general cost of living at home, it sounds more like a mutually beneficial situation. You get to extend your vacation for relatively cheap and they get to keep what you’ve bought when you leave.

    Just make sure to keep an eye on the situation. People can get used to your generosity and you don’t know how their disappointment will manifest when you eventually decide to leave. They might just be grateful for what you gave them, but they might also ask you to stay for longer than you’re comfortable with, they might ask you to buy them more stuff before you leave or they might ask you to take the girl home with you. Not even out of greed or any bad feelings but just because what you gave them feels nice and wanting more of that is just natural.

    As long as you set limits for yourself (important edit: and communicate those limits) and are prepared to leave within the hour if they don’t respect those, I see no harm. Best case, you have made new friends that you stay in contact with and can visit some time in the future. Worst case you have to leave in the middle of the night and never see them again.















  • Depends on how they behave. If they get right up in my face and immediately tell me their whole life story how they’re sick and hungry and have twenty children to feed, I’m usually skeptical. On the other hand, if someone is polite and especially if they ask for food instead of money, I’m more inclined to help.

    Overall, I’m happy to help those who really need it but I’ve had too many bad experiences with people who were in it out of greed more than necessity. Prime example, some time last year I was on my way home from a vacation and had to wait at the train station for a couple of minutes when a guy came up to me and asked me for money because he was hungry. I told him I had no cash with me but I could get him a sandwich from a nearby vending machine where I can pay with my credit card. On the way to the vending machine, he asked me if something from the bakery at the other end of the station would also be okay. That was already a bit weird but okay. I left my partner and my luggage at the platform and took him to the bakery. On the way there, he pointed out that there was an ATM where I could get cash for him which I refused, then at the bakery he asked me for two of the most expensive snack they had plus something to drink, a total of over 20€. Quite the difference between that and the 4€ sandwich I had initially agreed to. The whole situation was so uncomfortable, I can’t even remember what I got him in the end. And from the way he acted, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just threw away the food once I was out of sight and asked the next person for money.

    It’s sad. There are so many people who ask for what they need and are genuinely happy when they get help and then there are greedy assholes like that guy. And because I usually can’t tell the difference at a glance, I’m often overly careful and don’t help even though I feel I should.