— Edwin Arlington Robinson

dishonor n : the state of one who has lost honor or prestige : SHAME <would rather die than live in ~>

INTRODUCTION:

In this particular lifetime, you shall be presented with many opportunities to fuck up, or otherwise disgrace yourself. Who you will become is wholly dependant upon the choices you make in various situations. If you knowingly make an evil choice — and your actions become common knowledge — others will quite reasonably assume that you are an evil person. If you repeatedly choose the path of evil, you will become an evil person. And if you commit an abomination, you will rightfully become villified till the day you die (and then some). Remember, once you’ve made a choice and acted upon it, the deed cannot be undone.

One’s level of dishonor is dependant upon the hideousness of one’s crimes. Hence, a person who repeatedly commits dishonest acts is a dishonorable man, but not nearly on the same level as a creature who commits a single abomination. Theologians and ethical philosophers can expound for hours upon the various "levels of dishonor," and how, due to various complicated circumstances, one dishonorable man might "have more honor" than another . . . but this is all extraneous bullshit. In this section, I shall briefly detail the four basic levels of dishonor, from least to worst (although they are all unacceptable to the warrior).

DISHONESTY:

Dishonesty can be divided into three basic categories: Lying, Cheating, and Stealing — all of which are interrelated.

Lying is simply the act of knowingly telling an untruth with the intent to deceive another. This is almost invariably a form of cowardice, in which one elects to speak an untruth rather than admit to a mistake or wrongdoing. Another form of lying is used to manipulate others into doing something other than what they would do if they instead knew the actual truth (which is often a preamble to stealing — this technique is favored by unscrupulous salesmen). In a very few instances, lying is excusable. For example, if you were a witness to a homicide, but did not wish to rat out the perpetrator, it would be permissible (aye, even encouraged) that you simply state "I didn’t see nuthin’," when interrogated by police. If, however, you naively decided to be 100% truthful and said, "yes, I saw who did it, but I’m not going to tell you because that would be dishonorable," you will probably be handcuffed and led away as a "material witness," and held without bail for up to a year on charges of "obstructing justice" and "contempt of court." In some jurisdictions, you might even be sentenced to several years in state prison as an "accessory to homicide after the fact." It is generally considered to be reasonable, acceptable, and even expected to lie to the police in order to spare yourself (or others) unnecessary grief (remember, the policeman is a representative of the government, which is a vast bureaucracy, and he is mandated to follow procedures listed in The Book without aberration — this is why one cannot reason with a rookie or a "supercop"). As a general rule, one should never lie "except to spare a homely girl’s feelings or save a life." If you lie for any other reason, you will become a liar, and your word won’t mean shit — and "a man is only as good as his word."

Cheating, as described here, has nothing to do with "cheating" on a written exam or one’s income taxes (both of which are ethically wrong, but amount to little more than bureaucratic bullshit). No, dishonorable cheating falls into two distinct categories: cheating on one’s wife, and cheating at gambling (particularly cards). Your wife should be the most important person in the world to you, and your relationship should be one of mutual trust and respect. Thus, it would be dishonorable to go around sticking it in other women without her knowledge and permission (if not actual participation). However, many prominent individuals (including at least one former President of the United States) have clearly stated that "eatin’ ain’t cheatin’." In many cultures, sex with hired prostitutes is not considered to be cheating either (presumably due to the fact that there is no emotional attachment or implied commitment to a relationship), but unfortunately, most streetwalking prostitutes are filthy bags of pus with open sores and raging drug habits — and you should never fuck something you wouldn’t kiss.

Cheating at gambling, however, whether you’re palming an ace, using marked cards, rolling loaded dice, sharking at pool, or moving gamepieces when no-one’s looking, is a despicable (and highly dangerous) activity — particularly when large sums of money are involved. Either form of cheating will instantly transform you into a scoundrel.

Stealing is simply the act of wrongfully taking something that does not belong to you. There are many forms of stealing, and a partial list includes: shoplifting, mail fraud, misrepresentation of merchandise, knowingly selling defective merchandise, embezzlement, theft of services, kiting bad checks, larceny, vehicle theft, burglary, mugging, and robbery. Once you have stolen something, you will be forever branded as a thief.

DEGRADATION:

There are many ways that a man can physically degrade himself through acting on his weakness of character. Four of the most common ways are through: Addiction, Lechery, Squalor, and Subjugation.

Addiction can take many forms. Drunkeness is the most common. A man can be considered an "alcoholic" because he drinks more than 6 beers every night, but as long as he can handle his drink (it doesn’t interfere with his ability to work, raise his family, or interact in society), he does not have a drinking problem. If, however, his drinking regularly gets him in trouble at work, in fights with his family, and prosecuted by the law, then his drinking has developed into a problem. If he spends all his free time drinking, buys cheap booze to make his drinking money go further, frequently makes a spectacle of himself while drinking, and often wakes up in a puddle of vomit (or other bodily fluids), then he has become a wretched lush.

Addiction to illicit street drugs (particularly: cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine) rapidly deteriorates one’s physical body and generates inhuman cravings for the drug which often results in hustling and stealing in order to get the money to maintain one’s habit. When one reaches this point, he or she has become a crackhead, junkie, or speed freak, and will no longer be recognized by society as a fellow human being.

Lechery is an uncontrollable compulsion to stimulate one’s genitalia to orgasm. This often manifests in promiscuity or compulsive masturbation. Lechers typically amass substantial collections of pornography, frequently make obscene jokes, and often make inappropriately lewd advances to women (which may even involve actual groping). Unless the lecher progresses (degenerates) to publically exposing himself or attempting to forcibly have sex with unwilling participants, he (or rarely, she) will simply be considered to be an object of ridicule and contempt, enslaved by his libidinous urges.

Squalor is a profound disregard for the appearance of one’s self and one’s living quarters (although it will invariably extend to one’s vehicle, workplace, yard, locker, and any other area under one’s immediate control). It can range anywhere from simply being considered a "slob," to having the dishes in one’s sink becoming fuzzy with mold, to living amongst animal droppings and piles of soiled tissues. If you look like shit, you can reasonably expect to be treated like shit.

Subjugation is when, through a combination of fear, apathy, and pacifism, one willingly allows oneself to be subject to victimization. Such a disgusting weakling will think nothing of "turning the other cheek" to a bully, meekly allowing his possessions to be taken from him, or even permitting those physically weaker than himself to taunt and ridicule him (or her). If uncorrected, such victimization will steadily increase in frequency as well as severity. The only way to break this cycle of degradation is to decide to fight back and refuse to back down, regardless of the outcome. If you cannot stand up for yourself, it is highly unlikely that anyone will intervene on your behalf, and eventually (figuratively or literally), your enemies will be lining up to fuck you in the ass. If you refuse to stand up for yourself, you deserve to be victimized by those who view you as their rightful prey (even though this concept seems horribly unfair).

DESPICABLE DOUBLE-CROSSING:

Double-crossing can take many forms, but they each involve betrayal. When you betray someone, that means that you have viciously turned on someone who trusted you and considered you a friend, in order to decimate them with a sneak attack (whether this is one’s intent or not). Betrayal is always the result of cowardice, and although various forms of double-crossing are commonly encountered in the worlds of business, politics, and espionage, such matters are typically far removed from the warrior’s sphere of influence and thus shall not be addressed here. What shall be addressed is: Blabbing, Cuckolding, Abandonment, and Informing.

Blabbing is considered the most innocuous of all the forms of betrayal, although it can easily destroy a friendship and even result in having one’s teeth kicked out. Blabbing is when you reveal a friend’s secrets to another, whether it is done intentionally or not. Some people have a tendency to shoot off their mouth after they’ve been drinking, others may be motivated through a desire for revenge, and a few may just like to stir up trouble; but by far, the most common motivation for blabbing about a friend’s personal business is simply a perverse desire to be the center of attention for a moment or two — and if a loser with a weak ego knows an interesting fact about you, it is virtually guaranteed to become local gossip in short order. One of the most insidious aspects to blabbing is that events always tend to get exaggerated in the retelling, until they become horribly distorted rumors which can potentially destroy a person’s reputation. Remember, if you are incapable of keeping people’s secrets, people will no longer confide anything to you. You do not want a reputation as a "blabbermouth."

Cuckolding is, frankly speaking, when you fuck your friend’s woman without his knowledge and express permission. Such activity is strictly forbidden! If you choose to betray a friend by seducing his woman (or allowing her to seduce you), it becomes a double-betrayal which will doom both relationships upon its eventual discovery (don’t fool yourself — they always find out). If you commit this horrendous act, you are, in effect, giving your friend permission to shoot you in the face . . . and you’d deserve it. If you cuckold a friend, the dual betrayal of trust could easily devastate him to the point of suicide — but statistics clearly show that he’ll be inclined to take you with him (and quite possibly her as well). There are a million other women in the world that you can potentially fuck, so you have no call to even think about stuffing your crank in one of the few which are off limits.

Abandonment can take several forms — all of them horrendously vile. One of the commonest (and most reprehensible) forms is when a man chooses to "walk out" on his wife and children, disappearing without any attempt at further contact, and neglecting his lawful responsibility for providing continued financial support. This is only permissible in the (disturbingly common) event that he discovers that his wife knowingly had a child by another man and wrongfully presented it as his own — then continued to cheat on him (incidentally, I personally have known two individuals this happened to — both of whom, however, chose to continue to support the worthless bitch anyhow — both of the bitches in question later proved unworthy of such generosity and understanding). Another form is when one becomes separated from his friend (whom he is responsible for the transportation of) in a crowd, and, for whatever reason (usually a woman), elects to "ditch" him, leaving him to fend for himself. If one’s friend has a fat wallet, lives just across town, has been acting like a dick, and failed to meet at the agreed upon rendevous site, this might be excusable; but if you’re ditching a penniless companion hundreds of miles from home without fair warning, that is a horrible betrayal which could place him in grave danger. If a friend has foolishly eaten several hits of strong acid, or guzzled a fifth of whiskey, and is clearly whacked out of his skull, it would be horrendously irresponsible to knowingly allow him to wander off into the wilderness, or the city streets, by his lonesome (particularly in the wintertime). The final form of abandonment which will be addressed here is that of cowardly running away in the face of approaching danger, leaving your friend behind to face it himself . . . this is especially bad if you suddenly jet without even saying a word, and he’s there still thinking you’ve "got his back." If you run away from a fight, you will usually be considered to be a wussy (at the very least, unless there were extenuating circumstances — like a sawed-off shotgun), but if you leave a partner behind, you’re lower than dogshit. The only possible exception to this might be if you were facing ridiculously overwhelming odds, yelled at your partner to RUN!, and he foolishly insisted upon fighting simply to prove how tough he was.

Informing is when you rat someone out. I’m not talking here about the citizen who witnesses a violent crime and feels it’s his "civic duty" to call the police, nor am I talking about the career snitch who makes a living by selling information about his fellow criminals to the police. No, here I speak of betraying a loyal friend in hopes of saving your own worthless hide. This is the lowest form of cowardice, plain and simple. The police suspect you of involvement in a crime (which may very well be the case, as you certainly seem to have knowledge of it), and are mercilessly grilling you. They might be holding you incommunicado for hours, screaming in your face, denying you a phone call, denying you your right to consult with an attorney, and maybe even slapping the shit out of you while torturing you with stun guns. They’ll threaten you with years in prison, telling you (in graphic detail) how the bugger-boys will be passing you around like a joint. They’ll tell you lies about how your friend already "told them everything," and had tried to place the blame on you. They’ll also falsely promise to "let you off easy" in return for your "co-operation." If you’re a bitch-ass mother-fucker with Kool-aid pumpin’ through your veins, you might be inclined to snivel, "Please let me go, Mister Detective Sir — do it to him! He’s the one who did it!" After which, the nice detective might condescendingly pat you on the head and tell you what a good rat-fuck you are. You better listen up motherfuckers — if you rat out a loyal friend, you have truly fucked up beyond any hope of redemption, and deserve to be drug behind a truck till there ain’t nothin’ left but scrap meat. All rats deserve to be killed slowly and painfully (there is one extremely rare exception to this rule, but it is far too complicated to be addressed here, and probably wouldn’t apply to you anyhow).

DEVIANCE:

Believe it or not, there actually is a creature more loathsome than an informant — collectively, these odious creatures are known as freaks. Freaks are mentally ill deviants which manifest their respective pathologies through sexually aberrant (and often violent) behavior. There are over a hundred different types of freak, but, for purposes of brevity, only four general categories will be discussed here: Weenie-wagglers, Perverts, Rapists, and Baby-rapers.

The weenie-waggler (although female examples of this pathology also exist) typically is a compulsive masturbator who feels further compelled to expose himself to others. There are many different versions of this deviate. Some like to peek in people’s windows. Others like to drive around town with their dick in their hand. A few simply like to whip it out in elevators or subway cars. And there is always the archetypical (although rare) "flasher in a trenchcoat." Although usually ridiculed and dismissed as "harmless whackos," this type of deviant is potentially dangerous due to the fact that he obviously has no self-control whatsoever. If, for whatever reason, you gain a reputation for whipping your pecker out in public, you can reasonable expect to be ostracized and reviled (and rightfully so). Such a person has no place in society.

Perverts are freaks whose idea of sexual partners is seriously messed up. These are the pathetic losers who purchase inflatable girlfriends, spend hundreds of dollars on "phone sex," and proposition strangers in public lavatories . . . they also have been known to have sex with animals, vacuum cleaners, and even corpses. If you are discovered to be engaging in such ludicrous activities, your credibility will be completely shot forever.

There are many forms of rapist — all of them lower than dogshit. Most commonly encountered is the "date rapist." Such a predator may attempt to psychologically pressure a weak-willed individual into allowing him access to her genitals. If this ploy fails, he may become angry, or even insinuate that he’ll damage her reputation or even hurt her physically. In rare instances, he may actually use physical force to achieve his goal. Date-rapists often will insist that their date drink far more than she is capable of handling, or even resort to knockout drops (chloral hydrate) or "roopies" (Rohypnol) in order to incapacitate her to the point that he can have his way with her without her consent. Other forms of rapist include those who would have sex with a retard, an invalid, an autistic person, or a person in a coma — none of whom would be capable of giving informed legal consent. The final (and most vicious) form is the violent rapist who usually subdues his victims by either beating them into submission or choking them into unconsciousness. Fortunately, the violent rapist who "jumps out of the bushes" to attack random passers-by is quite rare (although stalkers who attack people they know are disturbingly common). All rapists should be emasculated with rusty steak knives and allowed to bleed out in solitary confinement.

Baby-rapers are those despicable creatures who like to show their genitals to children — irregardless as to if any actual sexual contact is initiated. If you show your pecker to a child, that makes you a baby-raper. Anyone who deliberately exposes themselves to a child should have their genitals slowly crushed in a vise, before being executed with a belt sander.

CONCLUSION:

So there you have it — my version of the various levels of dishonor. There are certain lines that a man cannot cross without paying a terrible price. For example, once you have willingly injected drugs into your arm, or allowed yourself to be buggered without even putting up a fight, that’s it for you — you have just become human refuse. If you choose to tell tall tales, blab people’s secrets, and pilfer small items which catch your fancy, no-one will ever trust you. If you regularly make lewd passes at waitresses, neglect your personal hygiene, and drink till you shit your pants, people will consider you repellant. If you choose to neglect your responsibilities to your family, hit on your friend’s wife, and rat out your partners, you will be hated and despised. And if you attempt to wrongfully interject your erect member into the personal space of others, you will be widely reviled — even by people you’ve never met before (this is known as "infamy"). Please do yourself (and the rest of the world) a favor and think before you act. If you act on impulse, without any consideration for the possible consequences a bad choice might have on yourself (or others), then you’re just sleepwalking on auto-pilot and reacting to stimuli like a monkey in the zoo. Think before you act, and always try to make the right choice . . . even if no-one’s looking.