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Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by mikeash on Thursday December 15, 2016 @10:30AM (#13185202)
Seriously, what an asshole. He "was just unlucky"? No, there was not a single piece of bad luck for him in this whole affair. Something strange happened to him, but it was easy to handle without screwing anything up: just tell the bank they messed up, or even just ignore it. Deciding to start spending the money like crazy was not bad luck, it was bad judgment.

The bank was clearly in the wrong as well. They shouldn't have extended this credit, and once they did they shouldn't have tried to prosecute him when he didn't break the law. But acting like the negative consequences of it were bad luck makes this fellow a profound dickhead. I hope he learns better before he completes his law degree and starts representing people.

Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by TAForObvReasons on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:00AM (#13185456)
> No, there was not a single piece of bad luck for him in this whole affair. Something strange happened to him, but it was easy to handle without screwing anything up: just tell the bank they messed up, or even just ignore it. Deciding to start spending the money like crazy was not bad luck, it was bad judgment.

There's another way to look at it: The "bad judgment" is only bad if you view the standard as "tell[ing] the bank they messed up". If the standard is to blow all the money on strippers and cocaine, then the bad luck in this situation was that he was presented with the anomaly in the first place.

Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by croon on Friday December 16, 2016 @07:27AM (#13192774)
> There's another way to look at it: The "bad judgment" is only bad if you view the standard as "tell[ing] the bank they messed up". If the standard is to blow all the money on strippers and cocaine, then the bad luck in this situation was that he was presented with the anomaly in the first place.

You're equating the standards as either "telling the back they messed up" or "blow the money on strippers and cocaine", but then suggesting the bad luck is only true when one of those standards happen...

This logic doesn't even check out. And even if it did, both would assume your actions are only predicated on factors outside of your control, which I think OP is referring to isn't the case.

You are presented with a beneficial situation. You can make decisions that have various potential consequences. These are easily guessed in rudimentary detail.

"Bad luck" only enters the equation if you have no choice of what to do.

If your position is of the philosophy that there is no free will, then your argument would be better held by just stating that, instead of making up scenarios that aren't compatible.

Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by mikeash on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:08AM (#13185531)
I'm not sure what your point is. I mean, you're right, but why would I view the standard that way?
Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by restalis on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:39AM (#13185835)
"why would I view the standard that way?"

That is closer to the core human nature for a lot of people. Many people want to live and enjoy life (more than enjoying the good perks of being honest). Playing by the rules is just a mean to an end not a purpose in itself.

Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by mikeash on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:41AM (#13185860)
So what? It's human nature to bash in the head of a stranger so you can take their food, but I wouldn't accept someone calling it "unlucky" that they happened across a defenseless stranger all alone with some good food.
Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by chongli on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:57AM (#13186009)
It's definitely unlucky for the stranger with the good food!
Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by scotty79 on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:22AM (#13185677)
I wonder what would be your take on the whole case if he used the funds to build successful company that paid all the funds back, and paid for strippers and cocaine.
Re:The bank lent me $2m so I spent it on strippers and cars by mikeash on Thursday December 15, 2016 @11:25AM (#13185705)
That would be a lot better. I still wouldn't approve of it, but at least he'd be doing something useful with it.

What really gets me is not just taking the money, but then talking about the whole affair as if it was something done to him, rather than something he did.