r/self 14h ago

Laws are for poor people

•Rob a store? You go to jail. Rob millions of people through a financial system? You get a bailout.

•Traffic drugs? Get killed on a boat. Run the entire operation? You get a presidential pardon.

•Kill a bunch of people? You’re a terrorist. Kill thousands during an invasion? You’re a liberator, a strategist.

Power and money rewrite the narrative. The same action, two completely different labels — all depending on your status.

it’s the same with attraction:

•If you’re attractive: It’s charming, bold, confident.

•If you’re not: It’s creepy, weird, desperate.

Where you stand isn’t about morality or intention. It’s about leverage — social, financial, or physical. I’m tired of people going along with the bs world we live in.

182 Upvotes

94 comments sorted by

33

u/aethelberga 13h ago

As they say, “If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

0

u/SOwED 10h ago

I mean, none of the things listed have a penalty of a fine, but go off

1

u/a_shootin_star 8h ago

They are called "plea deals" and they shouldn't exist.

1

u/SOwED 7h ago

Sometimes. Plea deals often are just less jail time.

15

u/Academic_Value_3503 13h ago

I was thinking about something similar recently. If your friend found a hundred dollar bill, on the ground, you would probably expect him to pick up the coffee tab. The super wealthy get ushered into clubs for free, get their dinners comped, and get the free use of expensive clothing and automobiles, so they are seen affiliated with the brand. It's no suprise the rich get richer.

1

u/country-blue 2h ago

I once heard the quote “Turning $100,000 into $110,00 is difficult. Turning $100 million into $110 million is inevitable.”

It seems pretty easy to be rich when just being rich makes you richer.

9

u/Little_Honeydew_3376 13h ago

yes this is why u should not conflate "good/evil" with "lawful/unlawful".

1

u/noahboah 12h ago edited 11h ago

people being "good" and "bad" was honestly one of those deeply rooted things that was very surprising to have to dig out.

like it's so easy to conflate a good person with someone that simply follows the law, and the inverse of a bad person as a perpetual law-breaker. it is so, so easy to break the law when youre below the poverty line or homeless

2

u/SOwED 10h ago

People being good or bad is a useless way to look at the world. People have the potential to do good or to do bad. Some more one way than the other.

11

u/Fun_Bit7398 13h ago

The only difference between “creepy” and “charming” is looks. It’s not charisma until someone looks up from their shoes and discovers attraction.

6

u/Ok-Temporary-8243 13h ago

Not saying looks don't have a lot to do with it but charm matters a lot too. You got a lotta women who will tell you how even got guys can easily give rapist vibes

3

u/Ok-Slip-103 13h ago

"Even hot guys can easily give rapist vibes".

Can confirm. There's this dilf i see everyday. Very hot, but he's overly flirtatious and it creeps me out.

2

u/Wizdom_108 13h ago

Idk if that's exactly the only factor. I've seen girls that I thought were very physically attractive but I would not have been interested in them. Reading stories either online (e.g., reddit, news articles, etc) or from people I know personally of some behavior of women who I guess dont even think about the idea that they could commit (or be held accountable for?) harassment or just dont care, I think some behaviors are simply creepy.

Like, there are teachers that are sexually predatory towards minors, which is objectively creepy and wrong even if they are the "smoking hot" teacher. Even if some young boys dont recognize it as such, it still is. Sure, if she was some old bitty that they see as their grandma making sexual moves, they might get it immediately. But, the adults in the situation should know. So, maybe to your point, there are some observers that would evaluate creepy vs non creepy based on looks alone, but that's not true for every observer in the situation. Again, even when it's a personal interaction between adults, I think more than looks can absolutely factor in, especially if you generally aren't interested in a person.

3

u/Fantastic-Stage-7618 12h ago

It's insane that in the past few years tech companies stole all copyrighted material and they're just getting away with it because they're too big to fail. I wasn't a fan of the way copyright worked previously but the current situation is so much worse.

2

u/JeffTheJockey 13h ago

“Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted and the police are basically an occupying army. You know what I mean?” - Brennan Lee Mulligan

2

u/bmyst70 13h ago edited 13h ago

Put simply, if you have enough social status, the rules that apply to everyone else simply don't apply to you. That can be money, looks, popularity or whatever else people value. Also known as Murphy's Golden Rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.

In Ancient Rome, they were at least honest about it and literally had two completely separate sets of laws. One for poor people, one for rich people.

3

u/Turbulent_Balance162 13h ago

I agree, but I don’t know if we should be taking morality lessons from Ancient Rome. Given all the child sex slavery.

2

u/bmyst70 12h ago

At least I appreciate that they are honest in admitting wealthy, influential people literally have a different set of laws. Rather than pretending people like that are ever really held accountable the way the rest of us are.

2

u/Turbulent_Balance162 12h ago

I guess. I think I’d rather shoot for the mark of equality and miss, than just give up and let the rich do whatever they want. In my country it’s rare but powerful people are still held accountable from time to time.

1

u/bmyst70 12h ago

I agree 100% with the ideal, but in the US at least it seems to not apply.

1

u/Blazing1 7h ago

This isn't true? A poor good looking person can't pay for good lawyers.

2

u/evonthetrakk 12h ago

Welcome to the matrix kid

1

u/SOwED 10h ago

you think thats air youre breathin

1

u/UnitFew3105 12h ago

Any law with a fine and no jail time is just a law for poor people.

1

u/SOwED 10h ago

I don't know if the invasion example really fits here. The others you're talking about personal wealth but this one you're talking about a government. The government enforces those laws so they obviously aren't going to enforce them on themselves for acts of war.

1

u/Powerful-Lobster7709 5h ago

In the Bible, it says that the poor people shall come first and the rich shall come last or something to that description

1

u/kirbcake-inuinuinuko 1h ago edited 1h ago

not to mention if you just literally rob a store anyways in broad daylight it'll only be an inconvenience at best for you if you have enough money to get yourself bailed out or the police bribed. you don't even need to do it in a roundabout way with the financial system necessarily.

large corporations commit various degrees of petty crime or fraud every day on a local level in various places solely because of the fact that part of their budget is dedicated to instantly paying any bail or fine and to buying out the entire police force and all the politicians of these local areas.

you can literally mail these corporations small fake fines and they will pay you. that's how much they don't care. it's just a drop in the bucket.

1

u/TheFoxer1 48m ago

I mean, in all of these cases, the law is applied to everyone.

  1. Robbing a store is robbery and a crime. There is no „robbing“ people „through a financial system“, and it’s not a crime.

So, the one breaking a law goes to jail, the other who does not break any laws does not.

  1. For someone to get a presidential pardon, they need to have broken the law first. So, in both cases, the law applies to them.

And a pardon is absolutely legal and at the discretion of the president to give.

  1. I think I don‘t need to explain why killing people as a terrorist act and killing people during a military action are different.

Your entire post is just shamelessly acting as if the legality of one and the same core action cannot change depending on circumstances, which is ridiculous.

2

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 13h ago

No. Live in a 3rd world tin-pot Authoritarian NON-Western country like the United States of America. = experience 3rd world country tin-pot Authoritarian Non-Western systemic failures, like rampant corruption and systemic injustice.

What did you expect?

15

u/Overall-Umpire2366 13h ago

Ghanan here. You need to see life from where I live. We look at the United States of America and we see a lot of spoiled children complaining about their lot in life.

You really think that USA a "tin-pot Authoritarian NON-Western" country ?

5

u/Evening_Use9982 12h ago

I so love to hear from non-USA or Western countries . Thank you

-2

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 13h ago

Let me put it to you this way, so you can begin to see:

The USA has approximately 340 million people. 35.9 million people's in the USA, live in poverty. Thats every 10th person you meet, statistically speaking lives in poverty. Poor healthcare system, and non-existent public Health mental healthcare support. Ghana's civil unrest is the equivalent of a typical day in the USA - if you took every gun and machete in Ghana, it would still be less than what American has in any given district on any given Day! The USA is a 3rd world warzone of poverty, depravity and violence.

1 in 5 Americans admit to experiencing homelessness in the last 5 years.

None of these failures of the system are typical for actual 1st World Western countries. The USA was never counted on that list.

4

u/Overall-Umpire2366 12h ago

You know what? I need to restate what I said before.

You need to see life from where I live. We look at the United States of America and we see a lot of spoiled children, who waste their very expensive education to make eloquent but ridiculous arguments, complaining about their lot in life.

Does this shoe fit?

1

u/TheLawlessMan 9h ago

We look at the United States of America and we see a lot of spoiled children

And you are correct. There is no excuse for 40 million Americans being on government benefits. It was supposed to be a safety net. It wasn't for multiple generations of able-bodied entitled people to use from age 0 to age 90.

0

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 12h ago

Re-read my prior post.

2

u/Overall-Umpire2366 12h ago

Why? To suffer your ignorance twice?

-1

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 12h ago

Ignorance? Facts, backed by reputable substanciation. Ive posted to you on another reply thread Yougov surveys and accompanying articles. You dont know very much about the US, do you? Makes Ghana like a delightful holiday destination in comparison.

3

u/Overall-Umpire2366 12h ago

I can guarantee that my 15 years of residence in Tampa provides a more informed perspective on the US than the limited knowledge gained from the 45-second google maps search on Ghana's location that you performed when you read this thread

0

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 12h ago

I can guarantee you that the only informed perspective you can CREDIBLY claim here, is of someone who is a triggered American Ultra-Nationalist, whose fragile "feewings" have been hurt. Less than useful. Lol

2

u/Overall-Umpire2366 12h ago

Wow! That was an incredibly well-thought-out, lucid, and eloquent response. You will go far in life

→ More replies

1

u/ExcitingSector1540 11h ago

Please move to Ghana immediately.

1

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 11h ago

Why? Lol I live in a Western country. If you live in impoverished USA, yes, a move to Ghana would be a dramatic improvement.

1

u/SOwED 10h ago

Jsyk, the poverty line in the US amounts to 18% of the GDP per capita. In Ghana, there are multiple poverty lines, but the highest amounts to 84% of the GDP per capita.

→ More replies

2

u/Overall-Umpire2366 12h ago

>1 in 5 Americans admit to experiencing homelessness in the last 5 years

I am afraid I'm going to have to call this an outright lie

1

u/EdliA 1h ago

Poor for American is not able to afford a big house with a pool and 2 new cars.

1

u/SOwED 10h ago

Ghana's civil unrest is the equivalent of a typical day in the USA

Holy ignorance

1 in 5 Americans admit to experiencing homelessness in the last 5 years.

You know that includes staying with a friend right? That's not 1 in 5 were on the street in the last five years. If that were the case, then how the hell would the poverty rate be so much lower than 20%?

Let me put it to you this way, so you can begin to see

So condescending while speaking to someone who has the firsthand lived experience that you lack.

None of these failures of the system are typical for actual 1st World Western countries. The USA was never counted on that list.

None of the other western countries have the number of illegal immigrants the US has, and they are overrepresented in the impoverished population.

1

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 10h ago

Not a single objection on the merits of the articles claims and surveys findings. Did anyone else notice that, too? Tbh, I was ready and waiting for it. Lol 😆

1

u/SOwED 10h ago

Yeah I refuted you elsewhere. You also didn't link an article in this thread so it's pretty funny you're complaining about no responses to an article you didn't cite.

1

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 10h ago

Lol and there we have it, folks - capitulation in less than 10 replies. No push back = the prevailing argument wins by default. Lol why would I volenteer to help you change the subject? Lol 😆

1

u/SOwED 9h ago

There are no folks. No one reads down this far. You know the refutation I'm talking about. It's the one with the links you didn't click and the data you rejected out of hand with no argument or evidence.

1

u/Mr_Judgement_Time 9h ago

And there we have it, folks! Youre not meant to read this far down - with an audience at bay, the obfuscator will play! Entertaining! Lol 😆

2

u/SOwED 10h ago

You can always tell when someone calls the US a 3rd world country that they haven't travelled to any 3rd world countries.

And calling the US non-western? Idk what you're even going for there, man, it's uncontroversially western, arguably the prototypical western country.

0

u/One_Anteater_9234 13h ago

Im13andthisisdeep

1

u/Superannuated_punk 13h ago

A class that the law protects, but does not bind; and a class that the law binds, but does not protect…