It is interesting that no one has actually addressed my question, except the good Doctor. I am not debating how this couple came to be kidnapped, due to their own foolhardiness, but how forumites would react if members of their family were being held hostage, to the prospect of either seeing them languish for months or more in captivity possibly ending in their deaths, or pay a ransom for their release.

The “state” and “commonsense” are mutually exclusive.

The theoretical equality of Marxist ideology doesn’t seem to have worked. It is a utopian aspiration. Human beings are born into a huge range of differing social circumstances and state social engineering does not work. People will change their own circumstances by dint of their own efforts.

People will achieve their own sense of well-being in a hundred different ways.

You are right inkworm. But we are where we are, as they say, however much it appals us. So, within that context, we all have to be careful. It’s commonsense, and our protagonist acted stupidly.

I agree with the first two. I do not have sufficient history of the forum to know whether or not posts of a threatening nature have been made in reaction to an incident.

However it has to be said that in an era of ultra sensitive security, especially where civil airfields are concerned, anyone who either thinks that such a threat would not be taken seriously or fails to engage the brain before twittering, has to accept the consequences. Maybe twitter serves a useful purpose, maybe not, but perhaps this case will teach users to think first and not risk being twits later.