Recently, I've had the chance to go back and play some of my favorite games such as the Spiderman PS4 game or the legendary Arkham Series. It gave me the chance to think about how would this function in real life. Now obviously, the games are far fetched an all but could a somewhat low-key vigilante be able to perform his or her duty on a small town. There are different definitions of a vigilante and all so let's see how this would potentially turn out.
Vigilantism is defined as "actions of a single person or group of people who claim to enforce the law but lack the legal authority to do so" as defined by Merriam Webster. I feel like this is integral to how the United States works. One of the fundamental values that the American Dream was built on was being left with your own personal freedoms and values. The American Dream always tells us to stand up for what we believe in and how we think that the world should run. This is highly important in recognizing the purpose of Vigilantes because they recognize how the community or even world around them is falling apart and they choose to make a difference in helping people in it. Vigilantes are performing their own form of Justice by performing as they see fit.
According to the Crime Museum In the 19th century in San Francisco, people took matters into their own hands. They saw how inefficiently the justice system was working so they took matters into their own hands. This shows how efficient Vigilantism can be if it is used properly. But Vigilantism also has a counter to the benefits it provides. Some people or groups The KKK used their own form of vigilantism as a reason to punish the diversity that the United States supports but we should be hesitant to include this as in recent years, vigilantism has taken more of a positive turn.
Vigilantism has been used for social justice as well. According to the civil rights, "Civil disobedience is a type of vigilantism as it attempts to enforce some form of the law that they seem fit to be correct." In the united states, the government often shows incompetency and since our nation is built on the morals of attempting to stand up for our beliefs, Vigilantism provides people with this possibility. People have consistently argued that Martin Luther King Jr was a pioneer in his beliefs because he took to protest to change the laws that he saw a consistent problem with. This means that one of the most important freedom fighters in history has been a model for a modern vigilante.
In more modern times, Vigilantism has turned towards feminism and a women's right to protect her body. Many modern Woman's Rights movements are modern forms of Vigilantism. The #metoo movement or the debate on abortions can be considered modern forms of people standing up for their beliefs or standing up the injustice that they see in the nation. If we are to move forward socially as a nation, people like this must stand up for their beliefs.
With so many other political issues raging in our country right now, we should all take a breath of fresh air and think about some of the smaller but in my opinion still important issues in the ideas of crime. Each decision we make has an impact as we are always told and sometimes, we need to consider if we stand up for something we believe in, could it be beneficial to those around us in such a way that it would protect them or enhance their way of living?
