It was about a year ago that I found myself cornered against a building staring down the barrel of a forty-five. The barrel glinted in the moonlight and I found myself wondering what I was doing in the ghettos of Buenos Aires at that late hour. The two thugs searched my pockets and stripped me of all my money, electronic devices and even forced me to hand over my jacket. After the robbery I called the police and was told nothing could be done. In my frustration I talked to some locals and told them the story. The next day we were passing by a park when a group of dangerous-looking young men approached us. After the events of the previous day, I started sweating like a storm. I noticed that the leader of the group had tears in his eyes. He hugged me and told me I was always welcome in this neighborhood. At first I was confused. Then he told the story of how several weeks earlier I had helped his grandmother and her family overcome a difficult situation. Then he told me what his group had done to our attackers. They found him drunk on a corner late at night. He was still enjoying the drugs and alcohol he bought after selling all my stuff. Our new friends have enacted revenge on the poor man. His arms and legs were broken, he was robbed and then taken tied up to the police station where he was thrown to the ground and beaten once again. That night I had a lot of questions. That man had robbed us, but did he really deserve that kind of treatment? I was dressed like a rich American in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Argentina. Most people in this neighborhood struggled to provide food for their families. Could I blame him for his actions? It was a... paper half dollar, but when you think about it, the community was actually safer for what those men were doing. A dangerous person has been removed from the community. Others would have been thieves discouraged from committing crimes. Fuerte Apache was a safer place because of what these men did. In a neighborhood where security doesn't really exist, every little bit of protection counts. The people in that neighborhood can't rely on the police or anyone else to protect their lives or freedom, so they have to do it themselves. In the preamble of our Constitution, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are mentioned as our most important priorities. important rights. Whenever these rights are threatened, we have the right to protect them. If there is a legal way to defend these rights we should respect the social contract and use it, but when the government has failed to enforce the law vigilantism is justified.