I’m talking about like tax fraud and stuff.
Do you be the snitch, or do you be like Skyler White and join them?
Styler was complicit in a murderous/ deadly underground drug ring, where families are shredded apart and people died.
Someone fibbing on their 1099 isn’t anywhere near the same
No and no.
Ponzi scheme or something like that? Yes, I would snitch. Bank robbery, please do not tell me. Cheating on taxes? I will judge you but no, not turn you in, if you get caught you get caught.
No. Fuck the government and giant corporations. I mean I wouldn’t commit such crimes, but that’s just because I don’t want to deal with the consequences if I get caught. If you’re willing to pay your nickel and take your chances, go for it, as long as no innocent people are hurt in the process.
Depends, if the crime severely harms other people
If it harmed an innocent, probably. If it harmed a government, corporation, or detestable person, no.
Rarely is it only one or the other and not both or even several together, though…
It’s a case by case judgment call.
First, Skyler was practically a hostage, and an unwilling participant at best. I would describe her more as an abuse victim who still stays with her partner than a collaborator.
But to answer your question it’s always going to be a case-by-case basis because it really depends on the impact of what they’re doing and the harm it causes.
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Defrauding the government? Meh, the government has been fucking us for generations, turnabout is fair play.
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Stealing from some oligarch? Shit, need a partner? Eat the rich.
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Embezzling from your small-business employer? That’s more likely to have a direct impact on your coworkers so I’d be concerned but still probably not.
But more serious stuff like dealing hard drugs to kids, selling guns and bombs to crazy people, killing people, blowing shit up, etc? Yeah, now we have a problem. Now, what gets done about that problem also depends on the person, the activity, and the circumstances.
- My husband came after me with a knife so I shot him? Cool, gimme a call if you need help hiding the body.
- Help I accidentally murdered someone (and it really was an accident)? Gray area, the law probably needs to get involved but I would encourage them to come forward themselves rather than turn them in. If they had a compelling reason not to I might help them or might stay out of it depending on circumstance.
- My wife wouldn’t let me turn our home into the set of a realtiy TV show so I could be a star so I beat her to death (an actual thing that happened)? Hello officer, it was this guy right here.
Agreed. Are they punching up or down? What’s the potential harm and who will it harm?
If they’re just setting themselves up for disaster it’s probably best to remain hands-off and distance yourself. If they have a family I’d at least tell them what an idiot they are and then distance myself. Probably might be worth checking with the partner and tell them to protect themselves if they aren’t part of it.
And yeah, like you said, anything causing harm to innocent parties like selling hard drugs or guns is a non-starter.
Yeah, their reasons for doing it matter too obviously. If they’re just fucking over other people to enrich themselves then I am much more likely to report them (and also stop being friendly, cause that’s not the kind of person I want to spend my time with.)
Also re:selling guns I should clarify - I don’t have an issue with selling guns, even illegally, unless they’re selling to people who shouldn’t have them.
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I feel like this is the kind of question that needs a whole lot of details before it is answerable.
Tax fraud? Absolutely fuck not.
Drunk driving? Probably I would give them a single “Hey next time I find out you’re doing that I am calling the cops on you” warning shot.
Stealing from their company? Depends, what does the company do and who owns it? Again almost certainly not.
And so on.
No wonder nepotism exists. https://www.statista.com/chart/8668/the-global-cost-of-tax-avoidance/
Personally I make a distinction in tax fraud. If it’s an individual? Meh, whatever. If it’s a company that has a significantly larger impact.
What offense?
exactly
Ya, hopefully OP is in a safe place if need be.
I ain’t seen nuttin’, officer.
Ethics comes above personal relationships always. That being said, small-scale tax fraud doesn’t really seem pressing; there’s plenty of flexibility about what to do about that, ethically speaking.
I’d have to duckduckgo where you even report that, because I don’t think it’s the normal police.
You don’t have join them, but you can also not see a god damned thing. Unless they’re doing something that screws over good, innocent people, especially on a wide scale, I’m minding my own business.
Snitch on a loved one? Never. If I thought it was ethically or morally wrong, I would tell them what I think about it. Good people also make mistakes, and good people can change.
What if your family member deliberately molested a young child, would you not want to get that child help? Even if you refused to tell the police, you would need to tell someone related to that child and 99/100 cases would result in them reporting the abuse to police.
How is that a non-violent offence?
Depends on the details. If their crime hurt someone innocent (or had a high likelihood to) and it was intentional, yes.
If I’m likely to go down with them if they get caught, yes.
Otherwise, I ain’t no snitch and even if I were I don’t know anything about nothing.
Yeah, I would’ve done so too, because that dude was bankrupting people just to make himself a bit richer. I hope he rots in hell.
See, there’s people here saying never for something nonviolent. That’s kinda silly, non-violent crimes can be just as bad. They’re just less visually compelling.
I have higher standards than most people I guess. My rule is simple: don’t be stupid, don’t be a dick. If you can’t clear those two pretty low bars then you are cordially invited to get bent.
They often don’t consider child sexual abuse where the offense isn’t violent but the child will be permanently harmed unless they get help.
What’s the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?
This is democracy manifest!
Ah I see you know your judo well!
Get your hand off my peNIS!
And you sir, are you waiting to receive my limp penis?
If it’s non-violent, no. never.
As a general rule, I don’t call the cops on anyone unless that person’s death will prevent immediate harm to others.
Cause if you call the cops on someone, you do put that person (and their neighbors) in mortal danger.
It goes like this. If you have a problem and you call the cops, you now have two problems. It’s up to you to decide if the first problem is worth getting into the second.
What about taking the direct (early) Breaking Bad example: they’re not gunning people down in the street, but their product is definitely getting poeple, including children, addicted. It’s non-violent, let’s say they don’t even hire people to shoot competitors or whatever, but it is inarguably causing people significant, probably life-long harm.
Wow, where do you live? This just sounds crazy to have to worry about this when deciding whether to involve the cops.
Going to guess America, since all of those rules apply for dealing with U.S. police. If you call them, you have to expect someone to die.
“Expect” seems a bit dramatic, since it’s not like they gun down someone on every call. Be prepared for the possibility, maybe.
I agree with other commenters that it depends on the crime against my own morals.
