“I never looked at another person in service as anything other than family. It is sad that people are so willing to sacrifice their own honor for fame and monetary gain. At least in these cases, the universe interceded to ensure a certain level of moral indignation.”
There are many rules in the Old Testament – 613, in fact. In the New Testament, Jesus simplifies them into an easy to follow golden rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Think of how the world would be if such a thing were possible. In today’s world of instant gratification and disposable morals, it seems such an ideology has no place anymore. Yet every now and again, something happens that indicates otherwise. Recently, I read a couple of articles where greed and vanity caused the downfall of individuals — I realized that this should be a lesson for others to always remember.
First off, this is not an attack on people who are fooled by professional scam artists. I remember, as a company commander, one of my soldiers lost his savings to a scam artist. This soldier was in the process of getting a home loan to purchase a new house and his wife received a call from someone claiming to be with the mortgage company. She ended up giving over bank details and what followed was months of trying to get their lives back in order. In that case, the criminals played off the fears the wife had about not getting the house.
This is how most scammers work their magic — they all work off a person’s fear of loss.
Now for another story. What makes this first story so horrible is that it used the victim’s greed. In this case, an unnamed woman from Brookfield, Missouri was in a parking lot when someone (Criminal 1) called her over. Criminal 1 showed the victim a wallet filled to the breaking point with cash. Criminal 1 then called over to another allegedly random person so that they could also validate the incredible find — we will call this person Criminal 2.
I know that there are reactions I have had to stressful situations that I would not want others to be able to use against me. There is a term for this, it is called black humor.
The victim couldn’t believe her luck when Criminal 2 suggested that they keep the money and split it three ways. In the victim’s own words, “finder’s keepers.” Criminal 1 said she worked at a bank — they could count the money there and write up an affidavit which would make keeping the money legal. However, in order to do so, they each had to produce two thousand dollars to show that they were financially responsible.
The victim withdrew the money from her bank and handed it over. At the bank, Criminal 1 supposedly went inside to have the money counted and came out telling the others that there was a total of $150,000 — each of them would receive $50,000. The women were told to walk into the bank one at a time, sign their affidavits, and leave with their money.
Criminal 1 and 2 went first, each came back with what seemed to be a stack of money. However, when the victim walked into the bank, everything came crashing down around her. The bank had no idea why she was in there and had no clue who the two women were that had proclaimed to have just come from the building. In the end, she lost $2000 — she is now broke.
The saddest part is that the only reason this scam worked is because the woman in question was willing to satisfy her own greed at the cost of someone else. Let’s face it, there are only a couple of reasons someone would be carrying that much money. They were either a criminal, or someone preparing to make a large purchase. This woman was willing to have someone lose all their money, so she could steal it away. While it may have been legal by definition, it was definitely morally corrupt. What if this money was supposed to go towards a child’s surgery?
I personally would not be able to live with myself.
The second story is about Logan Paul, who is apparently a very famous YouTube star. Recently, Paul went to Japan to film himself being an obnoxious moron. He filmed himself shoving his camera in people’s faces and acting out in ways that young people believe is entertaining.
In Paul’s quest to be relevant, he was willing to sacrifice his values for the sake of viewership.
They then went to the Japanese forest called Aokigahara. This forest is known as a spot where people will go to commit suicide. Paul and his entourage were planning on spending the night when they came across the body of a man who had evidently killed himself. They then proceed to video the body and laugh and comment.
I am not going to judge Paul on his reaction to seeing a dead person in the middle of a forest. I know that there are reactions I have had to stressful situations that I would not want others to be able to use against me. There is a term for this, it is called black humor. Military and first responders understand this coping mechanism far too well.
What I, and apparently the rest of the world, will judge Paul for, is his stupidity in posting the video. He did not think about the family of that man, or the thousands of others who have had to deal with the reality of such a loss. In Paul’s quest to be relevant, he was willing to sacrifice his values for the sake of viewership.
The backlash to his video has been overwhelming. People from all walks of life have come out to chastise him for his lack of decency. Paul attempted to make an apology where he stated, “I do this…every day. I’ve made a 15-minute TV show EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past 480 days. One may understand that it is easy to get caught up in the moment without fully weighing the possible ramifications.”
The only issue is that this wasn’t a live broadcast. Time passed between when it was filmed and posted — the footage was edited as well. This was not something said in the heat of the moment. That I could also accept. No, this was purposefully posted to the world so that he could get the accolades he believed he was ordained to receive.
Stories like these often make me nostalgic to a time when I served in the military. No less than a dozen times, I was given rides from other soldiers when they saw me walking to or from the Post Exchange. I can’t count the number of times I stopped to help a fellow green suiter or family member. These behaviors were not something that we were told to do, it was who we were. I never looked at another person in service as anything other than family. It is sad that people are so willing to sacrifice their own honor for fame and monetary gain. At least in these cases, the universe interceded to ensure a certain level of moral indignation.
