Lane's Way - By Baden

Quoting Caldwell

Lane is well aware his desire to continue shooting people

This is abhorrent to most of us who actually served in the military. You didn't give an option for "I don't like it".

Quoting jgill

You didn't give an option for "I don't like it"

This will do.

:up: :sparkle:

Original and well written. It is narrated in the third person and it is a positive aspect in my view.

Are we seeing a trend? The story is good. But I have to wonder whether the subject-matter is personal to the author, or just a fragment of the current American mindscape. Why always guns?

There's a tank, a giant one, it be old, the cover be round, crusted with rust, red, red, rust. The water's stained the sides, looks like a painting, the modern kind if you catch me drift mate. Who's there? Snap, snap, click, clack!

The narration went a bit too long for a story (of any length; I am talking proportions) and it became a short story in my eyes at the end only. Up to that it was a description of a stagnant set-up, and a bit of essay wrapped around it, with opinions and "what-ifs". The end pulled it together, but still, I think it was top-heavy, i.e. too much introduction for a very short although well-written, end.

Lane's Way

Interesting title.
Lane: a narrow road or a line to separate from others. Frank Sinatra did it his way.

Quoting Caldwell

When Lane was in the military he shot people legally and in good conscience. Now he’s out, that’s become a problem on two fronts.

Lane as a military man. Soldiers kill. They are trained to kill the enemies of their country. It is a job. But how does this intense experience make them feel? How much is it even talked about?
Not all have a 'desire' to kill people. Taking the life of someone up close must have psychological effects.
'Kill or be killed' might lessen any sense of trauma involved. I don't know.
I will never be in that position. In the UK we don't carry guns.

Quoting Caldwell

Lane is well aware his desire to continue shooting people is what you might call “aberrant”, not to mind “abhorrent”—he’s educated. But you can’t educate yourself out of a habit, especially one you’ve learned to like as much as Lane likes his.

Unfortunately, Lane's taste for killing has increased. Perhaps he was always this way inclined but now he has developed a 'habit'. He is an addict. He needs his fix.

Quoting Caldwell

Luckily for Lane, he’s not without options. Where he lives people get shot on a regular basis. And not all of those shootings are wrong, legally or even morally.

Excellent way to convey a political message. Who sets the rules? And how can they be changed?
Is it true that 'you can't educate yourself out of a habit'? Can society? How deep does it go...

In the USA, controversial decisions have been taken re use of guns in personal defence:

Quoting BBC News - Supreme Court Ruling

The court found that a New York law requiring residents to prove "proper cause" - or a good reason - to carry concealed firearms in public violates the US Constitution.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing on behalf of the six conservative judges who make up the court's majority, ruled that Americans have a right to carry "commonly used" firearms in public for personal defence.

Troubling when it paves the way for the likes of Lane and his 'knowingness'.

Quoting Caldwell

Lane doesn’t want to get too philosophical about it but there’s a little wriggle room around knowing. Like, if you leave your doors unlocked and your lights off and drive your car somewhere other than your drive and sneak back into your house and just wait, do you know someone is going to break in?

"Well, do you?" Lane kicks the body. The burglar doesn’t answer. The burglar is beyond answering.

Lane sets the trap and kills the intruder. He has a right so to do. Using philosophy as wriggle-room.
What a heady mix. Mad philosophers as serial killers.

***
Quoting jgill

This is abhorrent to most of us who actually served in the military. You didn't give an option for "I don't like it".

It is abhorrent to anyone. And to those who serve it must be of concern that some might generalise from one exceptional case. This is 'Lane's Way' not every man's way.
This is fiction but there are elements of truth. How many soldiers become drug addicts as a way to cope?
Worth drawing attention to, even if we don't like it.
We can still appreciate the story and the telling of it.
I did.

Thanks, author.

It's not badly written, but it's a story about a psychotic and predictive after the brief introduction. Not original, more like a TV movie compressed. It's one dimensional and doesn't make you think, like "Rage" does.

Quoting Amity

How many soldiers become drug addicts as a way to cope?

As a way to cope with a number of situations, but rarely because of blood lust.

Nice gag. Enjoyed it.

Quoting jgill

As a way to cope with a number of situations, but rarely because of blood lust.

Yes. I understand and appreciate that. But isn't there a danger that dependence and substance abuse become normalised and seen as acceptable? This leads to all kinds of unfortunate circumstances.
I think it is a tragedy.

There's a whole history behind this. From Homer to the Vikings and beyond. Apparently specific wars were known for different substances and distributed by the governments.

Quoting Drugs in the Military

The Civil War – Soldiers used morphine for a variety of purposes. Around 400,000 soldiers returned home addicted to morphine.
World War I – Tobacco was widely distributed by the government during the war to ease stress and boredom. Cocaine and opium were also commonly used.
World War II – The Second World War became known for amphetamine (speed) and methamphetamine (meth) use. German soldiers used an early form of crystal meth called Pervitin, as well as cocaine chewing gum. It’s estimated German soldiers consumed around 200 million methamphetamine pills during World War II.
The Vietnam War – Speed continued to be used by Americans during this war. It was primarily distributed by the U.S. government and was known as “Pep Pills.” Dosage and frequency were not regulated. Other drugs common in the Vietnam War were marijuana, heroin, and codeine.
[...]
Substance abuse has negative consequences for everyone, but those for service members are even more dire. This is mostly because of the high-risk situations they are in. Addiction among the general population is deadly because of overdoses, driving under the influence, etc. For soldiers, addiction on the battlefield is deadly for the substance abuser, their comrades, and their superiors.
[...]
Half of military members believe seeking mental health treatment would negatively impact their military careers. The messages that come with this stigma—like, “You are weak if you get help”—don’t fade once someone leaves the military. A veteran with PTSD could spend their whole life coping with substances rather than getting much-needed therapy.

[my emphasis]

Quoting Amity

But isn't there a danger that dependence and substance abuse become normalised and seen as acceptable?

Dependence, yes, we are already there. Without daily mild doses of ibuprofen my arthritis would become far less tolerable.

Quoting jgill

Dependence, yes, we are already there. Without daily mild doses of ibuprofen my arthritis would become far less tolerable.

Sorry to hear that but regular pain relief for arthritis is quite different to the drugs and misuse referred to above. There is a difference between dependence on a drug and addiction to it – you can be physically dependent on a drug but not addicted to it.

Quoting Amity

There is a difference between dependence on a drug and addiction to it – you can be physically dependent on a drug but not addicted to it.

Sometimes that difference is hard to detect. Addiction is usually physical, with psychological side-effects; dependence can be predominantly psychological, continuing after the physical need has been addressed, the would healed, etc.

In this story, Lane is not actually addicted to killing; he just likes it. Maybe you can't educate yourself out of a habit, but you can seek help to kick a habit. He doesn't do that; instead, he looks for a loophole that allows him to indulge in the guilty habit, while absolving him of wrongdoing... technically.

Reply to Caldwell

I think it's a question about the morality of entrapment.
In nature, traps are predatory contraptions eg. The venus fly trap lies in wait, knowing a fly will come and fall prey to it.

In the same way, is using a legal loop hole like "the right to defend one's property with arms" moral if you design your circumstances to lead to that being a regular likelihood.

For example moving to the roughest, most impoverished or criminal areas of a city and arming yourself with guns and pretending to leave the house.

In this way your set a trap, create an illusion of innocence. - silly (helpless) person left their door unlocked (absentmindedly) and the lights off in a place where people steal to survive/make ends meet.

It's my opinion that the same person could either move away to a safe area, or address the crime level in their town with community activities, politics or setting up charity organisation or a neighbourhood watch.
Instead they predate people that they are legally allowed to kill because, fundamentally, they love it, the thrill, the adrenaline. They love being a predatory in disguise.

In reality this would only work once, max twice. Because if a judge had seen the same person get robbed and shoot dead 5, 10, 20 people, law or not they would put a stop to it. So this "moral citizen protecting his property" woukd have to move regularly, maybe even ch age identity, to continue the pattern.

Does that moving regularly and changing identity sound familiar. Yes. It's what a criminal would do.

Hence, the very nature of a loop hole in the law. It is a way in which the permittal immorality has not been legislated against. A situation the law has not clearly outlined is not allowed.

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Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm glad this sparked some conversation. :up:

Reply to Baden Glad to be of assistance mon ami!