Don't be a punk; do this instead

"Only a punk beats his wife and his dog." - Hunter S. Thompson.

Heck of a quote.

It’s a from a YouTube video I was watching where, in 1967, Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author, is being interviewed on live TV.

He had just released his seminal book, “Hell’s Angels” and was on the show to be confronted by a member of the Hell’s Angels, notorious biker gang.

And let me tell you, it’s like something out of the Twilight Zone.

Wild stuff.

First of all, the biker rides into the studio on his motorcycle.

Then, he starts confronting Hunter about how the “book is 60% made up garbage".”

It finally comes out that Hunter had left the group after he caught one of the Hell’s Angels beating his wife and dog in front of the group.

Hunter confronted the man with the before-mentioned quote, which led to the man (along with 3-4 of his friends) beating Hunter within a inch of his life.

But the weird part is that the studio audience was cool with the beating of the man’s wife (even laughing several times about it). And, the host stopped the show before Hunter could further tell his side of the story.

60 years later, Hunter comes across as the only one in the room that had any courage at all.

He stood up for what he believed in, even when the majority didn’t agree with him, in front of a Hell’s Angel on live TV.

Legend.

Here’s the lesson:

Resist doing what is acceptable just to be accepted.

Have a code of conduct, a set of principles, an ethos. Then, stand up for what you believe in.

Even when, especially when, the rest of the world is going with the flow.

Be in the arena.

This is optimal.

Swanagan