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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sdcsvax!sdcatta!phonlab!sdcsla!west
From: west@sdcsla.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Re: Theft (George Hess)
Message-ID: <393@sdcsla.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Aug-83 22:37:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcsla.393
Posted: Mon Aug  8 22:37:58 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Aug-83 00:24:59 EDT
Lines: 37



Alan Wiemann responded (to George Hess):

  Of course!  The person who stole the car owner's possessions is guilty of
  theft.  The car owner who left his car unlocked, windows open, etc. is 
  guilty of *negligence* or perhaps *carelessness.*  Common sense dictates
  that when an obvious threat to security or safety exists, one take reason-
  able precautions to prevent the threat from becoming reality.  If you
  don't take *reasonable* precautions to protect your possessions or loved
  ones, how can you expect the police or any else to take exceptional steps
  to prevent your loss?  You've got to look out for yourself--don't expect
  someone else to do it.  Your type of thinking taken to the extreme yields
  the following kind of mental process: "I'm going to cross the street even
  though that speeding taxi doesn't look like he's going to stop.  I've got
  the green light and if he hits me that's his problem."  Believe me, there
  are people who think that way.  *You* are responsible for your own well
  being.  Look out for yourself and your loved ones and property.

I respond to Alan:

Taken to the extreme, your viewpoint leads to the following kind of mental
process: "well, anyone who gets killed or robbed or raped obviously didn't
take *reasonable* precautions, so they deserve what they got."   Believe
me, there are people (and EST-holes) who think that way.

Needless to say, we ARE all responsible for our own well being(s).   But
that should not be taken to the extreme of blaming the victim.   People
tend to learn from their mistakes and don't need to be told that they
were stupid.   A little sympathy is not necessarily an evil thing.

In the end, the differences of viewpoint here seem to be between those
who see the world "as it could be" and wonder at "how it is", and those
who see the world "as it is" and deride those who see it "as it could be".

				-- Larry West, UC San Diego
				-- sdcsvax!sdcsla!west