Is preparing wrong?

This little gem popped up in my Facebook feed during the week, interesting reading.

"Here's a question: Why is it such a bad thing to think if men need to "change so that they're not objectifying women" that women learn self defense, both mental and physical, for all the bad shit that will happen to them and the guys that managed to skip the "change societal norms" class? "

It got me to thinking a great deal about being prepared for eventualities which are not theoretical risks, but things that happen to people around us every day. For example, I have a very good friend, an older lady, who doesn't agree with guns, and thinks they should all be banned. Now leaving aside the rights and wrongs of banning guns, the fact is they exist, and will continue to exist no matter what legislation was passed. Now in that circumstance is it wise to stick to your views, and ignore the rest of the world where guns exist and and bad people have guns?

Now let's get something straight, I am not blaming the victim not excusing the criminal here. What I am suggesting is that it must make sense to take actions and take necessary precautions to protect yourself from people to whom what's right would depend on how attractive your pocket book looked.

An example I was given years ago would seem to be relevant. When I was teaching people to to ride motorbikes in the UK, a very old and wise instructor took me aside, whilst trying to calm one of my wilder streaks, and gave me this little thought. When you are at a set of traffic lights, and your light goes green, do you simply dive straight out into the junction, or do you check that the road is clear? After some discussion about breaking the law etc etc etc, he made me realize that if I pull straight out, without taking adequate precautions, and got flattened by a 44 truck, I would indeed be in right and the truck driver totally in the wrong.

However, no matter how in the wrong he was, and how in the right I was, I still suffer the appalling consequences. Is that fair, of course not, I should walk away uninjured, and the truck driver should go to prison for 20 years, but life doesn't work like that does it. Could I have helped myself, and taken some precautions, yes, I could, that doesn't make me any less right, but it does mean that I can deal with, and avoid the actions of others to whom the law and what's "right" is far less important.

Going back to my friend, if she were to be confronted by a person who wants to cause her harm, she can do very little to defend herself beyond shouting if she can. If I were to drive to a particularly sketchy part of the valley, wearing my nice new Rolex, there's a good chance that I could well be relieved of it, perhaps better not to have it on display. Is that right, or fair, no, but is it a realistic attitude that avoids me possibly losing my goods, and maybe my life, yes, and that's the point.

Life isn't fair, we have to realize that, and live our lives accordingly. There's is little point taking the moral high ground from a hospital bed, when by simply using a little common sense, we can do all that we could ever want to, just by taking a few simple precautions

Just ask yourself this simple question, would you fry bacon naked..

Some sources to make you think a little;

Trying to take the cell phone of an MMA fighter is never usually a good plan

Video of someone trying to take an MMA fighters cell phone