The Catholics say despair is a sin and perhaps it is, but it is hard to be optimistic about the world when you see stories like this one. Even allowing for the possibility there could be more to the story than what is being reported, how can society survive when this sort of thing  is even plausible?

Thomas Salbey became an internet sensation after footage of him hurling abuse at Sonboly, from the balcony of his fifth floor apartment was posted on Twitter.

But while many praised Mr. Salbey for standing up to the gunman – who aimed shots in his direction – Florian Weinzierl, a spokesman for the Munich prosecutor, has confirmed that Mr. Salbey is to be charged with libel for his comments. It is not known who reported Mr. Salbey to the authorities.

As the attack by Sonboly was already underway, Mr. Weinzierl said that initial investigations have shown that Mr. Salbey’s diatribe did not affect the course of events. The specific charges have yet to be announced, but Mr. Weinzierl said he expected that they would include “insults to the detriment of the dead”.

Detriment to the dead? How is it possible that such a combination of words exists, much less made its ways into the law? Now, loopy nonsense gets into the law for various reasons and maybe this is the case, but civil authorities appear to be ready to charge a man for insulting the dead. How is this different from charging someone with being a wizard? The underlying assumption is that through some magical means, the insult reaches the insulted. I guess the prosecutor will use a Ouija board at trial to get a victim statement.

That’s only half the problem. What sort of person reported the guy? presumably, someone complained. In Europe, it is against the law to hurt someone’s feelings so I would assume that’s the angle. The accused insulted the dead, which made someone sad so the accused must be made to suffer. This is old testament justice for the snowflake age. Instead of eye-for-an-eye, it’s boo-boo for boo-boo justice.  The fact that this exists and people go along with it suggests there no hope for the West. Only a mass die off like the Black Plague can fix this.

It’s not so much that some women called the authorities on this guys. You just know it is a woman who dropped the dime. It is always a woman behind these things. It’s that people in positions of responsibility encourage this sort of thing. For all of human history, the ruling class discouraged this sort of behavior as they knew it could get out of hand quickly. The prosecutors or police who took this call should have politely listened, promised to look into it and then forgot about it. That’s how you’re supposed to handle community cranks.

We’re doomed.