Is there a difference

I have a rill question.
is there a difference between doing the wrong thing and not doing any thing at all?
For example a friend gets drunk and he/she is not aloud to drink. So at 3/4 in the morning he/she decides to walk all the way accost town to get home.

If it were really my friend, he/she would never have been drinking had they been told not to. However, if that wasn't the case, I would still help them because I just can't let a friend of mine face hard problems on his/her own >__<

I would always help my friend when they need help.

I strongly believe that people should take responsibility for their own actions. So if my friend chose to drink when he's underage and has to walk home late at night, too bad he can walk by himself. If he gets mugged, even better, it'll teach them a lesson.

Edit: You can tell I don't have many friends left.

Well, I'm surprised that nobody would do nothing.

Aside from that, no, I probably wouldn't help them. They made a choice, it's their responsibility to man up to it and accept whatever consequences come. And if they end up mugged/dead, yeah that's a tragedy, but it's just Social Darwinism at its finest.

If I knew the person well, I'd give him a hand. As I'm helpful and loyal to my friends. But if it's some random guy, fuck that, his problem.

Strongly depends on the situation, and who it is.
If it were a friend I'd help him/her out by at least offering them to crash at my place but I probably wouldn't go further than that, meaning I wouldn't follow them home to see that they got home safely. If it were a stranger or someone that I barely knew I wouldn't care. That's his loss for not being able to hold his liquor.

Keep in mind the situation.

A FRIEND tries to go home drunk...

Most human beings consider friends to be worth keeping around, so would likely try to stop a friend from potentially killing himself. THAT is why the responses so far aren't "I wouldn't do anything."



To answer the question (there are actually two in this case):

1)

a) If it were within my power, I wouldn't let anyone drive home drunk, friend or not. Driving home drunk not only endangers the person, but everyone else on the road as well, which might include _me_. Walking home is a less dangerous, but the principle still apples.

b) A friend I will try my best to convince not to go. Depending on the level of drunkness (and my fondness of the guy), I might even physically restrain him. A stranger, on the other hand, I won't go as far. Drunks are notoriously hard to reason with, and a violent drunk is just dangerous. On the other hand, I'm willing to put up with a violent drunk friend.

In the occasional times that this situation came up in real life (one of my friends got drunk in a party, had a fight with another girl, had to go home), I drove the girl home. If someone I actually loved tried to walk home drunk and there's no way I can accompany them I'll fucking lock her up in some room (and occasionally makes sure she's still breathing).

2)

Is doing nothing the same as doing the wrong thing? A while back, there was a thread on another fourm where a guy fell into train tracks and another guy jumped down to save him. Quite a number of people wouldn't, especially if the train was fast approaching. Is not jumping to save the man the same as killing him with bare hands? Of course not. Risking your life to save another is commendable, but not risking your life doesn't mean you're an evil apathetic sonofabitch. In that thread, one poster said that anyone who _didn't_ try to save the guy was as guilty as pushing him down the tracks. Seriously, what? No, pushing the guy down the track (the wrong thing) is definitely not the same as not not risking my life to save him.

Personally I find this saying annoying: "All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing." Seriously, no. Sometimes doing nothing is the only thing you can do, and sometimes it is the correct thing.

^
While I agree with you on that doing nothing in that situation is more or less a given for everyone. But let's say that there is a less extreme situation, or a situation where you can easily step in without danger:

You're walking down an alley and you see a kid(Age 8-9) running towards you, in his arms there are quite the few packets of various snacks. Drom inside a shop a man exits and yells for the kid to stop, he then sees you and yells to you to stop the little shoplifter. For the kid to pass you you must step aside, what do you do?

I'd stop the kid and follow him back to the store, making sure that the shop-owner was telling the truth that the kid had stolen the snacks or w/e. This isn't any of my business, and I could easily just step aside and do nothing but I feel that it's my obligation to stop the kid in this situation.

The example isn't foolproof I know, but you get the picture. If you could act without danger for your own health, would you?

LOL I was in the exact same situation my friend, she got really drunk before we went to a night club and she was wasted and if she went home her parents would kick her out so I let her sleep on my bed and I slept on the floor next to her and made sure she was alright until the morning. And before you ask NO! there was no funny stuff that happened that night, I may be a pervert but I am not that kind of a pervert.

Of cause there is a difference, e.g. in the example you give it would depend on how responsible you feel for your friend. If you truely feel resposible for your friend then it is wrong to do nothing, otherwise your friend will just learn his/her lesson when the perents find out, and you will have done nothing wrong.

Well now, I would have to say I would keep my friend with me.

The greatest evil is the indifference of good men.
(I heard that somewhere)

In the situation presented by the OP, i would give my friend a ride home(unless if i'm not in a condition to drive, in which case i would try to get a mutual friend to drive him or her). However, i would still reserve the right to yell at him or her if that person does seem to have a drinking problem.

As for main question, i think it depends on the situation.

well it really matters what it is... I mean if you see something wrong and dont do nothing thats like helping them out. Like think about it if it was you. You would like help wouldnt you?

Well it happened to me once, what my friends did was drag me to my car and left me there to sleep. I think Id do the same, leave him/her at a secure location and let him/her decide what to do after.

I dont think its right to physically restrain him/her - force the person against his/her will.

I mean the kind of drunk that you wake up the next day and don`t recall what happened the night before you know i mean plastered you know.

Gotta keep them safe, gotta keep them there.