I was asked to write a short story explaining: "Why might someone be justified in murdering their neighbor?" and so I came up with this fiction.* NOTE: this is not "me" that is "me" in the story.* It is a complete work of fiction I just wrote.* Enjoy! ---- begin story " Justification for Murder "--- The neighbor is an unrepentant, brazen thief who interferes in the lives of every individual and family in the community. No person is immune, with only the seeming exception of key persons in power. Yet they merely allow him to exist for they fear their own positions will be in jeopardy. His acts cannot be numerated properly because they begin when he awakens and ceases when he sleeps. In short, he is the neighborhood bully extreme, answerable to no one. With the riches he has gained from pilfering openly from the community, the criminal justice system and the law enforcers render him untouchable by standard means. In short, he has broken the justice system that might have applied to him through blackmail and payoffs. On top of this, he has dirty laundry on each member of the community, from children of five and up - he knows who stole the cookie - up through the aged and inform. He plays them off of each other, keeping the community from cohesiveness, reducing his thieving, taunting and emotional manipulations temporarily for those who confess their neighbors sins as it were, which keeps the gossip flow going his way. But then there is me. I am an individual without family ties or connections to the neighborhood, sans the ownership of a house in this neighborhood. I pay no banker and have no debts. I do not date and cannot be blackmailed. I do not work but live simply. Up until now, I have feigned fear of exposure and allowed him to steal unnecessary things while hiding what's important to me, to give myself time to formulate a plan. I do not need the adoration of the community upon success. Life in prison - even the death penalty at this point is a fine alternative to my current existence, so even failure is a mitigated risk. There is no point in selling because no one is buying in this neighborhood. No one is selling either, for he compels us to stay. I am also answerable to no one in this scenario. I am justified in my murder of my neighbor for the sake of the future of the community even though I am committing the ultimate act of a bully: Removing all future choices from a single individual, who has removed many apparent choices from numerous others including myself. I do not know if they add up mathematically nor do I care. My disgust at witnessing the suffering of others and my increasing disgust with their unwillingness to confront this issue at its root is the final justification for the act of murder. I do not know how to justify this philosophically or even if I can. ---- end story " Justification for Murder "--- I'll say it again: This isn't me :P* - I don't believe in vigilante justice and honestly, if someone told me that tale, I might believe them, but they'd still deserve punishment.* They killed someone.* One act of evil does not make up for many acts of evil.* But I might give him a lesser sentence.