> Knocking on random doors can be very unsafe in typical urban environments, unless it’s someone you already know.
Usa, home of the brave. (Really, what is wrong with the USA?)
Also, what does 'typical urban' mean?
About once every two days the guy next door to me starts yelling “FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING SLUT” a few times in a row between the hours of 1 and 3am. No other noise, just the yelling. I find this hilarious but apparently some people would prefer to just have him summarily executed.
Frankly, this is what I think happens all the fucking time. I have a
hard time buying that your average angry white lady calling the cops on
black kids for being slightly louder than the background noise of
traffic is really thinking to themselves “Oh no, this is a bad
situation! I should call the cops before something happens!”. I think
that atleast part of it is a conscious act of dominance and spite
towards people who for SOME REASON they see as lesser.
So these chucklefucks just outright saying the quiet part out loud
and using weird Machiavellian power nerd bullshit to intellectualize it
is almost refreshing. Even the part where one guy actively admits that
it’s about using the bacon as their own personal death squad. Because,
again, that shit already happens.
While the linked discussion is clearly crazy-nutso, I think sneering
at the generalized “siccing the cops on your neighbors is a question of
game theory” shows some unrecognized middle-class privilege.
Like, I grew up among rednecks. In adulthood, I’ve had plenty of
redneck neighbors. Many (not all, not even a majority) rednecks are big
believers in performative violence, and part of that performative
violence is a dedication to vengeance against anyone who has
disrespected them. Calling the cops is a huge instance of
disrespect. A minority of the minority of violent rednecks also consider
a simple request to knock it off to be an act of disrespect. As an out
gay man, these are all things I’ve had to take into consideration,
y’know?
> I think sneering at the generalized "siccing the cops on your neighbors is a question of game theory" shows some unrecognized middle-class privilege.
Are we sneering at calling the cops on neighbors in general? Or are we sneering at the pretension in framing this as "game theory"?
Referring to game theory is the new referring to Sun Tzu. (And that is a downgrade as Sun Tzu wasn't as boring as game theory).
And well, people constantly misuse game theory, here as well.
>And well, people constantly misuse game theory, here as well.
In their defense, the name is pretty confusing. Calling it *game theory* implies it being about a lot of things that it should be about, but simply isn't able to. Much like artificial intelligence, heh.
Respectfully, I think sneering at the sneering of calling cops is the actual unrecognized middle-class privilege. I live in "a typical urban environment" and my threshhold for calling the police is somewhere around imminent, life-threatening physical danger.
The police kill people, and by calling them you are saying the risk of this getting out of hand and someone getting hurt (which I agree is small in any individual case) is acceptable to me and I don't mind using them as a first resort.
What makes the Hacker News comments especially insidious is the likelihood that they are likely white people calling the police on their non-white neighbors (which is what the article being discussed is about). And often this is an upset of neighborhood norms caused by [white people moving into a non-white neighborhood](https://www.cssny.org/news/entry/New-Neighbors) and [calling the cops](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/nyregion/06drummers.html) for things that have been going on for twenty years or more.
These people are so afraid their neighbor might dislike them or be rude them that they resort to game theory and, well, this
Yikes.
Frankly, this is what I think happens all the fucking time. I have a hard time buying that your average angry white lady calling the cops on black kids for being slightly louder than the background noise of traffic is really thinking to themselves “Oh no, this is a bad situation! I should call the cops before something happens!”. I think that atleast part of it is a conscious act of dominance and spite towards people who for SOME REASON they see as lesser.
So these chucklefucks just outright saying the quiet part out loud and using weird Machiavellian power nerd bullshit to intellectualize it is almost refreshing. Even the part where one guy actively admits that it’s about using the bacon as their own personal death squad. Because, again, that shit already happens.
I love to see the “hacker” “news” sneers.
Where’s that “white people call the cops like it’s customer service” tweet when you need it?
While the linked discussion is clearly crazy-nutso, I think sneering at the generalized “siccing the cops on your neighbors is a question of game theory” shows some unrecognized middle-class privilege.
Like, I grew up among rednecks. In adulthood, I’ve had plenty of redneck neighbors. Many (not all, not even a majority) rednecks are big believers in performative violence, and part of that performative violence is a dedication to vengeance against anyone who has disrespected them. Calling the cops is a huge instance of disrespect. A minority of the minority of violent rednecks also consider a simple request to knock it off to be an act of disrespect. As an out gay man, these are all things I’ve had to take into consideration, y’know?