People have no character

Post Reply New Topic

I have noticed that people always say things like "I don't take crap from anyone", and "No one f*** with me", but the truth is
grim: they are wrong.

I am in Panama, where crooks, thieves, and other psychopaths are everywhere, and I have noticed how people fail to stop them.
There is this guy who sells poems in the streets. He follows you and pressures you to buy his poems, which are crap, often copyright-violations,
and he has tons of money in his pockets, from people who just want to get rid of him. He has been doing this for years, and no one stops him.

The apartment building where I live has a psycho restaurant owner on the first floor who does whatever he wants, and no one says crap to him.
He blocks the parking lots with his van. He plays music until midnight, and no one even bothers to call the cops.

Perhaps the problem is that THIS COUNTRY being a country of gangs, shootings, and corrupt government officials has citizens who are afraid
to speak their minds and stop people from messing with them. However Americans also seem to have the same problem, since they are taken
advantage of by their government (Snowden makes that clear), and almost everyone is quiet.

So, when anyone tells you something like, "How did you allow him to do that to you?" or "I'd kick the s**t out of him if I were you" Ignore that person.

when one is akin to a prey animal, harm reduction is paramount.

Don't face people because you might get harmed.

In a way, it is a good idea to learn martial arts, develop a strong body, or get a few friends that can protect you. When you are socially incompetent (no offense intended), the world is like a prison. Fail to get people to protect you, and you won't survive long.

for people who are physically inept and not amenable to physical culture-based improvements, I would advise becoming familiar with "equalizers" of various types, learn how to use them appropriately and carry them inconspicuously.

Equalizers? I don't follow.

weapons used in self-defense, such as tasers, pistols etc. they can counteract the superior strength/agility/speed of one's attackers.

Although I do agree that this method would be important for self-protection in high-crime areas, I would also caution that someone have a good sense of their own personality (and, perhaps, paranoia) before picking up a weapon.
Personally, I misinterpret interactions all the time and my anxiety puts me on the defensive quick. I wouldn't want to be packing heat and get jumpy at the wrong time (which is the primary reason I don't own a gun...).


***will a 2nd amendment debate follow? Let's wait and see...***

that is why I qualified it with the words "learn[ing] how to use them appropriately." IOW you have to develop an internal governor which restrains your impulses until one is cornered.

Same here. The Zimmerman case is a perfect example of owning a gun, and jumping to the wrong conclusions. I do have a pepper spray though, and I am 6'1, and I weight 215 pounds. No problem there.

The same way if you found you lived in a tropical jungle with deadly snakes and etc. --------MOVE NOW.

Please.

denny

Bad idea. Especially if you don't have extensive training in how to use them.

Firstly, weapons can be taken away and used on you. Especially if your opponent has better strength/agility/speed than you. (In contrast, martial arts training can never be taken away and used against you.) Do you know how many people, when pulling out a gun for self-defense, end up getting shot by their own gun? It's pretty common.

Second, bringing out a weapon escalates the situation. In the vast majority of cases, when you are being threatened by violence, the person is not trying to murder you or cause serious bodily harm. Either they're mad and want to cause you pain, or they're using the threat of violence to get you to cooperate with something they want from you. In either situation, if you bring out a weapon, they will typically react by using greater force than they otherwise would. For example, you might be getting mugged by a guy who has a knife on him, but doesn't think he'll need it. You drag out a gun, and he panics and jams the knife into you. (Guns are very powerful ranged weapons, but if they're normal conversation-distance, a knife can be just as quick as a gun and almost as deadly.)

Much better to be unarmed and know martial arts. Or, if you must have a weapon, go for an improvised weapon like car keys or an umbrella (less likely to make them escalate). In general, in the vast majority of cases where you might be threatened with violence, you're best off cooperating with the person and then making a detailed statement to the police afterwards. (Even if they're planning to rape you. Better to be raped than dead.)

not all of us are fit for martial arts of any kind, there are some of us with severe mobility limitations that are not amenable to treatment. that is why I qualified my suggestion with the proviso that one learn how to use the weapon appropriately. THAT is why they are called "equalizers" for they enable the [otherwise] defenseless among us to defend ourselves. nobody has the right to harm us/cause us pain in any manner. if the choice is to lie down and play dead in the hopes that our attackers will merely maim us a little bit, versus defending ourselves and making them mad enough to kill us, i would rather err on the side of deterring them definitively, I will go with the latter choice every time.