We are failing the Lindsay Clancy Test
Impossible to avoid, I guess.
Even though I initially thought to myself, "There's no need for me to read about this." I've been bombarded by hot takes, as they call them, that are literally hurting my brain and my soul.
Between the ladies who show up at rallies, with their own children, mind you, defending Lindsay, some of them avoiding nuance completely, and the men who are using this horrible event to argue for regressive policies, including removing women from voting completely, this world seems more and more insane to me by the day.
Listen, I understand the nuanced argument, or at least I think I do. The idea is that if Lindsay Clancy was not of sound mind, she should not be tried in the same way as a sane person. I get that. That is hardly controversial. It is standard legal practice.
What I don't get is why this is becoming a social battleground.
There are people pointing out that men kill their families more often. They say this, and then demand outrage for the actions of those men too.
"Where is the outrage?" they scream.
Confusion and headaches follow, at least for me.
I don't see people defending these men. And, to be completely honest, if someone was defending a man who murdered his whole family, I would have no qualms about calling that defender a monster. At least if no nuance was offered, if the man was of sound mind, if the context elevated the tragedy to a pure act of evil.
It is not unreasonable to have a black and white principle here. As a matter of fact, I'm tempted to have it myself.
If you do the crime, you do the time.
But again, the state of mind of the person committing the crime is considered as context, so that the punishment can be administered correctly. There is a difference between justice and vengeance, and it hardly needs defending which one we should be striving for.
As with so many things that divide our culture these days, this is becoming less about justice and more about scoring points. Sadly, this reality keeps being strengthened by the system of incentives we've created, and by the ultra-connectedness of our online existence.
Everything is an opportunity to dunk on the other side.
Sad?
Yes.
Surprising?
Not even a little bit.
MenO
I think part of the problem ties back to the whole post partum psychosis thing. It's not common for men to experience that since they aren't the ones who actually carry the child. I'm not saying I lean one way or the other, but as a mental health professional my wife has been following this case closely. Again though, the argument that men kill more frequently or whatever is like comparing apples to oranges for me in this case. The other sad thing is the number of people who don't even realize what the case is about. Yes, the kids died, but it's a competency hearing, not whether she did it or not. She already admitted to that but here you have armchair lawyers pointing the finger at the husband. :)
Social media algorithms have created a confirmation bias; essentially, they place you in a bubble with like-minded people, giving you the "confirmation" that you are always right.
As for whether or not someone is mentally healthy... imagine a person who commits a crime while under the influence of drugs, do you think they should be held accountable? Ultimately, you don't punish someone out of revenge (lives cannot be brought back), but rather to deter others from committing the same crime.
I honestly don't even follow that case. Or any, these days. As you say, it hurts the brain just to go through all the false arguments (red herring, straw man, and so on). And the heart to see how people get at each other without any chance for real solutions.
Women kill their young children FAR MORE than men. So much so that there is a specific word for it. And men who kill babies are tried as murderers, and mothers are given counselling for the traumatic loss.
The problem is that there is no proper punishment for Clancy's. She is sick and probably uncureable, but they will probably be just fine outside of "stressful mother" conditions. In other words, sterilization, and keep her away from babies, or small children. But, that would be seen as cruel punishment.
The problem is that wimminz do not want to be held accountable. Not accountable for 3rd trimester abortion. Not accountable for 33rd trimester abortion. And how dare those moralists force their morals upon us.
But, morals are what allow us to have a high trust society. If a small group does not have morals, we need to lock them away from society and/or have the society shame them.
What i hear being argued is, "How dare society shame someone for lacking morals." And Wimminz are jumping on the bandwagon, because they do not want to be shamed if they "accidentally" find themselves in the same position.
The sex difference in parental child homicide depends heavily on the child's age and the circumstances of the killing. Mothers and fathers are roughly equal for infants, while men account for more filicide overall and substantially more killings of older children and family annihilation.
That said... it hardly matters to me. If its about justice, these people have to be dealt with. Institutionalized, imprisoned, whatever it takes. Its obvious they can't be part the civilized world.
Perhaps I'm simplistic about it, but I believe every case should be considered individually, and that everyone should receive a fair trial untainted by (often uninformed) social media attention or the tendency by increasingly authoritarian governments to apply summary justice influenced by whether the accused fits a political target group.
But this case has relevance on a more macro level. I feel we may see more focus on infanticide cases, and more stringent punishments applied, whether warranted or not. North America, most of Eurasia and Eastasia are now in a situation where population growth is no longer the enemy because fertility levels have fallen below replacement level. While in a few areas (e.g. here in the UK) the ruling elite see the solution as wholesale replacement of the indigenous population by immigration from cultures with higher fertility, in most regions I expect to see the value placed on the lives of children increase as a result of their scarcity.