Welcome to the Free Talk Live bulletin board system!
This board is closed to new users and new posts.  Thank you to all our great mods and users over the years.  Details here.
185859 Posts in 9829 Topics by 1371 Members
Latest Member: cjt26
Home Help
+  The Free Talk Live BBS
|-+  Free Talk Live
| |-+  The Polling Pit
| | |-+  Wise Up or Die

Poll

How would you take that?

Threat
- 7 (38.9%)
Possible Threat
- 8 (44.4%)
Not a Threat
- 3 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: June 24, 2007, 07:06:40 PM


Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Wise Up or Die  (Read 1439 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

voodoo

  • FTL AMPlifier Platinum
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3748
    • View Profile
Wise Up or Die
« on: June 22, 2007, 07:06:40 PM »

Please only vote in the poll if you do not know the context in which I ask it.

Question: Imagine you are an elected government type and received an e-mail (clearly not spam) that advocated certain actions on your part.  If the e-mail contained the phrase, "either you do your job, or get out of the way. WISE UP OR DIE. If the latter be your choice, then BE GONE with you NOW!" directed to you, what would be your reaction?





Please view the context only after you have voted.
Context: http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=9345.0
http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Brown+case+e-mails+investigated&articleId=083dd586-0d54-4650-a9ca-07f99d4d3914
Logged
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."  ~ Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XVII, 1782. ME 2:222

Zhwazi

  • Recovering Ex-Anarchocapitalist
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3102
    • View Profile
    • Ana.rchist.net
Re: Wise Up or Die
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2007, 04:29:38 PM »

I don't think "die" itself makes something a threat. Words like "kill", "assassinate", "murder", etc would make it more threatening. I took the statement in a darwinian way, like a variant of "adapt or die". If someone said "adapt or die" to me I wouldn't think of it as a threat or attempt at intimidation. If they were angry at me, that wouldn't change it.

If they'd said something more like "If you don't get out of the way then something will happen" I would believe it to be a threat. This is just barely on the edge of the fine line, though.

I can totally see someone with the mind of a politician taking this as a threat though.
Logged

Osborne

  • Worshipful Grand Conspirator
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1241
    • View Profile
    • Sakal/CAI
Re: Wise Up or Die
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2007, 05:08:24 PM »

Clearly not.

"Wise up or you will die" might be construed as a threat, but even that could simply be an explanation of what will happen through no intervention by the statement maker. For example, "stop overdosing on heroin, or you will die".
Logged

freeAgent

  • pwn*
  • FTL AMPlifier
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3660
    • View Profile
Re: Wise Up or Die
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2007, 05:40:52 PM »

I went with not a threat, but it's close.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
+  The Free Talk Live BBS
|-+  Free Talk Live
| |-+  The Polling Pit
| | |-+  Wise Up or Die

// ]]>

Page created in 0.021 seconds with 36 queries.