I’ve found that as you pass through life, there are stretches of time where you get the sense that you understand the world and its ways. You become jaded; surprises stop being surprises. You think you know who you are and approximately what everything else is. Before yesterday, I was in such a “stretch.” No longer.
I participate in a student discussion group that reads the Economist each week. Usually that’s just fine, merely an opportunity to catch up on the news with some friends, but yesterday I read this article. You don’t need to read it. I’ll summarize. Basically, bounty hunting is a real job in America, and it’s not some tame profession neutered by regulation. Warrants are utterly unnecessary. As long as you know where a fugitive is located, you can bust down their door and cuff them after a short and brutal tussle. According to the article, “ballistic vests, pepper spray, tasers, handguns and, for some jobs, a shotgun loaded with a beanbag” are all fair game.
I don’t know what I want to do with my life anymore. Yeah, I could keep walking the liberal arts path, but I could also going into bounty hunting. I could be entering into a raw and barbaric remnant of a more rugged past. Obviously, I recognize that there is a (large) handful of ethical concerns with the line of work. Excessive violence is apparently par for the course. Breaking into private property seems a bit specious. And, while I’m no law buff, the readily accessible facial-recognition technology seems to be in conflict with a robust understanding of privacy.
In spite of this ethical sketchiness, the allure is undeniable. Bounty hunting holds a freedom lost to most of America. We are so ineffably civilized, to the point that we have forgotten that the law is an illusion holding us back. It is a beneficial construct to be sure, but just as surely it is man-made fiction. Bounty hunting is not bound by these restrictions. In some small way, it is a spare return to the idea of the "noble savage."
If you are anything like me and have a soul so romantic that this lifestyle appeals to you, bounty hunting is probably for you. In about a third of the states, you don't even need a license to get started. So, together, let's embrace our inner animalistic selves and beat up criminals for a living.
