An America of snitches and rats? – IOTW Report

An America of snitches and rats?

American Thinker:

By Robert Arvay

During Army Basic Training, decades ago, I was one of about a hundred recruits in our class.  One hot summer day, we were called outside, to stand in formation, so that the commanding officer could address us.  It was not a pleasant speech.  Someone had tampered with the commander’s locked, glass-encased bulletin board.  This was not discovered until several days later, when a copy of one of the commander’s letters, a letter that had been posted on the board, appeared in a national magazine.  The letter had been the subject of published ridicule.  It had warned recruits to stay away from a known house of ill repute.  Since the house was in a remote rural location that had no street address, the only way to identify it was to describe the location, which amounted to a detailed, “how to get there” set of instructions.  (This was long before the internet became available with map searches.)

All of us in the unit had laughed at the letter when it first appeared on the bulletin board but then promptly forgot about it.  Days later, the commander was informed of the magazine article.  Humiliated and enraged, he had assembled us on a very hot tarmac, the proverbial frying pan.  He knew that most of us knew the identity of the person (or persons) who had picked the lock, made a copy of the letter, and returned the original to the board.  How could we not know?  Bulletin boards are displayed in full public view.

The commander demanded that the person step forward or that those of us who could report him do so.

Silence.  The heat was stifling.  Sweat.  Discomfort.  Thirst.  Time passed slowly.  Silence. more

11 Comments on An America of snitches and rats?

  1. An observation, made over decades of observing people interacting with the authorities (cops, judges, anyone that wields power) is that most folks not only hate it when they observe others not obeying “the rules” but very few can resist that little voice in their head that tells them their world is now on tilt and the only way to rectify the discomfort is to rat out the offender, to turn him in. Thus, they cell phone the local LE communications center with calls that a speeder went by them on the highway, they call the city on their neighbor because the trash can is not properly curb aligned, they snitch off the guy that did not sign in at the local gym, and they will certainly report a none mask wearer to the store manager. This is the world we live in now.

    It used to be that neighbors knew each other, talked to each other and when an issue arose, to work it out themselves. Now they call the cops at the drop of a hat on bullshit stuff that would be better handled with a personal interaction.

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  2. Dang Mr. Arvay. Are you a mind reader? If so, please do not rat me out to this board about any thoughts I might, or might not, have towards anybody else on this site. That would be seriously embarrassing. Not that I have been having any thoughts about anybody else on this board … soft whistling as I try to go hide. Nothing to see here.

  3. Dunno about this example. “I will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.” It’s okay to steal the goat, however, before the Army-Navy game. As long as you own up to it and don’t make others suffer for what you did. “I did it sir, and I did it because I thought it was funny.” Otherwise, we are veering into the realm of moral relativity and I have no confidence in the judgment of too many others.

    And what about those who don’t speak up because they are afraid if they say something about that suspicious guy they will be called a racist.

    The problem here are the maks edicts, and what’s motivating the snitches.

    I think it’s a better rule to bravely and honestly own your position. Don’t do stuff you have to lie about directly or by omission. And re masks — it’s not civil disobedience if no one knows about it.

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  4. @Dan Ryan Gault – “Snitches get stitches…and end up in ditches”. – Curtis Sliwa

    They also want to put us in some sort of Eastern European “self imposed government sanctioned isolation”, therefore we have nothing to do but WATCH each others actions…

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  5. Actually, no one snitching shows unit cohesion. Like me, I would never snitch for something so trivial or over neighbors having a party, but commit a serious crime and I’m collecting rewards.

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