American couple's breathtakingly cruel taunts at terminally ill seven-year-old girl

Illusions

Well-known member

EscapeArtist

Well-known member
They both must have been raised under very horrible parents. We are products of our environment... there is not something wrong with these people, there is something wrong with society, especially American society, as a home to grow up in... It's these complex times, man. If life were simple again...
 
Excuse my language, but there are just some things you just don't
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ing do.

That father is a better person that I am. I would have most definitely taken rash action against heartless taunts like that.
 

lunaticbinge

Well-known member
Saw this about a week ago on ATS. It's too bad we live in an age in which everyone is afraid of getting sued. These people simply need a good ass-whooping.
 

Forgotten-Children

Well-known member
I.... I.... *is at a loss of words*

How could ANYONE be this heartless?! A GROWN couple is making fun of a 7 year old girl because she's dying?!? I know this may sound harsh but frankly I don't give a damn. I can't wait till THEY die because they're low-life scum...

This really hits home for me because my boyfriend is dying from a terminal illness as well. It may not be the same type as this little girl but, he still has to go through a lot of pain in his life.

Does the fact that he's dying make him a "oh-so-disgusting-human-being"? F*CK NO! I mean... my heart really goes out for this little girl and her family...

Also I looked at some of the coments below the artical and one said something about freedom of speech. Now, I'm totally for freedom of speech but there's a line drawn where you just can't cross. This is a hate crime. Plain and simple. In fact, these people should be put on trial. I'm glad that the guy probably will loss his job for being so sick and stupid! Maybe he'll learn something...
 

MaliceInWickedland

Well-known member
I'm at a loss for words right now...
Calling this couple "repulsive" would be too much of an understatement.
All this nonsense over simply not being invited to a party?!?!?!
I can't even begin to fathom how anyone could be this cruel to a 7 YEAR OLD CHILD WHO'S DYING, and for such a ridiculous reason.
That is just... no.
 

DarkPhoenix

Well-known member
That is disgusting. I sincerely hope that woman is taunted for the rest of her white trash existence over this.
 

diesel

Well-known member
that's properly sick , she should be prosecuted for her actions . put her in some hprrible female prison and see how long she lasts there . or better still put her in a cage with cris cyborg for 5 rounds and let her have a go . either way she deserves something .
 

Mokkat

Well-known member
While this behaviour is extremely tasteless, I think it is blown out of proportion.
This is just another "classic" neighbour feud, with off-the-scale measures of hate and naivety compared to the reason behind it. These are always started by blunt and unreasonable people with poor decency of expression. In this case, there simply happened to be an obvious cruel button to press.
They might as well execute these people - it would probably be more pleasant for them than being permanently publicly condemned after a ride on the "media-rollercoaster of morale and justice"
 

Rembrandt Broam

Well-known member
Yeah, people are douchebags. Even the people who have been harassing these 2 douchebags are douchebags. I think this couple is pretty vile and would never associate with them, but they're entitled to their opinions, no matter how inflammatory.

Really, when it comes down to it, every single person on this planet only cares about themselves, their close family, and maybe their close friends. It's just the way people are programmed, and how society forces us to act. If you had to choose between the lives of your significant other vs a million complete strangers, most people would choose their significant other.

I don't think it's true to say that everyone is like that, and though most people do act selfishly to some extent I don't think you can equate that to the couple under discussion here. Those two are just scum. There have always been and always will be lowlifes like them. You hear more about them now because of the internet. Twenty years ago, no one outside of that town would have known about the situation, whereas these days even someone like me who lives in another country gets to hear about it. The same goes for the recent "cat lady" incident here in the UK.

I think in a lot of ways the internet acts like a kind of societal magnifying glass, making us think that things are worse than they used to be, when in fact it's really just bringing to our attention the kind of people who have (unfortunately) always been around.
 

Feathers

Well-known member
Really, when it comes down to it, every single person on this planet only cares about themselves, their close family, and maybe their close friends. It's just the way people are programmed, and how society forces us to act. If you had to choose between the lives of your significant other vs a million complete strangers, most people would choose their significant other.
I disagree with this too.. I deeply care about everyone on the planet and am greatly concerned about the fate of it.
I don't think you can separate 'self' from 'others' - we all live on this one planet, and are intertwined and connected... We breathe the same air..

What these people did was bad, I agree that maybe in some places it got blown out of proportions.. (where people being angry at them almost became as bad as these people, or at least close)

I never thought this thread would have so many responses and create such strong emotions..
I was actually wondering whether to post it in the first place, because of the 'voyerism' factor - so many places in media can get accused these days of making money with and gloating over the misery of others.. On the other hand, getting informed is good.. Would it be better not to post it and let it die down? hmm, questions..

I posted it because I was happy that the wider community condemn their behavior and it gave me hope that maybe someday bullying will be 'out' and people will really rethink consequences of their actions..

I don't wish bad to these people. They have learnt their lesson (I hope!!) Actions have consequences, words can hurt people.. It took a while for me to learn this lesson too, I am not perfect and I'm not sure if anyone on this board is..

So, I don't want this to get out of hand and become a 'hate thread' or 'who can condemn them more'..
I'll be happy if one or two people learn from this story... (Probably not those with SA, who mostly know these things already.. But maybe other people who heard it on TV or the radio will reconsider their actions...)
 

Luke1993

Well-known member
II think in a lot of ways the internet acts like a kind of societal magnifying glass, making us think that things are worse than they used to be, when in fact it's really just bringing to our attention the kind of people who have (unfortunately) always been around.

Yes I think the same thing.
 

Rembrandt Broam

Well-known member
I agree that the media and InterWebz gives a very, very negatively distorted view of the world, but my comments weren't really motivated by that (at least I don't think). They were based on my own experiences and interactions (which in all fairness does reinforce what I see on the tube and Internetz) and is combined with a healthy dose of common sense and pragmatism. haha.

Honestly, I don't know if this couple is anymore "scummy" than most anyone else. Clearly, either they're not very intelligent, or they're really, really bad at keeping check of their emotions. It's also possible the woman is a sociopath (i.e.; antisocial). But regardless, you can't crucify people for their despicable thoughts, even when they're expressed aloud.

If you were able to read any random person's thoughts on the street, do you think the stuff that goes through their mind would be squeaky clean? Or if that person were forced to speak all their thoughts aloud, how long would it take before they deeply offended/scared/angered someone? I'm guessing not very long.

Oh I agree that the average person's thoughts wouldn't be squeaky clean, and would probably offend someone within a very short space of time if spoken out loud, but I don't believe that most people would even consider taunting a dying a 7 year old girl. That's a whole other level of nastiness. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really hope I'm not. ::(:
 
I agree that the media and InterWebz gives a very, very negatively distorted view of the world, but my comments weren't really motivated by that (at least I don't think). They were based on my own experiences and interactions (which in all fairness does reinforce what I see on the tube and Internetz) and is combined with a healthy dose of common sense and pragmatism. haha.

Honestly, I don't know if this couple is anymore "scummy" than most anyone else. Clearly, either they're not very intelligent, or they're really, really bad at keeping check of their emotions. It's also possible the woman is a sociopath (i.e.; antisocial). But regardless, you can't crucify people for their despicable thoughts, even when they're expressed aloud.

If you were able to read any random person's thoughts on the street, do you think the stuff that goes through their mind would be squeaky clean? Or if that person were forced to speak all their thoughts aloud, how long would it take before they deeply offended/scared/angered someone? I'm guessing not very long.

I definitely do not agree with what you've said about most people being that way deep down inside. Yes, people tend to be less than noble when their own needs are being challenged. But the difference here is that many of us would NOT say such hurtful things UNLESS we're being threatened one way or another. What this couple did here isn't just mere pragmatic selfishness. It's just sadism.

And another thing that distinguishes some of us from the people like this is that yes, we do have ignoble thoughts at times. But we do not act upon them. Humans operate on two levels. The primitive, self-serving level and another level that allows us to our reasoning abilities. (See the website lonelygenius.com for a post that describes this much better than I can)

Even in terms of pure selfishness, what they did doesn't make sense... In game theory, cooperation is often described not due to some high-minded ideals but in term of its utility. Being 'nice' has a utility. That's the basis of the social contract.

And of course, there's many cases of altruism. The fireman who risk his life above the call of duty to save a kid. Volunteers who spend time to help the destitute and ask nothing in return. Teachers who go beyond what they need to do... It can be argued that these people gain by 'feeling good' about themselves... but that's exactly it. Their ideals are such that they can feel good about themselves for being humane while this couple here feel good about themselves for being inhumane... that's the difference. Also, in the case of people who sacrifice their own lives for strangers, it cannot be said to be a purely selfish act no matter how you rationalize it.

How about the 'douchebag' behavior that we often see? People are a product of both their environment and genes. Systems play a huge impact on the emergence or reduction of evil. Dr Zimbardo's classic SPE experiment and his book 'The Lucifer Effect' describes this well. Our systems right now are mostly sick and unhealthy.. but still, when we encounter this kind of exceedingly bad behavior, it's just not right to justify it as being not far from the norm. Because as any teacher can tell you, if you let the norm slip, you'll see others adopting the new norm.. and there will be a downward spiral into decay.

This is why I cannot agree with you when you say that this behavior isn't much different from the norm. And another thing.. I don't believe in total freedom of speech to the extent of obviously harming others. A decent person may occasionally have the ignoble thought but the difference is that he does not voice it.

The platitude "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me" is just that. Words can hurt directly and indirectly and often with a lasting impact worse than physical violence. Our social contract is such that every person has the right to what he has. That includes his reputation and the right to be treated as a human being. Verbal bullies who taunt people (literally sometimes) to death as in the recent cases of Sladjana Vidovic (IIRC) and Clementi show the point. The Holocaust was the essential result of Hitler 'expressing his opinion'. In this case, his opinion was that Jews needed to be systematically killed.

I do agree with you on tubes and internet language and behavior being repulsive in general though.... A bad sign of things to come I think...
 

Feathers

Well-known member
I had to google up Sladjana Vidovic - oh gosh. how can people be so cruel?? And how can a school allow that?? A school with such a name even?
(Was it racism in all 4 cases? I wonder..)

Oh, and Token Asian Friend, I'm selfish. Very.

But if worst comes to worst and global warming or other natural disasters/bad world politics cause havoc, I want the other 6 billion people to live well too.

So I'd take the huge amount of money you offer :D, save some billions for myself (I'm one of world population too :D), establish good anti-hunger programs (ideally such that generate some income and maintain themselves too) - just throwing money at people or charities never solved anything.. And in some places in Africa I hear there are very bad non-profits that spend money in iffy ways.. So there needs to be control and effective use of money...
I think with a lot of smarts you can do more with one billion that one trillion..

So, it's not just black and white.

I'm miserable when other people are miserable, so I try to make'em happy/cheer them up.. It's selfish, basically..
I can sometimes make others miserable too, if I'm miserable myself, or through different priorities or personality or worldview clashes.. Not intentionally.. (usually) So I'm not perfect..
(Don't know anyone who is.. though some seem damn close :D)

I think people have a potential for both good and bad.. That's what we need boundaries for, politeness, plain old courtesy, attention to each other and how we feel..

I don't think the couple in the article were 'evil incarnate', just plain stupid. And without scruples.. (not sure if this is the right word.. not paying any attention to how the other one feels..)
Unfortunately some people never learn to be 'good' (?) Or that healthy selfishness basically means good for us all, not just for the 'select few'...
 

FountainandFairfax

in a VAN down by the RIVER
I agree with all you guys, not that I watched the video. I don’t even want to see it with my own eyes, it just sounds deplorable.
 
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